My favorite vintage tea collectibles ever (maybe!)

Now I can't say with absolute certainty that I have come across the best vintage tea collectibles ever, but these are certainly in my Top 5 of all-time favorite finds. So what do you suppose they are? Two books in slipcases, both written by Robert Jackson, right?

Oh, but they're not!

Take them out of their cases, and you see two box-like pieces that are actually from Jacksons of Piccadilly, and they are ...

... tins of tea!

How do I love these? Let me count the ways! I'm scheduled to speak on Tea and Books at a local library fundraiser and tea this fall, and when I came across these on eBay I realized immediately they would be perfect for a display table there. At 4-1/4 x 6-1/4 x 2-1/4 inches, they're certainly book-like in appearance.

I wanted them simply for decorative purposes, so I was surprised when the tins arrived and were packed with tea. They must be decades old, and yet there remains a distinct "tea" scent. (And no, I didn't actually try preparing the tea. Not quite sure that would be safe!)

Now wouldn't you love to see "editions" of various teas issued in book form today? I for one would "subscribe" to the entire series, and I'll bet many of you would as well!

Some new hair care products with tea

When it comes to shampoo and conditioner, I'm not particularly brand loyal, and I enjoy mixing it up. My newest finds: this shampoo and conditioner with sunflower and red tea extracts from Mirra. I have to tell you that the name was a bit confusing to me at first. Mirrq? Mirrg? What did it say? I looked on the back and saw it was called "Mirra." Then it struck me that the bottom line of the logo was supposed to be a reflection of the word Mirra. (I'm curious: Did you read it "Mirra" or something else to begin with?)

At any rate, once I got past the design issues, I took off the cap to sniff, and the nice, fruity scent passed the sniff test, so these two products for color treated hair (which mine is) hopped into my grocery cart. They were on sale for $3.98 each at Kroger last week.

Now when I think of "red tea" I actually think of rooibos, or bush tea, but the ingredients here include "camellia sinensis leaf extract," which comes from the tea plant, not from rooibos. Our "black tea" is known as "red tea" in China and Japan, so perhaps that's what the makers are referring to. But enough of that! Both the shampoo and conditioner were rich and thick, and a thick texture and a nice scent are pretty much my only must-haves in shampoo and conditioner, so these pass the test—and with the goodness of tea in them as well!

My 98¢ shopping trip

Once again I had earned a $10 gift certificate for using my TJX credit card, one that gives you rewards points along with extra points for shopping at three of my most favorite stores, T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods. I usually try to get something completely free for the psychological kick that always gives me, but this time there were two items at T.J. Maxx I really wanted, so I decided to go over my $10 limit by 98¢ and I'm glad I did!

Years ago I saw a checkerboard cake pan set but didn't buy it. Then, I began to see fun checkerboard cake recipes, but I had no special pans. I vowed that the next time I saw this set I'd get it, so I did, and $7.99 struck me as a great price. I'm envisioning a red and white peppermint cake at Christmas, pink and white at Valentine's, green and white (or chocolate) for St. Patrick's Day, red, white and blue for July 4th … any other ideas, friends?

And I had been thinking about getting a new "office tea mug" for tea drinking at work. This one is just perfect, and the $2.99 price tag made me pretty happy, too.

So even though I went over by 98¢ I don't think I can complain about my new goodies!

Teatime Giveaway #32 - A Tea Sampler

The winner of the teatime cookbook from last week is Ruth of the Antiques and Teacups blog, so congrats! If you'll send me your snail mail address via the e-mail button at right, I'll get this headed your way. And for this week's giveaway, I'm offering a tea sampler consisting of all the goodies shown here!

First, there are three whole boxes of various flavors of Yamamotoyama green tea, courtesy of a generous friend of this blog!

Then, there are the samples of the new Le Palais des Thés teas for brewing iced tea (peach and citrus flavors) which I wrote about earlier this week.

There are two each of four flavored puerhs from Numi Tea, including Ginger, Coconut, Jasmine and Cardamom.

And I'm also including sample packets of Iron Goddess Oolong and White Peony Tea from Teavivre. I'll be sure to include brewing directions for those teas that don't have them written on the samples. With this many teas, there are bound to be a few that you like, and of course you'll have plenty to share as well! If you'd like to be entered, just leave a comment to this post between now and noon EST on Friday, Aug. 17. Good luck!

Debbie Mumm's "Tea Party Cookbook"

Recently I came across an inexpensive copy of a 1999 cookbook I didn't have in my collection, Debbie Mumm's "Tea Party Cookbook." When it arrived I was a little surprised by its stature, just 6-1/4 x 6-3/4 inches, but the small size belied the fact this book is simply packed with charming illustrations, heartwarming stories and tempting teatime recipes.

One of my favorite stories is about the time a garden club got together for a tea luncheon but instead ended up helping a sick friend with housecleaning, laundry and the dishes. "When we finally stopped for a break," writes author Rosa Linda Buchner Graziana, "all we could find was a jar of instant tea in the back of the pantry. To complete the experience, we got out the good china cups and toasted our tea cups as we ate some banana bread I had brought from home. We decided it was the best tea party we have ever had, but somehow I'm not sure the tea had much to do with it."

And oh, the recipes! As summer winds down, I find myself fantasizing about apple festivals, pumpkin-carving contests and cinnamony spiced teas. The minute the season arrives, I'll be turning to this book for Maura Cooper's recipes such as Nutmeg Tea Cakes, Crunchy Oat Apricot Bars and Apple Spice Cake. If you like tea books as much as I do, this is one I recommend you add to your wish list!

Lipton Pineapple Chamomile Tea

Thanks to samples from tea companies and gifts of tea from thoughtful friends, I rarely am actually in "need" of any new tea. And yet ...

When I'm innocently passing by the grocery store aisle and I see signs advertising new flavors of Lipton herbal tea on sale for $1.99, well, who can resist? Especially when it's an intriguing-sounding blend of pineapple (which I love) and chamomile (a much lesser love).

I do like their nice pyramid-shaped tea bags and how they let the leaf expand. When I first opened the box, I sniffed way more "chamomile" than "pineapple" and thought "Oh, dear." I'm happy to report, though, that the brewing really brings out the pineapple flavor and scent, so now there is a chamomile tea I actually like!

Mango-Pecan Chicken Salad

This summer I've been reading lots of cozy mysteries, the same genre as the beloved Tea Shop Mysteries by Laura Childs, and I believe it was in one of them that I recently read about a chicken salad with mango and pecans. There was no recipe, so I decided to create one!

I absolutely love mango, whether it's the fruit itself or the mango flavoring in tea. Here's the recipe I came up with.

Mango-Pecan Chicken Salad

1-1/2 cups cooked chicken, finely chopped in food processor
1/4 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup fresh mango, diced
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried basil, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons mayonnaise, or as desired

Mix all ingredients and, for best taste, allow flavors to meld overnight. Yields 1-1/2 cups of a "spreadable" chicken salad.

I've been having this for my lunchtime sandwiches this week, but of course you can also make tea sandwiches!

A thrifty, nifty new teapot

Teacups often jump into my basket when I'm visiting antique stores and gift shops, but teapots? Not so much. Number One, they take up more storage and display space than teacups. Number Two, they're often a bit expensive. This one, from one of my favorite local haunts, What's in Store, was not!

But first, I had to love the design. Pretty, isn't it?

And as a bonus, I *really* loved the price. Think I'll have a nice pot of tea to celebrate!

Something new and novel in iced tea!

It continues to be iced tea season here in my neck of the woods, so I was happy to be offered samples of some interesting new tea bags for making iced tea. Le Palais des Thés, it seems, had come out with some tea bags which claim to brew tea at room temperature in just 30 minutes. Now I steep all my iced tea in the fridge these days, but it takes hours, not minutes, to fully develop flavor. Cold brewed tea in 30 minutes? Was this even possible?

The individually wrapped, extra large muslin iced tea bags arrived quickly. I couldn't wait to see if they truly made tea in 30 minutes, and I was also intrigued that they were said to have extra-long cords on them, meaning I wouldn't have to fish the tea bag out of the pitcher later.

As you can tell, I was more than a little skeptical about that tea-in-30-minutes thing, but there it was again, right on the box.

Well, the cord indeed was long enough to hang over my pitcher, so they got points for that! (And I sampled with only one tea bag to begin with, though it takes two for a quart-size pitcher of tea.)

I sampled both the White Peach green tea and the 7 Citrus oolong tea, and I am delighted to report that they were both refreshingly fruity and quite flavorful after just 30 minutes! I sipped these all weekend and enjoyed the taste as well as the ease of preparation. While I've begun to see more cold brew tea products in stores, this is the first new tea I've seen that promises, and delivers, iced tea fast! To learn more, visit the company's website here. Also, I have saved a few of these tasty new tea samples and will be including them in an upcoming Saturday giveaway, so stay tuned if you'd like to try these for yourself!

Teatime Giveaway #31 - "National Trust Book of Tea-Time Recipes"

The winner of the Olympic tea set pin is Karen of Somerville, N.J., so congrats! If you'll send me your snail mail address via the e-mail button at right, I'll get this headed your way! And for this week's giveaway, I must confess I accidentally purchased a duplicate of a book I already own, "The National Trust Book of Tea-time Recipes" by Jane Pettigrew (1995). In my defense, this version of the (excellent!) book has a different cover, so that's why I thought it was a different book, but I checked and all the recipes are the same. So, rather than keep it, I decided I'd share this book with a reader who is interested in, say, Hot Cross Buns, Irish Plum Cake and Cornish Splits. Is that you? If so, just leave a comment to this post between now and noon EST on Friday, Aug. 10. Good luck!

Cherry Chip & Pecan Scones

When I was in Wisconsin earlier this summer, I found in a grocery store there a product I don't recall ever seeing before, Eillien's Cherry Chips. I knew that Door County in Wisconsin was famous for (among many other things) its cherry orchards, and these chips were packaged in Green Bay, Wisconsin, so I decided this "culinary souvenir of Wisconsin" needed to come home with me.

This week, I decided it was time to invent a new scone recipe. Whipping out my trusty Nordic Ware mini-scone pan from Williams-Sonoma, I used my standard scone recipe, adding some cherry chips and chopped pecans. Oh. My. Goodness! I can't tell you how delicious these were, and I am absolutely sold on these cherry chips. Happily, I did a search online and it looks like area Kroger stores carry these chips, so I won't even have to go back to Wisconsin next time I want some. Are any of you familiar with Eillien's products? I'm a fan now!

Cherry Chip & Pecan Scones

2 cups all purpose-flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons margarine, chilled
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup cherry chips
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray a scone pan with cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add 6 tablespoons of chilled margarine and combine using a pastry blender until the mixture consists of pea-sized crumbs. Stir in cherry chips and pecans. In separate bowl, whisk milk and egg. Add to dry ingredients and stir just until blended. Spoon batter into pan and bake for 17 minutes or until lightly browned. Yields about 8 large or 16 mini-sized scones.

A 1924 cookbook: "Tea-Kettle Talk"

Old cookbooks are so fun to read, and recently I came across this one, "Tea-Kettle Talk," which the inside pages tell me was privately printed for the Alumnae Association of the North Carolina College for Women in Greensboro, N.C. I knew the college's name had probably changed over the years, and sure enough, today it's the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

It was amusing to read this note from the inside cover. Obviously, the owner (or her descendants?) did not follow the advice to "keep"!

I always look for references to tea, of course, but I have to tell you this tea recipe left me wanting. That 1 teaspoon of tea and 2 cups of boiling water would be too weak even for someone like me who likes her teas on the weak side!

And these descriptions of Five O'clock Tea and Afternoon Tea were interesting. I don't know about you, but if I were ever invited to "Afternoon Tea" and showed up to merely a cup of tea and a wafer, I would be mighty disappointed!

There are, however, some things I'd genuinely like to try in this book, such as the Whipped Cream Roll with Chocolate Sauce, or perhaps the Soft Ginger Bread, or the Nut Salad (for 20!) by the delightfully named Brightsey Savage. Do any of you like to read old cookbooks, even if you don't cook with them? I think they are such interesting artifacts from days gone by!

Whittard of Chelsea's Breakfast Earl Grey

Today I'm wrapping up my sampling of the new teas I recently received from Whittard of Chelsea in London. This week's taste test: their Breakfast Earl Grey.

This is a minor point in the great scheme of things, but I must say how much I love their packaging. The design on this and another package of Whittard tea I received is just lovely!

But the best thing was the taste of this "breakfast" blend of Earl Grey, which I enjoyed a great deal. The round tea bags have larger holes than I usually see in bagged teas, and I can't help wondering if that helped to permit the rich, full flavor of this tea. I took a sniff before sipping my steeped tea, and I got that amazing woodsy scent that I love in tea, something I rarely find in a tea bag. I was delighted that although the tea was indeed nice and strong, I didn't get the astringency that sometimes is a concern with brisker teas. I'd never thought of Earl Grey as a breakfast-appropriate tea before, but I must say I do now!

An English tea and biscuit set

Almost a year ago, I was in Fairhope, Ala. and found a delightful new style of cup and saucer I learned is called a "tea and biscuit set." It was the first time I'd seen this type of teaware which featured a small oval plate and matching cup, slightly larger than a normal cup and saucer but nowhere near as large as a tea and toast set. The tea and biscuit set I own is shown here, and the one in the photo above was actually a recent find for my friend Sandra's birthday, which was yesterday, so I couldn't share the photo until after I shared the gift!

This is only the second time I've come upon such a set, and I find these pieces just the right size for personal noshing. A normal tea and toast set looks a little lonely with just a cookie or two on it. This smaller size set is just right for a small teatime treat—and so very elegant!

My friend loves roses just as I do, so I thought this particular tea and biscuit set would be just right for her. It's marked Windsor Bone China, Made in England, and I trust my friend will enjoy using it as much as I enjoyed finding it!

A very British tea bread

Over the weekend I rediscovered an oldie-but-goodie recipe I'd forgotten about. Perhaps because the Olympics have our thoughts turned London-ward, I had picked up my copy of The National Trust book "Tea-time Recipes" by Jane Pettigrew. The recipe I used to enjoy years ago was called Fatless Tea Bread, a name I liked because "fatless" sounds so much better than "fat-free" for some reason!

It's really just a good fruitcake-tasting tea bread, so if you don't like that spongey-springy texture of fruitcake, this may not be your cup of you-know-what. But if you do like fruitcake and those steamed pudding textured desserts, give this a try. The liquid in the batter is cold tea, interestingly enough. Here's the recipe as I made it.

Fatless Tea Bread

1 pound mixed dried fruit (I used a mixture of raisins and currants, and I've also made it with dried cranberries and sultanas with good results)
10 ounces cold tea
10 ounces self-rising flour
5 ounces brown sugar (light or dark)
1 egg

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and line a loaf tin. Combine all ingredients and mix until blended well. Pour into tin and bake for 2 hours (yes, 2 hours!) until a tester comes out clean. Turn onto wire rack to cool.

*You know how they say that if you coat the dried fruit with flour, it won't sink in the batter? Well, I DO coat the fruit with flour, and in this recipe it still sinks, although that doesn't affect the taste. If someone knows another trick to try, I'm willing!