A visit to Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, NC

Whenever I'm out of town, if there's time, I love to visit a local independent bookstore. In Raleigh over the weekend, that was Quail Ridge Books, and I absolutely loved this store!

I've seen this particular C.S. Lewis quote in a bookstore before, but not nearly as well done as it was here.

And look at this little reading nook near the magazine section. I would like to transport that to a corner of my home! I'm crazy about the clear chairs too!

And I should have taken a photo of it, but they had a cute vignette dedicated to the recent Royal Wedding, complete with Harry and Meghan paper dolls, tins of tea, a book about Prince Charles's gardens at Highgrove, and this book, National Trust Book of Afternoon Tea by Laura Mason, which I asked if I could pluck from the table (it was a bookstore, after all). The employee smiled and said yes, and she thanked me for asking so she could reshuffle things on the table. I knew I wanted this book because Linda recommended it here. I'm a lazy tea book collector these days, so I sometimes wait for one of my fellow tea bloggers to recommend a book before I purchase it. Besides, I know I can trust anything Linda recommends!

I've already made one very simple and quite delicious recipe from the book, for Moroccan Mint Tea. It's simple. In a teapot, add three teaspoons of green tea, three tablespoons of sugar, and a handful of fresh spearmint leaves. Fill the pot with boiling water (I used "just under boiling" water), and let steep for three minutes. I can't remember the last time I actually added sugar to a cup of tea, but this was absolutely delicious!