Archive for the Category »Tea «

Jan

Would you join me for a cup? I’ve got some Tazo Calm (lovely stuff) or my PG Tips, excellent with a little milk and honey for sweetener.

Yesterday, after writing about cleaning my desk, and then reading Nans post at Moms The Word, and knowing about Bliss Challenge Week 1 at Blissfully Domestic, I tackled the project with some trepidation because I had let my desk go for sooooooo long. (How many “encouragers” one needs is in direct proportion to the size of the project! lol) more…

Category: Cleaning, Friends, Home, Kitchen Organization, Organization, Tea, Tea and Coffee 2 Comments

Jan

Tea for Tuesday: National Hot Tea Month

queenmommy

Strange how a teapot can represent at the same time the comforts of solitude and the pleasures of company. ~Author Unknown

As if we need a reason to drink hot tea!!! It is only in the 20′s and snow is falling hard and fast. Be it tea or coffee, drinking something HOT is certainly a welcome choice right now. While I got out with the girls only once to play in the snow (and it was actually raining on Christmas Day here), it was a really fun time and we were plenty cold when we came in. This week, we may actually get snowed in if the snow falls the way they’re predicting!

It’s the perfect time for Hot Tea!!!

Over the holidays, I took to pouring tea from a teapot. Normally I just heat my water in the tea kettle, pour it over a tea bag and I’m good to go – but I thought that it might be a nice change of pace to actually pour from one of my teapots and enjoy a few cups of tea rather than just one.

It was really nice. It didn’t change the flavor of the tea, and I didn’t use a fancy porcelain teapot or china tea cup – but the ability to dress it up just a tiny bit did lift my spirits and made the whole experience “fancy.”

Sometimes I need Fancy…

How about you? Do you enjoy your cup of coffee or tea and just do whatever you can to get it ready quick, gulp it down quick, and get moving to your next “project”?

more…

Category: Food, Tea Tags: Hot Tea, National Hot Tea month, Tea, Tea for One Basket, teaporia 3 Comments

Dec

Wonderfull Wednesday!

queenmommy

Last night we hosted a Christmas Tea for the ladies of our church. It was really a Christmas Concert Tea – and it was lovely. Besides the fact that I love Tea – I. Love. Christmas!

Always have! My birthday is next week, and I loved the fact that I was always able to celebrate my birthday amidst the lights and festivity of the Christmas season.

sigh…

Do you love Christmas? Do you love the shopping and gift giving? The baking and family get togethers? The snow and lights and the frost on the windowpanes?

Here are some GREAT thing to help make your holiday season brighter…

12 Days of Cookies from FoodNetwork. Its not too late to subscribe! (Oh, and here’s Paula Deen’s Snowflake Cookies recipe – a fan favorite!) Sign up to receive some free cookie recipes to add to your Christmas cookie file!

Lands End is joining with Twitter for the 12 Days of Twitter giveaways! From 12-1 pm CST for 12 days, Lands End is hosting great giveaways! To participate, simply log in to Twitter, follow @LEprAmanda and answer the questions she posts each afternoon using #landsend in each tweet! Simple as that. Monday was the first day, and they gave away 60+ lovely gifts!!!

Oh and be SURE to checkout the AWESOME Christmas Giveaway 2009 going on at 5 Minutes for Moms. Seriously. Janice & Susan are SO generous with the giveaways and have over 30 giveaways to enter. From a Veggie Tales DVD Collection that would make my girls SING – to a $250 gift certificate to Doodle Tags (which would make any mom sing!) These giveaways end FRIDAY, 12/4 – so it is NOT too late to hop in and get entered for your favorite items!

Over at Mommies Coffee Break, I’ve posted Teaporia’s December specials! Not only will you find a couple of delicious Teas at 25% savings in December, but you’ll find all children’s tea sets and cookie cutters 20% off too!!!

Category: Faith, Holidays, Tea, blogging Tags: Too Cool Tuesday Leave a Comment

Oct

Company Coffee Girls: Let's Have Tea!

queenmommy

Some of you may enjoy a rich, roast of your morning coffee – and I certainly do – but many of you also enjoy your tea – and I have a great fondness for tea, too… I posted about tea yesterday so feel free to visit and leave your comments – would love to know what tea you love and why…

Fall is certainly upon us. It got rainy and cool, and then it got rainy and cold. Brrrr!!! Time for jackets and hats. Time for soups and stews. Time for coffee and tea! (Like I can’t find a reason to enjoy either any other time of year…)

Yesterday surprised us with a bright, sunny day – but it is raining heavily today and gloomy. A nice cup of tea chases the gloomies away for me. How about you?

Fall makes me want to get in the kitchen and go crazy baking and cooking. So I did. I baked an Oatmeal Loaf (Yum-O!) and baked a few Shortbread cookies (made with a crown cookie cutter of course…) They are sinfully delicious using 1 cup butter, and are a perfect accompaniment to a great cup of tea.

I started collecting teapots – and tea-themed lovelies – about10 years ago. I had a “thing” for Victoriana – lacy, frilly, girly stuff – and a friend bought me a gorgeous teapot with burgundy roses. I was so enamored with it, I began visiting flea markets to find more! And when we started having “Secret Santa” at work – that’s when my collection really came to life. Teapots, teasets, books about tea – sigh… They’re like little pieces of my friends from long ago that I still get to keep with me. I don’t have a picture of any of them, though, so it’s something I should work on!

For this week, I’ve been more focused on getting some things in order at home and bringing peace – had some good days and some not so good days – but will keep trying. Getting rid of some old, and decluttering, cleaning – busy work that never ends…

Time to get my family up. Have a lovely day!

Category: Faith, Family, Food, Home, Tea 15 Comments

Oct

Tea-Time Thursday…

queenmommy

Mmmmm – Fall is just another reason to cozy up with a good book and a great cup of tea.

I grew up drinking iced tea. My mom made it by the GALLON while we were kids. LOVE the stuff! She used sugar until sweetener came along, and as I’ve gotten older, I’ve switched to honey as often as possible for sweetening my tea.

Even moreso, I’ve grown to really enjoy tea. It’s a “me” thing in my house – although my girls enjoy our Princess Tea Party (as long as we have Bubblegum tea!) – but for the most part – it’s something that I can enjoy, especially during nap time – while I’m working on the computer, studying homework, or watching a “chick flick” by myself.

It’s what drew me to Teaporia in the first place. I looked at a few direct sales Tea companies – and several were really great – but had a pricey startup or a serious quota requirement, and Teaporia now only has minimal requirements (one sale of any size every 3 months…).

Teaporias Buckingham Palace Garden Party

Not only that, but they also offered the best tea I’ve ever tasted – Buckingham Palace Garden Party – as I’ve mentioned before. It is such a beautiful cup of tea – a blend of Earl Grey, Jasmine, Assam, and Ceylon teas.

There’s something so lovely about savoring a cup of tea. While I LOVE my coffee on an almost daily basis, tea is something of a treat – something leisurely – something that brings to my mind tranquility.

Teaporias Butterfly Cup & Saucer

It’s surely my attitude about tea, as I drink a variety of teas: black tea, herbal teas, white tea, english tea… And the whole idea of “taking tea” brings to mind quiet afternoons – so I relish the moments when I can enjoy a full cup of tea and drink it to the last drop while it’s still hot from a lovely cup & matching saucer!

The cool mornings and evenings that require sweaters and coverlets are so cozy with a thermos of freshly brewed tea. At a football game, or while my 4 year old is playing soccer – a cup of tea would do me just right – even in a styrofoam cup… (Yep, I’ve got to get a thermos!)

There’s a process to making great tea – it isn’t just left alone to “do its thing” so much as it requires some attention and timing – but oh, it is so worth the wait…

Do you love tea? What’s your favorite blend or flavor? Do you have a favorite or memorable experience with tea?

Teaporia is celebrating it’s 3rd Anniversary during October and we have some amazing specials going on (COUPON CODE REQUIRED):

30% discount off ALL teas
Children’s Teasets are 30% off (perfect for Christmas!)
Try-Me Special - 1-24 oz infuser teapot, 2-2oz pkgs of tea, 6 honey sticks, & a honey spoon for just $24.06! It comes prepackaged in cellophane for gift giving!
Anyone hosting one or more tea parties with over $250 in sales will receive a $30 gift certificate!

Children's Ladybug Tea Set

If you are interested in placing an order OR hosting a tea party in October, please contact me and I’ll be happy to provide your COUPON CODE and link for ordering!!!

Category: Family, Favorites, Food, Home, Tea Tags: taking tea, Tea, teaporia, teatime 2 Comments

Jul

A Quiet Tea

queenmommy

credit: fionaandneil

I think one of the most charming aspects of tea for me, is how enjoyable it truly is when all is quiet. It seem to me the flavor is richer, more satisfying during quiet moments. it offers a sort of oasis in the middle of what is very often a busy and chaotic life.

Now coffee is my Get-Up-And-Go beverage. Its the one I can grab on the go, take with me anywhere, steer a grocery cart with one hand while drinking a ginormous frozen mocha from the other. It’s my all-purpose see me through to the other side drink.

But tea – to truly enjoy it – requires a slower pace. A rediscovery of the senses. To sit and quietly sip a cup of tea from a pretty mug or teacup is so rewarding. Maybe while reading. Maybe while just thinking. Maybe while resting my eyes a bit.

The scent. The warmth. The flavor. It all combines for a wonderfully soothing experience. Sure, It can have the same exhilarating effect as my frozen mocha when iced.

But for a quiet moment, a sip of a great tasting tea brings refreshment and renewal.

My ultimately FAVORITE tea of all time is Buckingham Palace Garden Party. If you never try any other tea, you should try this one. A terrific blend of Ceylon Earl Grey, Jasmine, Assam and other leaves combine to form the most flavorful, enjoyable, satisfying cup of tea I’ve ever experienced. (I once served this at a conference on the topic of Winston Churchill, and it was the only tea flavor that was consumed down to the last drop!) Try a sample or order a few ounces – you certainly won’t be disappointed! And when you do have your next cup of tea, I hope you are able to enjoy it to its fullest!

FYI – Teaporia has over 100 tea flavors and blends available. If you really enjoy tea, visit the “SHOP” and spend some time looking around at what is available.

Category: Tea Tags: Buckingham Palace Garden Party, Tea, teaporia Leave a Comment

Jul

Tea for July

queenmommy

The internet world offers some LOVELY tea-loving bloggers, and I’ve begun stalking following several! Check out these tea-friendly recipes and let me know if you try any (I’m going to have to try the Parkin recipe at least once!)

The English Kitchen: Parkin

Tea for Twos-Day: Blackberry Almond Bruschetta

What Matters Most?: Anneliese’s Lowfat Blueberry Scones

And to go with these scrumptious goodies – especially if you love iced tea – Teaporia has some Tea-rific specials for the month of July that just might tempt your tastebuds!

Visit The Queen Mommy’s Cafe for details – and see if one of Teaporia’s specials will have you tasting Red, White or Blue all summer long!