Chelsea's Tea Room in Asheville, N.C.

Have just returned from spending a few days in Asheville, N.C., which included an unexpected treat at a tea room and some very fun tea shopping, so of course I have to share!

I know Asheville is the home of Biltmore Estate, which is certainly a must-see if you've never been, but both my husband and I had toured it before. Instead, this trip was to visit the downtown Asheville galleries, local shops and some of the smaller outlying towns. One of the tourism brochures touted Biltmore Village, which is a quaint shopping area where DH had kindly agreed to wander around while I visited the three shops I particularly wanted to see. My first stop was Recollections, located in a pretty old house and filled with tea goodies and several cases overflowing with that lovely Dee Sharp tea-themed jewelry. (I'd bought a ring design of hers at World Tea Expo.) Turns out this used to be Dee's shop, the shopkeeper told me. I got some Harney Chocolate Mint Tea and a new infuser basket and merely lusted over the gorgeous floral paintings by Christie Repasy, whose work has been featured in Romantic Homes and other magazines.

Next was a yarn shop, but it was my third of the day and I had already met my yarn needs. Finally, I was at Chelsea's Tea Room. It was too early in the day for afternoon tea, so I was happy to simply look around and shop for a while. Imagine my surprise when my thirsty husband waved me in to join him on the patio, where he was looking over a menu and indulging in what he said was some very good plum-flavored iced tea. Well, you don't have to twist my arm to get me to enjoy a new tea room! We agreed to split a dessert, and we got the White Chocolate Lemon Curd Layer Cake. When it arrived, there were audible gasps from the other guests out on the patio. This three layer mega-slice was just delicious, and I'm so glad we had decided to split it. In fact, when I realized the recipe was in the tea room's cookbook, I left with a copy and hope to bake this treat myself sometime!

REMINDER: If you haven't yet left a comment on the Sept. 4 post, please do so before noon tomorrow so you'll be entered in the tea giveaway!

Tea Time and Fall

Even among my favorite magazines, some issues are better than others. The September/October 2007 issue of Tea Time is one of the best yet. I'm longing for fall, and this fall-themed issue is making me even hungrier for the season to arrive.

Did I say hungry? If you haven't seen this issue yet, you will have a treat in store with all these fall recipes. I want to make the Pumpkin Cheesecakes on the cover as well as the Earl Grey infused Creme Brulee, the Corn Bisque, Smoked Sausage and Potato Quiche, and the Pear Scones. I think the recipes this issue are some of the best I've seen. (But again, maybe it's just my longing for fall and the baking that seems to accompany its arrival.)

For the tea party enthusiast, there are ideas for a Back to School Tea, a black and white tea (not my normal color palette, but this one is very elegant), and an idea I do intend to try: A Progressive Tea Party. Overall, this was just a very fun issue of the magazine.

Making (and keeping) a Tea Journal

The other night when I made the tea journal for the giveaway, I made a new one for myself as well. I used stamps from the Mad Tea Party line by Catherine Moore (see characterconstructions.com for the full line). The set I chose appealed to me because it had the whimsical teapot-headed lady as well as some letters spelling "TEA," a tea kettle, a spoon and a few more designs.

Because I am a sometime scrapbooker, I had plenty of pretty papers from which to choose. I tend to favor papers featuring vintage handwriting and postage stamps (gives the look of old letters) and the pretty floral designs of Anna Griffin. Once I glued my papers and stamped designs on the cover, I inked the edges of the mini-notebook. I like giving the edges a bit of a vintage, distressed look. I thought these little journals turned out so well, I bought two more of the mini-composition books and may make more tea journals for friends.

My new tea journal is already tucked into my purse, where I can pull it out at any time. I've already used it to list some ideas for future blog posts. As with my old tea journal, I will use this one to list such things as teas I've tried and wish to try, tea books I own (so I won't buy a duplicate by mistake), notes about tea rooms I've visited (you can sketch a tea room's presentation that you really like), and more. If you haven't tried keeping a journal devoted entirely to documenting your own tea experiences, I highly recommend it!

Peach teas & a peachy cake

At my morning wedding last year, I had a wedding tea reception with tea sandwiches and finger foods (a favorite was miniature apricot tea breads shaped like roses), tea punch, and a tea-flavored wedding cake. The vintage rose colored cake was flavored with Ginger Peach Tea and had Peach Cream filling. (It was important that the fondant color be "vintage rose" and not just "pink." Think Julie Roberts in Steel Magnolias: "My colors are Blush and Bashful.") Before I became a bride, I had always wondered about that tradition of freezing the top layer of the cake to enjoy on the first anniversary. With my own cake, I was certainly willing to try it.


Never again will I have to wait an entire year just to eat a piece of cake! After the wedding last year, one of the many girlfriend angels who helped with the reception carefully packaged the top layer. It was in the freezer when I got home from our honeymoon, and for a year I have looked at it and wondered, "Could this possibly have any taste at all after being frozen for a year? Won't the fondant be reduced to powdery dust?"

My husband and I spent last weekend at the lake house of some friends, and I had brought along the wedding cake since our first anniversary would be spent there. On anniversary morning, I got the cake out of the refrigerator where I'd placed it to thaw and carefully cut a slice. I got him to take the first bite. Well? He assured me it was still good, nice and moist, and I was so pleased. Thus began a tea and cake theme that has gone on all week. And to sip with that cake? Harney's Peaches and Ginger tea and Twinings Peach Black Tea. (The Twinings tea, I was pleased to see, is now in a fully sealed wrapper, a la the Bigelow tea bags.) A piece of wedding cake and a cup of hot peach tea makes for an enjoyable, if very limited edition, teatime treat!

The Upton Tea Quarterly

The Fall 2007 issue of the Upton Tea Quarterly has arrived, and as always it is a joy to read. The Quarterly is really unique among tea publications. It's not just a magazine, it's not just a catalog, and I'm not comfortable calling it a "magalog" either (that new breed of part-magazine, part-catalog). So maybe I should just describe it.

First of all, the size and paper are not the full-color, glossy type to which we are most accustomed. This white paper stock is thicker than newsprint, much thicker and much whiter, yet I've seen some newspaper inserts printed on this type of paper before. The size is smaller than a traditional magazine (7 x 10 inches), and the printing has rather a sepia tone to it. The current issue features Part V of the article "Reversals of Fortune in the Tea Industry," and I learned some new things about the role of the Dutch in the tea trade.

Yet most of the Quarterly is given to listing its teas for sale, and there are hundreds of tempting varieties to consider. (When your order arrives, you'll find the bag or tin has been personally labeled with your name. Lovely!) It also offers a nice range of Chatsford teapots and mugs, infusers and various tea accoutrements. Another thing I adore about the Quarterly is that its authors give you the scoop on their most recent tea buying efforts. This year, they say, "we experienced more competition than usual for the top Assam teas." Subscriptions are free to customers, $12 a year for others. You can sign up at uptontea.com.

Updates regarding Giveaway

Hello again! I've had a couple of questions and wanted to address them before they get lost in the shuffle. Someone asked if you need to have a Google/Blogger account to enter. No, but you DO need to identify yourself in some way so that I can find you if you're the winner. Instead of commenting as "Anonymous," perhaps you could list yourself as "Jane in Newnan, Ga." or something like that.

And about the Shiny Stuff bracelet ... I don't know if that's a new product or not, but they had tons of them at the World Tea Expo. I got a green and pink one for myself, and I gave a pink one similar to this one to a girlfriend for her birthday. Perhaps if you called or e-mailed, you could ask about availability (see teapotjewelry.com for more info).

List your favorite tea & win our Giveaway!

The day I've been waiting for is finally here: 100th Post Day! I've read some other blogs where the blogger gives away a gift to mark the milestone of having reached the hundredth post, and I like that idea. In fact, I'm thinking we should have a giveaway here every 100 posts, so let us begin today!


What can you win? A pink teapot bracelet (I bought this at the Shiny Stuff booth at World Tea Expo), a few free goodies I got there (copies of Tea A Magazine, Tea Time magazine, the "Linen and Tea Journal: A Special Place to Remember All Your Tea Experiences"); a tiny little rubber-stamped Tea Journal I made last night in a crafty mood (trimmed with tea-dyed lace, of course); a magnetic list pad with a Mary Engelbreit teapot design; a package of floral placecards to use at your next tea party; a box of Bigelow's Green Tea with Mango; and samples of Walker's Shortbread (plain and chocolate chip). And it can all be yours, yours, yours!


Here's the deal: Just leave a comment at the end of this post listing the name of your favorite tea and you'll be entered. How easy is that? This contest is open to everyone, whether you're local (girlfriends, don't disqualify yourselves from entering) or live elsewhere in the world. I will use one of those "random number generators" on the Internet to select the winner. One entry per person, and you can enter through noon on Sept. 11. I'll announce the winner later that day. Now, kindly go tell all your friends to sign up for the giveaway!

Laboring with tea-scented products

Happy Labor Day! Hopefully none of us is laboring too hard today, but if you must do some housekeeping, say, washing the Labor Day dishes, I have a new product to recommend: Caldrea's Green Tea Patchouli Dish Soap Liquid.

I discovered the wonderful Caldrea line several years ago when these luxury housekeeping products first appeared on the market. My inner domestic goddess loved the idea of using specially scented dishwashing liquid, scouring powder, laundry detergent, window cleaner, counter wipes, etc. that were free of harsh chemicals and made housekeeping chores more fun. Enter Caldrea, one of my favorite sources for these products.

A cute new gift shop has opened in town (for local readers, it's Two Lilies Gifts, on Newnan Crossing Boulevard near the new Kroger), and of course I had to visit as soon as I heard about it. They carry Caldrea, and I got the dish soap liquid and hand balm. These are "made with essential oil of patchouli and green tea fragrance." Think I'll go mess up some dishes so I can use more of the dish soap!

Relaxing, Remembering with Maple Tea

The first day of September! Wow! This Saturday morning is especially meaningful to me because it was on the first Saturday in September one year ago that I married my sweet husband, the love of my life. I have had such a wonderful first year of marriage, I realize I am truly blessed.

So tomorrow will be the official first anniversary, and today I'm just remembering and enjoying the much more relaxing pace of the day compared to the pre-wedding hours one year ago! And because it's the first day of September, I'm in a fallish mood. I tried out a recipe I've been wanting to make for a while, Maple Tea, and it was delicious.

I got this recipe from Mathew Tekulsky's book "Gourmet Coffee, Tea and Chocolate Drinks." This one is very simple: Make a cup of black tea (I used Ceylon Breakfast Tea from Twinings.) Stir in a tablespoon of maple syrup. Add a heaping tablespoon of whipped cream, and sprinkle with cinnamon. I think I have a new treat to serve at my next fall-themed tea!

Cucumber and Green Tea Soap

Any of you ladies seen some of those Dove "Campaign for Real Beauty" ads using "real women"? I suppose Dove is trying to do a good thing, but those ads scare me! It's a pity they don't choose to just show their Cucumber and Green Tea beauty bar instead.

This soap is something I saw pictured in one of the tea magazines. It's not only as creamy as you'd expect from Dove, it's also wonderfully scented. And I should warn that you'd REALLY better enjoy this scent. When I use it in the shower in the morning, the bathroom is still scented in the afternoon. I now think of the soap as "room scent" as well.

I was pondering the fact that green tea is so often combined with cucumber in beauty products. The only teatime connection I could make: Time to go have a cup of green tea and some cucumber sandwiches!

Much Ado About Martha

Let me begin this post by saying that I'm neither a Martha Stewart worshipper nor a Martha hater. In its early years I found her flagship magazine (and lifestyle books) too modern and sterile for my taste, but as I've gotten older I find myself liking her style much more. Today I read Martha Stewart Living monthly, the other magazines occasionally. I admire Martha as a businesswoman (especially the businesswoman she's become since The Unpleasantness), and I am bitterly jealous of her new crafts room.

In the September issue of MSL (at left in the photo above), she writes about packing up her china to move it from Turkey Hill to the new house in Katonah. (She's got great tips for your next move, by the way.) My husband thinks *I* have a lot of teawares? Well, I am delighted to report it took 20 round-trips of an SUV to move all HER china!

Then yesterday I came across her new special issue, Martha Stewart Holiday, and it is a howl! Check out the small photos at left. Do you recognize the "glampire" and the "goddess" from the front and back covers? Yes, that's none other than America's homemaker herself! I was showing this issue all over the office, and we agreed Martha gets points for being such a good sport. But of more importance to tea lovers, there are some terrific fall recipes inside. Last year I had a fall tea with some girlfriends and resorted to buying maple leaf shaped cookies with maple cream filling. That was about the only true "fall treat" I served. In the top photo at right is the page from the special Holiday issue featuring Squash-Leaf Canapes and Savory Autumn Pies, all of which are cut into leaf shapes. Adorable! And oranges carved to look like miniature pumpkins? Why hadn't I thought of that! While the recipe for making tomato soup look like eyeballs are floating in it doesn't charm, I must say there is still plenty to like in this Holiday issue, if you don't mind overlooking a spiderweb or two along the way!

A Cup of Keemun Tea

Recently, I had the urge for a good, strong cup of plain black tea. Nothing iced. Nothing fruity. Nothing super fancy. My choice? A Keemun. I'd forgotten how good, and how uniquely flavored, this tea is.

I'm sure I must have purchased the tea after reading or learning about Keemun, since this is usually what prompts me to act out of my tea comfort zone. This tea is one noted tea expert James Norwood Pratt calls "one of the two or three best black teas in the world ... deservedly one of China's Ten Most Famous Teas" ("New Tea Lover's Treasury," 1999).

Pratt praises the quality of this tea: "These are handmade teas for which reservations are required, so little is produced. Their unique Keemun flavors are so nuanced and layered that one feels adding milk or sugar would be sacrilegious, faint praise impossible." No faint praise here! I like the taste and the fact it's pretty in the cup, the bright color of a newly minted copper penny. And my inner tea snob likes the thought of drinking a tea "for which reservations are required."

Bigelow: The Tea, The Blog

Those of us interested enough in tea to read blogs about our favorite beverage are probably, the great majority of us, fans of loose leaf tea. But the truth of the matter is, sometimes loose tea just isn't convenient. You can set up a tea station at the office, but you can't carry around a great deal of tea paraphernalia in your purse. An individually packaged teabag, however, transports very well, so I try to keep a few teabags stashed in my tote at all times.

At the local grocery stores, the choices for flavored teabag teas typically include Twinings, Bigelow, Celestial Seasonings, Lipton and, occasionally, Stash. Most recently I tried Bigelow's Green Tea with Mango. I'm partial to mango-flavored anything, and this tea had a great mango flavor. I also like Bigelow teas because of a) the taste b) the variety and c) the packaging. Celestial Seasonings doesn't even bother to individually wrap their teabags, and I still can't figure out why they think it's a good idea to offer them two at a time as they do. (They make US tear the two teabags apart. Would it really have killed THEM to do this?) The classic flavors of Twinings are always good, of course, but the paper wrappers on their teabags are sometimes loosely fastened, and I like the sealed style packet of Bigelow. (Don't even get me started on Lipton's new silken teabags, which get messy-messy-messy if you try to transport one, spilling dust all over everything.)

Bigelow also gets points for its tea blog. It's straightforward, to-the-point and user-friendly. I like the variety of tea information presented, and I even like to read about the goings-on at the company. For that reason, I have added the Bigelow Tea Blog to my list at right, mainly because I want it to be one click away each day. So today, we happily tip our teacup to Bigelow.

Vintage ceramics and pottery

Some of you, I'll bet, share my passion for vintage teawares. Sure, you can go buy a brand spanking new tea set any old time. But finding a surprise vintage piece, something with character, is just so much more satisfying. And I thought I'd share that the bowl I photographed that Sugar-free Strawberry Tea Bread in -- well, if you look at the bottom you'll see it's not really a "bowl" after all.


I was at an antique mall and found this unusual (to me, at least) piece on a table marked "Things That Have Been Here Too Long." Now that just struck me as quite humorous. Some antique malls, after all, seem more like museums, keeping their overpriced wares on display forever, apparently unworried about making a sale. Thus this lovely reticulated strainer thing, 7-1/2 inches in diameter and in absolutely pristine condition, was marked down from $16 to just $3. Aren't those pink rose garlands just luscious? And considering its apparent age, how on earth did all that fretwork remain intact over the years? How did it come to be so little valued that it was discounted to less than the price of a latte?


The other thing I love about finding odd pieces for my tea table is that a bit of sleuthing is always involved. What is it? Who made it? What was its purpose? The bottom of this piece is marked Germany and has a maker's mark I haven't yet identified. But there are some good ceramics and pottery sites online, so I'm still investigating. And happily, I discovered that slices of tea bread serve up in this piece just fine, even without the small paper doily I imagined I'd need.

Sugar-free Strawberry Tea Bread

One of the tea foods I have most enjoyed baking over the years is tea bread. I like the fact that a small loaf goes so far at a tea party, and I like experimenting with various fruits, nuts and flavorings in these loaves. The combinations are just endless!

My latest idea, though, is that someone ought to write a book of sugar-free teatime recipes (good ones, I mean), so I thought I'd start experimenting.

This Sugar-free Strawberry Tea Bread gets a solid B+, although my kind-hearted husband said it was "great." I used Sweet 'N Low and I think I can taste it a bit, which is not surprising since I'm such a sugar lover. I do know that I enjoyed the tea bread more this morning, straight out of the fridge, than last night when I first made it. The strawberries seem to have moistened the bread overnight, and this is great with a cup of green tea. If you care to try it, here's my recipe:

Sugar-free Strawberry Tea Bread

1 cup (24 packets) Sweet 'N Low brand sweetener
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 cups frozen strawberries, thawed, with juice
2 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x5x3-inch glass loaf pan with cooking spray.

In mixing bowl, sift flour, soda, cinnamon, salt and sweetener and mix. In another bowl, mix strawberries, eggs and oil. Add dry ingredients to strawberry mixture and gently stir to blend.

Pour into loaf pan and bake for 45-50 minutes, until lightly browned and a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Strange Tea Product #1

Today we have a new category of tea topic: Strange Tea Products!

The other day I ran in Tuesday Morning to get a gift bag, and although I was on my lunch hour I did my usual scan-the-clearance-racks routine. I saw the word "tea" on this blue bottle thingie and had to check it out. Tea D'Light. What on earth? Hmmm ... looks like tea leaves, and then I read the top of the bottle: "Aromatic Burning Tea - With Fragrant Essence - Jasmine Delight."

Here's how the back of the bottle reads: "These hand blended delicious teas now may be enjoyed as a room fragrance. Aromatic Tea D'Light should be diffused by electric or candle burners. Add a small amount of water before heating. Essential oils may also compliment (yes, we know; it should be "complement") the spa effect. Pour a few drops on moistened leaves to further promote a sensual feeling. For a flavorful drink, infuse with hot water until reaching desired strength." The bottle lists a web site, pearlessence.com, but I see this product is no longer offered. I can see why! May I just say I think this was a particularly wacky idea? It's made in China, too, so I'm not feeling very confident about drinking outdated, clearance bin Chinese tea right now. But maybe I'll get a tart burner and some oil and try it out, or else one day I can donate this oddity to a tea museum.

Psychology Today on Tea

Recently I received a free subscription to Psychology Today magazine, and the September/October 2007 issue has arrived with a nice little article titled "Fit to a Tea: Green or black, tea packs a surprising punch" by Greg Isaacson.

I hope you can tell a bit about the format from the photo, because I like the way the magazine lists the medicinal properties of green tea in the first column, black tea in the second column, and both kinds of tea in the third column.

Here's my quickie version: Green tea is good for treating arthritis, cancer, cholesterol, intestinal inflammation, liver disease and sunburn. Black tea: Bone health, cancer, cholesterol, heart disease and stress (tea "speeds recovery from stressful events," it says, but we all knew that!). Both: Brain health, diabetes, oral health, weight control. I really like this handy, chart-style approach to the topic. Nice job!

Afternoon Tea Serenade

One of my cardinal rules of shopping is this: Never, ever pay retail. Retail is for suckers. If you have to pay full price, you simply aren't being very creative in your shopping. For that reason, several years have passed since I first saw Afternoon Tea Serenade, a gift boxed set that includes a cookbook and CD, but since I never saw it on sale, well ... the $25 pricetag just never swayed me.

Fast forward to Saturday's visit to a T.J. Maxx. The set was marked $14.99, and I had a $10 gift certificate in my purse. $25 item for $4.99? Yes! My kind of shopping!

Happily, I got home with my find and discovered this set is even better than I'd hoped. The book is much larger than I'd expected, 224 pages, and it even includes recipes from two tea rooms I visited in London, Harrod's and Fortnum and Mason (and the recipes use American measurements! Yippee!). The chamber music CD is one I'm very happy to have, and I imagine it will be put to use at my very next tea party!

Help! Need tea-themed notecards!

I never thought this would happen: I'm running out of teacup notecards!

There was a time when my writing desk was simply brimming with drawers full of pretty papers, cards and thank-you notes featuring teacups and teapots. Now I realize I can write a thank-you note on anything, and I do always have cards with roses on them, but I can't bear to send a thank-you note for a tea gift that's not on a tea-themed notecard or paper. And now I'm down to these two measly little choices: some forgotten notecards from Carol Wilson (the cutesy ones in the teapot-shaped holder) and these simple pink ones from Hallmark.

My usual sources (T.J. Maxx, Marshall's, Ross, Tuesday Morning) have not had any lately. I realize that could have changed yesterday, since these stores re-stock all the time, but sheesh ... I just didn't imagine I'd get so low on tea-themed notecards that I would ever be anxious about finding some! Next, am going to start looking online. But that's not nearly as fun as walking into T.J. Maxx and finding some beautiful $12 cards for $2.99. (Anybody got a source they'd like to share?)

Tea, truffles and cheap luxuries

One of my favorite phrases as a female shopper: "Cheap luxury." It's been years now since I first heard the term, but it clicked with me immediately. Remember when $8 disposable razors for women came on the scene? I heard someone on TV call them a "cheap luxury," and they're right. It's something that costs a good bit more than the typical item in its category, yet the cost is still comparatively cheap. It's not like, say, a new Lexus or a bottle of Chanel No. 5. So what is my favorite cheap luxury these days? It's the new Cacao Reserve Truffles from Hershey's. I paid $2.49 for a tin of eight tiny truffles at my local Publix grocery store last week, and I have to say these are just deliciously rich. The package calls all eight truffles a single serving, but I disagree. One at a time (or at most, two) is the way to go!

On Saturday, my mother, aunt and I were returning from a shopping trip when I popped an Afternoon Tea CD I'd purchased into the CD player. Hearing the tea room-ish tunes, mom said, "That music makes me wonder 'Where are the truffles?'" For once in my life, I had a great answer. "Oh! They're in my purse!" I said. You should've seen my mom's face as I whipped out a cute little tin of truffles and shared them.

An even cheaper "cheap luxury" is the new dark chocolate candy bars on the market today. Last night, my sweet husband brought home some of the Milky Way dark chocolate bars, and I employed my usual rule of drinking something hot to magnify the flavor of the chocolate. There in the tea cabinet was a sample tin of Vanilla Tea from Adagio Teas (adagio.com). Once again, I have to say that several-year-old tea CAN retain its flavor. I'd forgotten I had this tea, but the vanilla flavor of the tea was a great companion to the dark chocolate. So here's to cheap luxuries!

New book: The Tea Experience

It's always fun to add a new book to my tea library, and I just love the one I got this week: "The Tea Experience: Favorite Recipes from Celebrated Travel Destinations" fom Tea Time Magazine ($19.95).

I have visited two of the featured tea rooms, Miss Mable's in Dickson, Tenn. and Gracie's in Montgomery, Ala., so I particularly enjoyed reading these sections of the book. The recipes look pretty yummy, too, and I've already bought the ingredients to make the strawberry bread recipe from Gracie's. There are some 60 recipes in all, and the photography is quite nice.

Because this book is published by Hoffman Media, publisher of Just Cross Stitch and other magazines, I expected this book to be the size and style of their stitchery books I ordered back in the nineties when I was a cross-stitcher. Those were hardback books a little larger in format than a magazine, glossy-covered books with no dust jacket. This book is smaller, about 7-1/2 x 9-3/4 inches, but it's a nice clothbound hardback book with a dust jacket. I'm very pleased with the quality of this book and can't wait to start cooking with it. Oh, and previously they published a book titled "Tea Celebrations" but it is now, alas, sold out. Does anyone out there have this book? Care to comment on it?

Tea with the Royals

Whew! I thought I'd never finish my summer "beach book," Tina Brown's "The Diana Chronicles." I'm a devoted royal watcher, but I probably should have skipped this sad book. I was also distracted by Ms. Brown's writing style. I thought she was supposed to BE an editor, but it seems to me she desperately needs one. The book also flits from past to present to past again with head-spinning frequency. Any attempt at a timeline would look like the recent stock market numbers, up and down and up and down.

That said, the one redeeming quality about the book was its 27 references to tea or teatime. So I thought I'd share some of the highlights:

* When Diana was a child, the Spencer children sometimes played with the Windsor children. A nanny told of walking in to see the Queen playing hide-and-seek with Andrew, 6, and Diana, 5. Charles, 17, walked in at teatime and commented that it looked like "a good party to me."

* After Diana's mother left her family, one of the ways Diana served her father was by following him around the house offering to make him cups of tea.

* Diana's stepmother Raine was known to change clothes three times a day, for lunch, tea and formal dinner.

* "Tea trays for members of the Royal Family all have their own personal map, showing the exact position of condiments, teapots and milk juges."

* It is the Queen's daily ritual to sit with a pot of tea and go through a stack of reading material representing all sides of the political spectrum.

* On July 1, 1996, her 35th birthday and just two weeks before their divorce was final, Prince Charles surprised Diana by dropping by Kensington Palace to see her and, according to the butler, they laughed together over a cup of Earl Grey tea.

Tea & The Tag Sale

The bad news is, I had too much to do and couldn't get to the first day of the tag sale underway not far from my house. The good news is, I DID get to the second day of the sale, which is half-price day, and found three teatime goodies - for just $2. Can you guess what they were? The first one is something made of paper ...



The next item is something you can use on the tea table, and it's metal ...



And finally something else for the tea table, made of glass ...



OK. Are you finished guessing? Well, here are my bargains: An elegant but orphaned little salt and pepper shaker with a lovely etched glass flower (50 cents), which I'll use as a sugar shaker. The real sugar shaker I had was just huge and wasted lots of confectioner's sugar (for dusting teatime treats). Also: The book "A Cup of Christmas Tea" by Tom Hegg (50 cents). A simple silver candleholder I could see was marked (old silverplate, I presumed), but I got home and it was marked STERLING ($1)! Joy of finding thrifty tea goodies at a tag sale: Priceless.

Lemon Souffle Teacup Desserts!

I'd read on one of the media websites that Donna Hay's Australian cooking magazine was getting lots of buzz, but only when I saw the wording at the bottom of this issue, "teacup desserts," did I splurge on this $9.99 magazine (and it was worth every penny). Creme Brulee Ice Cream, Vanilla Rice Pudding, Creme Caramel, Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding, Raspberry Trifle ... all are recipes prepared in teacups!



Last night I made the Lemon Souffle Teacup Desserts, which were light, fluffy, warm and gooey treats. Although I actually bought this magazine a few months ago, it took a while to collect a few inexpensive cups that I wouldn't mind losing in the oven "in case of an accident." (Tell me, is there a junk store in the world that doesn't have some mismatched, clear glass punch cups? These set me back 40 cents apiece, which was just about right.)

Because this magazine is Australian and called for caster sugar, I did have to do a little research and learned that if you put good old American granulated sugar in the food processor for a spin, you'll end up with something akin to their caster sugar. So here's the recipe I used, a modified version of the Donna Hay one.

Lemon Souffle Teacup Desserts

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, pulsed in food processor for about 2 minutes
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons lemon juice (I used bottled)
2 egg whites
Confectioner's sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 355 degrees. Grease 6 ovenproof teacups with melted butter and sprinkle with just a pinch (a very few grains each) of the processed granulated sugar. Place cups on a baking sheet.

Meanwhile, combine cornstarch with water and mix 'til smooth, then set aside.

In small saucepan, add lemon juice and 1/3 cup of the processed granulated sugar and cook over low heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, add cornstarch mixture, then cook for 1 minute more, stirring constantly, until thickened. Set aside to cool completely.

Place egg whites in bowl of electric mixer and beat until soft peaks form. Slowly add the two extra tablespoons of processed granulated sugar and beat until glossy. Remove bowl from mixing stand. Slowly add the lemon mixture and gently stir it all by hand. Spoon into the six teacups and bake for 10-12 minutes, until the souffle rises and is lightly browned. Dust with confectioner's sugar and serve immediately before it starts sinking! Delicious!

The Perfect Afternoon Tea Book

I love arriving home to find a package waiting in the mail. Yesterday, there were two! First, and most unexpected, a bundle of Moda's new floral, Shabby Chic looking fabric squares from my thoughtful, fabric-loving friend Kathy. I see a new fall project ahead! One of my dreams is to one day have an armoire full of "table quilts," quilts like Victoria magazine used to feature, the ones they so elegantly used as tablecloths.

The other package I got was from Australia, where I finally located a copy of "The Perfect Afternoon Tea Cookbook." This lovely little 1997 book includes recipes for a variety of teatime treats such as oat cakes, ham and tomato scones, crab and avocado sandwiches, and a banana and ginger teabread that looks especially yummy.

But aside from all the recipes, I have to say I am just in love with this pink and white striped tea set on the cover! This is just about one of the cutest tea sets I've ever seen. Reminds me of Alice in Wonderland or a circus tea party. (The book doesn't include the maker or source of the teaset. Anybody know where I can get one? eBay? Are you listening?)

Royal Copenhagen Teawares

I had a little time over the weekend to begin reading the new (Summer 2007) issue of Tea A Magazine, and I especially enjoyed the cover story about Royal Copenhagen porcelain. This Denmark company has been around since 1775, and today you can purchase some of the same patterns made more than 200 years ago.

That modern looking design on the cover teapot? There's a great story behind it. It's an enlarged detail from Blue Fluted, the company's first pattern that appeared back in 1775. In 2000, a design student came calling and proposed that the company enlarge details from the chrysanthemum on Blue Fluted, creating a new pattern called Blue Fluted Mega.

The article also shows Royal Copenhagen's Flora Danica pieces, the company's most prestigious pattern, still in production and which legend says was actually created by Denmark's King Christian VII for Catherine the Great! So, if your purse is deep enough, you can truly dine like royalty. (As always, this issue of Tea A Magazine has a nice variety of articles, book and tearoom reviews, and advertising. Well worth reading.)

Black Bear Tea

When my friend Bonnie called Monday to say she would be dropping off some tea she'd bought for me on a recent trip to the mountains, I had no idea what a delicious treat was in store!

Bonnie got me some Scottish Breakfast Tea (which I have indeed enjoyed at breakfast time), and she also delivered 10 bags of tea courtesy of Kappy Lapides of Black Bear Tea Co. in Gatlinburg, who sent the treats after learning Bonnie's friend here writes a little tea column. Kappy sent these varieties: Chinese Jasmine, Black Bear Berry, Keemun Panda #1, Peach Apricot White, Honey Rooibos, Smokey Mountain Symphony, Sencha Mint, Raspberry Rooibos, Hot Apple Pie and Yorkshire Harrogate. (Thirsty now, aren't you?)

Of the few I've tried so far, the Smokey Mountain Symphony and Honey Rooibos are my favorites. I've asked my colleagues to share their reviews as well. Deberah, shown getting some Honey Rooibos above, says the Apple Pie is "even better than the Apple Pie (tea) I bought last fall," and Holly reports that she enjoyed the light honey taste of the Honey Rooibos and might even try it with honey added. We'll post more comments as we sip, but if you want to check out these teas for yourself, or find out about the shop, visit www.blackbeartea.com.

Progress on Office Teatime

Earlier in the week I posted photos of some things I was taking in for office tea, so I thought you might enjoy seeing the corner of my (newly cleaned off) desk at work. (Note the bags of loose leaf tea at right in the top photo, because I plan to elaborate on them tomorrow.)

My friend Holly added some paper doilies (so festive) and sugar cubes (always a nice addition) and a little Mary Engelbreit heart-shaped box in which we can toss the assorted tea bag teas that seem to gather around here.

It has been so nice around 3 p.m. each day to just chill out and take a tea break. So what if no one can figure out how to transfer a call on our brand new phone system installed over the weekend? So what if the advance copies of our annual newcomers guide didn't arrive on time? So what if the trucking company delivering said magazines took out one of our town's beloved old-fashioned light poles delivering the books? At teatime, troubles melt away ...

Tea from head to toe!

Several posts back I mentioned the MOR Bath Tea I was enjoying. So yes, you can bathe in tea, but one of my favorite tea cosmetics, one I've used for a couple of years now, is the White Tea and Ginger designing taffy from Great Clips (see greatclips.com for more info on this line featuring White Tea and Ginger).

Now I have to say, I can list on one hand, with fingers left over, the number of tried-and-true, daily-use cosmetic products I think are consistently great. Freeze It hairspray, Revlon's Colorstay makeup, hmmm ... not many more come to mind, except for this wonderful designing taffy. I have (when I keep regular appointments) short hair, and a teeny-tiny dab of this stuff gives it shape, gloss and a yummy scent.

I have to admit I only tried this because of the tea it contained ("camellia sinensis leaf extract," according to the ingredient listing). Imagine my delight at finding this is a product that really works!

Tea & Coffee Trade Journal

Today we conclude our look at the current crop of tea magazines with Tea & Coffee Trade Journal. I should mention that I've only ever seen two copies of this particular publication. One, which I got at a trade show about two years ago, was a much thicker book. The one pictured above, from June 2007, I got at the most recent World Tea Expo.

This issue has nice, meaty articles on tea blending (I especially enjoyed reading about Bigelow's tea blending and that of Tea Source's Bill Waddington), Ceylon tea, tea in Spain, Fujian black teas and the Teaism tea shop in Washington, D.C.

As with Fresh Cup magazine, this publication is heavy on ads for coffee machinery and coffee products, so I rather imagine that would be even more the case with an issue that wasn't billed as the "Tea Special." It's $49 a year for a subscription, which for the casual, non-business-owner reader is probably a bit much, so I periodically check this out online at teaandcoffee.net.