Tea!?

Tea Flowers

Camellia


Karakosaki


Ceanothus Ameicanus


Mormon Tea Flower


Tea Flower

Tea Quotes

Enjoy life sip by sip not gulp by gulp.
- The Minister of Leaves

Thank God for Tea! What would the world do without tea? How did it exist?
I am glad I was not born before tea.
- Rev. Sydney Smith

I always fear that creation will expire before tea-time.
- Rev. Sydney Smith

Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea.
- Henry Fielding

Remember the tea kettle - it is always up to its neck in hot water, yet it
still sings!
- Unknown

There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the
ceremony known as afternoon tea.
- Henry James

While theres tea theres hope.
- Sir Arthur Pinero

Tea- the cups that cheer but not inebriate.
- William Cowper

There is a great deal of poetry and fine sentiment in a chest of tea.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tea is drunk to forget the din of the world.
- Tien Yiheng

Ecstasy is a glass full of tea and a piece of sugar in the mouth.
- Alexander Puskin

I am in no way interested in immortality,
but only in the taste of tea.
-Lu tung

Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage.
- Catherine Douzel



Come oh come ye tea-thirsty restless ones - the kettle boils, bubbles and
sings,
musically.
- Rabindranath Tagore

One sip of this will bathe the drooping spirits in delight, beyond the bliss
of dreams.
-Milton

As long as it is hot, wet and goes down the right way, its fine with me.
-Sarah Fergerson, The Dutchess of York, On Tea

Tea is wealth itself, because there is nothing that cannot be lost,
no problem that will not disappear, no burden that will not float away,
between the first sip and the last.
-The Minister of Leaves

In nothing more is the English genius for domesticity more notably declared
than in the institution of this festival - almost one may call it - of
afternoon tea...The mere chink of cups and saucers tunes the mind to happy
repose.
-George Gissing

[I am a] hardened and shameless tea drinker, who has for twenty years
diluted his meals only with the infusion of this fascinating plant; whose
kettle has scarcely time to cool; who with tea amuses the evening, with tea
solaces the midnight, and with tea welcomes the evening.
-Samuel Johnson

What part of confidante has that poor teapot played ever since the kindly
plant was introduced among us. Why myriads of women have cried over it, to
be sure! What sickbeds it has smoked by! What fevered lips have received
refreshment from it! Nature meant very kindly by women when she made the
tea plant; and with a little thought, what a series of pictures and groups
the fancy may conjure up and assemble round the the teapot and cup.
-William Makepeace Thakery

...for tea, though ridiculed by those who are naturally coarse in their
nervous sensibilites, or are become so from wine-drinking, and are not
susceptible of influence from so refined a stimulant, will always be the
favored beverage of the intellectual...
-Thomas De Quincy

Tea had come as a deliverer to a land that called for deliverance; a land of
beef and ale, of heavy eating and abundant drunkenness; of gray skies and
harsh winds; of strong nerved , stout-purposed, slow-thinking men an women.
Above all, a land of sheltered homes and warm firesides - firesides that
were waiting - waiting, for the bubbling kettle and the fragrant breath of
tea.
-Agnes Reppiler



...For tea, though ridiculed by those who are naturally
coarse in their nervous sensibilities, or are to become so from
wine-drinking, and are not susceptible of influence from so
refined a stimulant, will always be the favored beverage of the
intellectual...
- Thomas De Quincey

Surely every one is aware of the divine pleasures which attend a wintry
fireside; candles at four oclock, warm hearthrugs, tea, a fair tea-maker,
shutters closed, curtains flowing in ample draperies to the floor, whist the
wind and rain are raging audibly without.
- Thomas De Quincey

Tea had come as a deliver to a land that called for deliverance; a land of
beef and ale, of heavy eating and abundant drunkenness; of gray skies and
harsh winds; of strong-nerved, stout-purposed, slow-thinking men and women.
Above all, a land of sheltered homes and warm firesides - firesides that
were waiting - waiting, for the bubbling kettle and the fragrant breath of
tea.
- Agnes Reppiler

Afternoon Tea should be provided, fresh supplies, with
thin bread-and-butter, fancy pastries, cakes, etc., being
brought in as other guests arrive.
- Mrs. Beeton
The Book of Household Management


Tea Poetry

If you are cold, tea will warm you;
if you are too heated; it will cool you;
if you are depresses, it will cheer you;
if you are exhausted, it will calm you.
- William Gladstone

Steam rises from a cup of tea
and we are wrapped in history,
inhaling ancient times and lands,
comfort of ages in our hands.
-Faith Greenbowl

The cozy fire is bright and gay,
The merry kettle boils away
and hums a cheerful song.
I sing the saucer and the cup;
Pray, Mary, fill the teapot up,
And do not make it strong
- Barry Pain


The first bowl sleekly moistened throat and lips,
The second banished all my loneliness
The third expelled the dullness from my mind,
Sharpening inspiration gained
from all the books I've read.
The fourth brought forth light perspiration,
Dispersing a lifetimes troubles through my pores.
The fifth bowl cleansed evry atom of my being.
The sixth has made me kin to the Immortals.
This seventh...
I can take no more.
-Lu Tung,Chinese Poet


Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast,
Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa around,
And while the bubbling and loud-hissing urn
Throws up a steamy column, and the cups
That cheer but not inebriate, wait on each,
So let us welcome peaceful evening in
- William Cowper


We had a kettle, we let it leak;
Our not replacing it made it worse,
We havent had any tea for a week...
The bottom is out of the Universe!
- Rudyard Kipling

A toast to the grace of the pot,
ready at all time
To give up its emptiness
for the tea.
-The Minister of Leaves

At last the secret is out,
as it always must come in the end,
The delicious story is ripe to tell an intimate friend;
Over tea-cups and in the square the tongue has its desire;
Still waters run deep, my dear,
theres never smoke without fire
- W.H Auden

With each sip I taste
the fire that gives its heat.
The water that gives its wetness.
The leaf that gives its spell.
The pot that gives its emptiness.

With each lingering sip
I cannot help but see
all that makes tea
as well make me.

-The Minister of Leaves

On herbs.
There is nothing to resist.
With nothing to resist them.
Harmony and balance to not hide.
Entering harmony and balance,
I wash my teacup.

-The Minister of Leaves





The soil.
The elevation.
The climate.
The sunshine.
The rain.
The tea.

Body.
Mind.
Equanimity.
Harmony.
Water.
Tea.

- The Minister of Leaves

I invite you magnanimously
to please be my guest for tea
at a room with high standards of taste
where the hostess remembers my face
and greets me by name at the door
and recalls what Ive ordered before
and inquires kindly after my day,
and appreciates all that I say.

Shell have orange pekoe for the pot
and darjeeling, as likely as not,
or if you are not in the pink
our hostess knows which herbs to drink,
like ginger to help with the grippe
mixed with cinnamon and the rose hip;
or fresh lemon balm if you wish,
perhaps blended with sweet licorice.

So whether you feel well or ill,
this refreshment will quite fit the bill
and, of course, you will quite enjoy me.
Yours truly. RSVP

-Aubrey Henslow





Tea Mind

Humilitea, Possibilitea, Qualitea, Solidaritea, Abilitea, Equalitea,
Individualitea, Serenitea, Insanitea, Confidentialitea, Vitalitea,
Creativitea, Sportea, Claritea, Realitea
Activitea, Longevitea, Impossibilitea, Familiaritea, Humanitea, Puritea,
Levitea, Longevitea, Immunitea, Digestabilitea, Electricitea, Sensualitea,
Femininitea,
Festivitea

- Adapted from: Letters to a Young Zentrepenur - The Republic of
Tea

On Drinking Tea Alone...


"In my own hands I hold a bowl of tea;


I see all of nature represented in its green color.


Closing my eyes I find green mountains and pure water within my own heart.


Silently sitting alone and drinking tea, I feel these become part of me."



Soshitsu Sen
Grand Master XIV
Urasenke School of Tea



On Drinking Tea With Friends...


"What is the most wonderful thing for people


like myself who follow the Way of Tea? My answer:


The oneness of host and guest,


created through 'meeting heart to heart',


and sharing a bowl of tea."



Soshitsu Sen
Grand Master XIV
Urasenke School of Tea

Tea Story: Lady Lavender and the Poison Tea
by Mike Bevel




"You are quite sure?"

"Would that I were not."

"Well... poo. This certainly changes everything." Lady Lavender Pekoe chewed absently on the tip of her carefully manicured fingernail. "The plan wasn't to kill Lord Neville, right? At least not right away. We're both clear on that?"

"I don't know that we necessarily had a plan, per se. 'Something with arsenic,' I believe, was as far as you got."

"How droll, Sebastian, this preemptive blame-pinning you've started. 'As far as you got.' Do be sure to mark that down in your appointment book: 'Today, I was crafty.'"

"Now, Monica-"

"Now nothing. You think you can make wild declarations of love to me - in my home - nay, in my and my husband's home-"

"But Monica, it was you who sedu-"

"-and then just sort of off-the-cuffly pin his poisoning on me? Do don't be stupid, Sebastian. With so few other charms to recommend you, don't be a spendthrift with your wits."

"Monica, I must insist-"

"Of course you must. It's what I fell in love with, your devil-may-care insisting. 'I insist, Monica, I must kiss you!' 'Monica, I insist that you accept this-" somewhat gaudy '-necklace.' 'Monica, I insist we must poison your husband's tea if we are ever to go about our lives being happy.'"

"I never insisted we poison Lord Neville's tea!"

"Really? How clumsy of me to have written so in my diary. And how even more clumsy of me to have lost it." Lady Lavender Pekoe traced the pattern of the mother-of-pearl inlay on the tea table that separated her from Sebastian. "How most clumsy of all, indeed, if someone who shouldn't should happen to find that diary."

The ticking of the clock on the mantle kept the room from being truly silent. Monica kept her gaze leveled on Sebastian. He reached in his pocket, pulled out a silver and turquoise cigarette case, and fished a lighter from the pocket of his waistcoat. "I have a diary, too, you know," he said.

"Of course you do. And where is this first-time-I've-ever-heard-of-it diary?"

"Don't worry about it, Monica. But I have one. And maybe I wrote in mine that at 9:27AM on Tuesday I espied the lovely and treacherous Lady Monica Lavender Pekoe adding drops of what appeared to be arsenic to Lord Lavender Pekoe's morning tea."

"You didn't."

"Can you be sure?"

"'Treacherous'? Sebastian, flattered though I am, if I believed for a moment that you even knew how to spell 'treacherous,' I might find myself feeling a modicum of soulful despair right at this moment. However, you can't even read the instructions on a pack of matches without furrowing your brow and moving your lips. You'll understand if I don't believe you and this mystery journal. Now. Are you absolutely positive he's dead?"

"To the best of my ability."

"Sebastian, you have no abilities. You felt his pulse? You did that mirror thing under his nose? I've seen Lord Neville sleeping and it had often given me hope of an early widowhood."

"For one thing, Monica, I do so have abilities, so I'll thank you very much for taking back that untrue sentiment. The boys at the club tell me all the time that I make a brilliant whiskey sour, and just the other day a stranger complimented me on my spats."

"Do try to make your second point germane to the death of my husband."

"Well, as far as that goes - he's an awfully unnatural color and he doesn't blink."

"He never does."

"What?"

"When he sleeps? He never blinks, though his eyes are open. It's most unnerving."

"Well, this looks more dead than unnerving."

"It couldn't be both? You don't think there should be something unnerving about a dead man in his bed? A man who has met his untimely end through murder and poison?"

"You confuse me sometimes with your muddled talking, Monica."

"Just... go in there a second time and really check to make sure that he's dead. I have to change the next step of our plan, now, since I wasn't planning on Lord Neville dying of poisoning."

"Then remind me again why we poisoned him?"

"The arsenic would weaken his heart and his constitution."

"So you did have a plan, all along!"

"Of course I had a plan all along you idiot. After several months of this, you were to take Lord Neville grouse hunting where something dreadfully frightening would happen. Lord Neville, then, would die of a heart attack or, as the police like to call it, natural causes. Then, I'm free and so is all of Lord Neville's money."

"You mean we're free, right?"

"Whatever. Just go and check on him. And see if Williams has any tea brewed."

Left alone, Lady Lavender Pekoe began to plot in earnest. Clearly something would have to be done with Mr. Sebastian Grey as well. She wasn't even sure why she had involved him in the first place, though he was incredibly good looking. Still, the world was full of attractive men and she, as the beautiful widow of a murdered millionaire would have no trouble at all in society. The rub, of course, was how to pin it on Sebastian without him having a chance to say anything.

Speaking of Sebastian, he was gone longer than Lady Lavender Pekoe was expecting. She was about to get up from her chair and look for him when he appeared in the doorway, holding the tea try with some cakes, biscuits, and two tea cups.

"Did you travel to China for the tea and the tea service?"

"I couldn't find Williams anywhere. Lemon?"

"Yes please. He's no doubt in the port cellar, supplementing his income. And Lord Neville?"

"I doubt he's with Williams, Monica."

"I know that. I mean is he really and truly dead?"

"I'd like to see something deader."

"Why?"

"Figure of speech."

"I don't like it."

"Anyway, he's dead all right. Cake?"

"No, thank you. This tea is dreadful. Did you brew it?"

"No."

"No? But I thought you said that Williams was nowhere to be found."

"He wasn't."

"Then where did you get the tea?"

"It was waiting there for me in the kitchen."

"It tastes like Early Grey mixed with... burnt almonds? Sebastian, how can you get tea wrong? It's only a short step away from water. How do you remember to breathe in and out, moment to moment?"

"Maybe if you added more sugar?"

Williams listened to the bickering from outside the door, a bottle marked 'arsenic' in one hand, the other holding back a malicious grin from his face. The forged will from Lord Lavender Pekoe, denouncing his wife as a philanderer and leaving everything to his "faithful servant, Williams," waited for him in his carrying case downstairs with the rest of his luggage. With Lord Lavender Pekoe out of the way, he'd only have to wait for the poisoned tea to take effect. Carefully placed notes would guide the police to poor, handsome, stupid Mr. Sebastian Grey's double murder/suicide. Williams's carefully laid plans would lead him to a quiet house by the seaside, where he would have to make tea for no one but himself.


P.S.: Lady Monica Lavender Pekoe did not die. However, Williams more than likely will. Later.

Tea Story: Reading Leaves
by Mike Bevel



Grandma Laverne saw signs and omens everywhere; in the way sheets flapped in the wind, in the number of cats that came to the backdoor, in how many times the morning newscaster brushed her hair off of her forehead.

"She needs a haircut," my mom would complain. "She's about to finish off my last nerve."

"Hush, Gaye. Three times means I'm going to get money by mail."

Grandma Laverne saw signs everywhere - but she was pretty much never right about them. She'd almost given up on her calling as an augury of things to come -- that is, until she found out about tealeaves.

Grandma Laverne had a tolerable relationship with her next-door neighbor, a woman she felt put on airs by replacing the spinning daisies in her front yard with one of those fake wishing wells. "That woman oughta wish that she don't drown next time it rains what with her nose so high in the air," Grandma Laverne said when the offending lawn decoration went up.

The neighbor traveled a lot, and Grandma Laverne would pick up the woman's mail and feed her cat. Her most recent trip took her to England, where she toured sites mentioned in most of the Jane Austen novels. As a token of appreciation, she brought Grandma Laverne a tin of tealeaves and a mug with a clock on it. "So you'll know when it's tea time," the neighbor explained.

"You got a cold or something? You sound funny."

"No."

"I know what it is. You sound like one of those fancy guys on the television from that channel that's always asking for money and showing the ballet."

That evening, while my mom cleared the supper dishes and washed the table, Grandma Laverne pulled her box of Lipton tea bags from off the pantry shelf. "You should make some of that tea your neighbor brought instead," mom suggested. "English tea might be better."

"It ain't in a bag," Grandma Laverne complained. "What the hell am I supposed to do with it?" She sniffed the leaves in the tin suspiciously. "Gaye, smell this."

"Maybe it's gone bad. Can tea leaves go bad?"

"This is why I don't like foreign things," Grandma Laverne said. "You don't have no idea what they've done with the stuff in their country. This smells like bark."

"Maybe it'll taste better, you know, brewed."

Grandma Laverne set the kettle on the stove, pulled down the mug her neighbor had given her ("So I know when it's time for tea," she explained. "But I guess anytime I put tea in this mug is when it's time for tea, so I don't see what use this clock here is.") and spooned a heaping tablespoon of the tealeaves into the cup. "I suppose that's how you do it," Grandma Laverne said. "I don't see no other way."

Once the kettle started whistling, Grandma Laverne turned the stove off. "It's now or never, Gaye. You ready for this?"

"I'll just get a couple bags of Liptons ready. You know. Just in case."

It didn't take long for the water in the mug to turn almost midnight black. Leaves swirled up from the bottom before settling back down again. "It smells better wet, I'll give it that," Grandma Laverne said. "Let's see how she tastes."

It wasn't a success. Grandma Laverne took a big swallow of tea and spat it out, taking the Lord's name in vain, as well as a few other choice words, along with it. "I had no idea she hated me so much. She must have heard me bad-mouth her damn wishing well," Grandma Laverne sputtered while dumping the contents of the mug into the sink. "I don't care how rude it is, I'm giving her that stuff back. And I'm not giving her cat anymore chicken livers."

Mama was boxing the tea tin up for Grandma Laverne. "Hold up a minute, Gaye. Come over here and take a look at this." She was peering into the kitchen sink. "What does that look like to you in there? The patterns in the leaves?" Mom, who wasn't much for future gazing, just shook her head slowly while seeing nothing more than a sepia-toned mess. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think those tea leaves were trying to tell me something." She put her face deep down in the sink, her nose inches above the clumps scattered no longer randomly. "I bet this means your cousin Chloe's baby's gonna have a clubfoot or something. Doesn't that look like a baby with club foot right there?" Grandma Laverne went to the hall closet to get the Polaroid camera. "You best go ahead and leave me those tea leaves here, Gaye. Ain't no telling what those leaves'll want to tell me next."

Chamomile Flower



Camomile Tea

Outside the sky is light with stars;
There's a hollow roaring from the sea.
And, alas! for the little almond flowers,
The wind is shaking the almond tree.

How little I thought, a year ago,
In the horrible cottage upon the Lee
That he and I should be sitting so
And sipping a cup of camomile tea.

Light as feathers the witches fly,
The horn of the moon is plain to see;
By a firefly under a jonquil flower
A goblin toasts a bumble-bee.

We might be fifty, we might be five,
So snug, so compact, so wise are we!
Under the kitchen-table leg
My knee is pressing against his knee.

Our shutters are shut, the fire is low,
The tap is dripping peacefully;
The saucepan shadows on the wall
Are black and round and plain to see.

-Katherine Mansfield

Camomile Flowers
Helps promote relaxation and smooth digestion. Also useful
to relieve baby's stomach pains.

Ingredient:
Camomile flowers

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Camomile wine (vin de camomile)

1 litre dry white wine
40 camomile flowers
40 sugar cubes
1 small glass rum
1/2 vanilla pod
Steep for 12 days. Filter and bottle




Camomile wine (Italian site)

1 litre sweet white wine
60 g dried camomile flowers
4 tbsp honey
20 g orange leaves
Warm 1/2 wine and dissolve honey. Steep botanicals for 30 minutes. Remove
orange leaves, add rest of wine and steep for 7 days. Filter and bottle. There
is no reason why you could not replace the wine with alcohol.

I'm A Little Teapot


I'm a little teapot short and stout;
(stick your tummy out and pretend you are very short)

Here is my handle
(place your hand on your hip, so your arm is a handle)

And here is my spout.
(Bend your other arm and hand like a spout)

When I get all steamed up,
then I shout:
Just tip me over and pour me out!

TEA POEMS


My Fragrant Cup of Tea
By Minna Irving, 1920


When I am tired of work or play,
And all my nerves are raw
With things I did, and things I said
And things I merely saw,
I hasten home and donning mules
And flowing negligee,
Get out the spirit lamp and make
A fragrant cup of tea.

I pour the steaming amber drink
In china thin and fine,
Gold banded, bordered daintily
With wild rose flower and vine,
Add cream and sugar or condensed,
And sipping slowly see
A film of far off scenes unroll,
The drama of the tea.

 



The Sense of Tea


I've drunk the mist that's squeezed from grapes
The searing wet of malt and mash
They mask the thoughts and dull the mind


When leaves are moistened and come to be
They tender the wealth that man calls tea


It slides with spiral steam above the vessel
To the mind like a serpent striking


The senses..touch, sight, smell
And when ingested..taste finally
Somehow it meets the soul with which it conjoins


Raising the memories of long ago
That have somehow been forgotten


© Copyright 12/2000 by M.R. (Dixie) Wietrzykowski



Teatime with God




"Come in," God said. "So, you would like to have tea with Me?"


"If you have the time," I said.


God smiled and said, "My time is eternity and is enough to do everything;
what questions do you have in mind to ask me?"


"What surprises you most about mankind?"


God answered, as we sipped our tea,


"-That they get bored of being children, are in a rush to grow up,
and then long to be children again.


-That they lose their health to make money and then lose their
money to restore their health.


-That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present,
such that they live neither for the present nor the future.


-That they live as if they will never die, and they die as if they had never lived."


God's hands took mine and we were silent for a while and then I asked, "As a
parent, what are some of life's lessons you want your children to learn?"


God asked, more tea and replied with a smile,


"-To learn that they cannot make anyone love them. What they can
do is to let themselves be loved.


-To learn that what is most valuable is not what they have in their
lives, but who they have in their lives.


-To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others. All will be
judged individually on their own merits, not as a group on a comparison basis!


-To learn that a rich person is not the one who has the most,
but is one who needs the least.


-To learn that it only takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in
persons we love, and that it takes many years to heal them.


-To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness.


-To learn that there are persons who love them dearly, but simply do not
know how to express or show their feelings.


-To learn that money can buy everything but happiness.


-To learn that two people can look at the same thing and see it totally different.


-To learn that a true friend is someone who knows everything
about them, and likes them anyway.


-To learn that it is not always enough that they be forgiven by others,
but that they have to forgive themselves."


I sat there for awhile enjoying the moment sipping tea with God. I thanked Him
for His time and for all that He has done for me and my family,


He replied, "Come for tea anytime.
I'm here 24 hours a day.
All you have to do is ask for me, and I'll answer and put the kettle on."


People will forget what you said.
People will forget what you did,
but People will never forget how you made them feel,
the time spent in friendship over a cup of tea.


Lady Tea



Remembering Tea


I'm sitting here remembering


While on my Arma's knee


Dipping a piece of bread


In a cup of milk and tea


Since then I've traveled


Far and wide and even crossed the sea


But my fondest memories will always be


Of a cup of Arma's tea



© Copyright M.R. (Dixie) Wietrzykowski 12/2/2000




A Day Of Tea


I like a nice cup of tea in the morning,
For the start of the day you see,
And at half past eleven,
For my idea of heaven,
Is a nice cup of tea.


I like a nice cup of tea with my dinner,
And a nice cup of tea with my tea.


And when it's time for bed,
There's a lot to be said,
For a nice cup of tea!


© Copyright By A.P. Herbert



The Tea Cup


The rising sun, flickered through the bare
branches of the trees.


A few birds perched on the branches.


Free.


She sat there looking, pondering, wondering.


Her fingers, wrapped around the cinnamon
stick, stirring her tea.


She thought about her life, she yearned to
free, as she raised to her lips,


The cup of tea.


Author Unknown

A lame cartoon with a lame joke.






62 Cups of Tea



Joe: Did you hear the one about the indian who drank 62 cups
of tea?

Fred: No. What happened to him?

Joe: They found him dead the next morning in his teepee.

 

Jasmine Tea Liqueur

This is a very nice after dinner liqueur, but you may drink it any time you
want to. If the tea flavor is too strong, try steeping for a shorter time,
cutting down on the amount, etc. Likewise, the amount of sugar may be a bit
excessive for many tastes, so experiment.
Ingredients:
1 pint, dark rum
1/2 cup, jasmine tea
1 cup, sugar syrup
Procedure:
Steep the tea in the rum for 24 hours, and remove. Make the sugar syrup by
boiling 1 cup of sugar in 1/2 cup of water (it will be VERY thick). When the
syrup cools, add to the rum. It's ready to drink immediately.


Cucumber Sandwiches


Cucumbers
Thin sliced white bread
Whipped cream cheese or unsalted butter softened
Salt

Peel cucumbers and slice very thin. Sprinkle the slices with a little salt and lay on paper towels to drain. For each sandwich spread a little cream cheese or butter on two slices of bread. Layer the cucumber slices on one slice of bread (no thicker than 1/4 inch) Cut crust off sandwiches and then cut into squares, triangles or other fun shapes using cookie cutters.


 
Watercress Sandwiches 


Butter thin sliced white or rye bread and fill with watercress leaves.  Cut into squares, arrange on plate, and garnish with watercress.

I don't know if someone has posted something like this already-- Many Indians (myself included) like to make tea with cardamom and milk. Just heat a cup of water and put in a red/black tea (I use Assam tea), milk and crushed cardamom. Bring the mixture to boil and strain the cardamom and tea out, and add sugar (depending on your taste of course). Sorry, I never take measurements!
Sometimes people like to put in cloves along with the cardamom. And a Kashmiri method of making tea is to just soak almonds in a red/black tea -- no milk or sugar. Tea is so yummy.

Thank you sagar.

You posted it first, nice recipe.

Even Aliens have tea partys.

Take a Tea break, and play some games.

http://www.teagames.com/games/bumperkarts/play.php

http://www.teagames.com/games/hoops/play.php

http://www.teagames.com/games/airhockey/play.php

http://www.teagames.com/games/3dpool/play.php

http://www.teagames.com/games/tabletennis/play.php

http://www.teagames.com/games/eagleeye/play.php

AE - if you haven't gone to Teany - you've got to! We went for breakfast yesterday. It was great - I'll go back there for afternoon tea the next time I'm in New York.

I brought back a little container of their Masala Chai - one of about 100 varieties of tea they offer in their shop.

I was just thinking about it today, I do plan to go soon. Maybe with my friends that are coming over from California. Go to Teany's for breakfast, and to Çhe Josephine's for dinner.

You sound like you had a great time in NY.

Do Chez Josephine for lunch if you can - take advantage of the prix fixe offering.

~~~~~

It was fantastic - I was missing you when I was at Teany - the timing was great - people going into the temple across the street for New Year's - coupla gorgeous cops waiting to go on duty there a few tables over - the whole East Village vibe <coulda done with a bit less rain when we were hunting for the 6 Uptown at Spring Street>.

KK, thanks ehBeth. Thats my train the 6, Lexington line. Ah, it's nice to be missed. I missed all you guys too. I'm so glad you were able to help Kicky too.

I'm going to be away for about three days too. From Saturday to maybe Monday evening or Tuesday. Some friends are arriving Saturday morning from California to spend a few days with us, and we are going to be doing a lot of hanging out.

New England Tea



La CourTisane" fruity varieties can be enjoyed iced; they are Blueberry,
Star Fruit, Orange Caprice, Mango, Wild Blackberries, Passion Fruit,
William Pear, Lemon, and Cranberry.



Blueberry
The Blueberry herbal tea, packed with antioxidants, combines blueberry fruit, blueberry leaves with the elderberry. The light purple colour of the infusion is typical of blueberry. Its floral and fruity taste feels like biting into a freshly picked blueberry.

Ingredient:
Blueberry leaves, rosehips, hibiscus flowers, lemongrass, orange leaves, orange peels, natural flavours, lemon peels, red poppy flowers, blueberries, elderberries.



Star Fruit
Extravagant and unique, the Star Fruit herbal tea is easily recognisable by its five angles, quite similar to a star. The pale yellow colour of the infusion resemble that of the skin of the fruit. Served iced, with a slightly acidulous taste, this herbal tea proves to be thirst quenching.

Ingredient:
Orange leaves, rosehips, apple granules, orange peels, natural flavours, roasted chicory root, citric acid, licorice root.



Cranberry
Its Native name is "Atoca"; unique taste with lots of virtues.
Diuretic and urinary antiseptic, it also helps promote
relaxation.

Ingredients
Hibiscus flowers, Citronella herb, Birch leaves, Natural flavors, Juniper berries,
Citric acid, Rosehips, Cinnamon bark, Red poppy flowers, Star anise,
Licorice root, Cloves, Cranberry



Gentle Evening
A well deserved relaxing moment; a peaceful and restorative sleep.

Ingredients:
Camomile flowers, Citronella herb, Spearmint leaves, Hibiscus flowers,
Scullcap herb, Cinnamon bark, Natural flavors, Orange flowers,
Red poppy flowers



Lemon
A zest of freshness in your cup. Possesses antiseptic,
antirhumatismal and depurative virtues.

Ingredients:
Citronella herb, Rosehips, Verbena leaves, Orange peels, Natural flavors,
Citric acid, Lemon peels, Roasted chicory root



Linden Flower
Acquire the taste of this "Provencal" summer bouquet.
Antispasmodic and sedative, it calms and eases sleep.

Ingredient:
Linden flowers



Mango
A mild laxative with a natural taste of mango.

Ingredients:
Apple granules, Hibiscus flowers, Rosehips, Orange peels, Natural flavors,
Cinnamon bark, Citric acid, Buckthorn bark, Licorice root.



Orange Caprice
Ideal to start the day with liveliness. A caffeine free stimulant,
a refreshing and different experience.


Ingredients:
Hibiscus flowers, Roasted chicory root, Lemon peels, Citronella herb,
Orange peels, Natural flavors, Gotu kola herb, Citric acid, Licorice root.



Passionfruit
The irresistible taste of passion...you will yield to temptation!
Anti-inflammatory and diuretic, it also has mild laxative properties.

Ingredients:
Rosehips, Hibiscus flowers, Apple granules, Orange peels,
Natural flavors, Citric acid.



Refreshing Mint
This classic infusion soothes digestion problems and
headaches.


Ingredients:
Spearmint leaves, Peppermint leaves



Verbena
The ancients pretend that...to its contact, wishes come true.
Possesses calming and digestive proprieties.

Ingredient:
Verbena leaves


William Pear
A delicious variety with depurative proprieties, eases
toxins elimination.

Ingredients:
Sarsaparilla root, Natural flavors, Citric acid,
Roasted chicory root, Citronella herb,
Rosehips, Apple granules, Licorice root



Wild Blackberries
The refined taste of fruits and flowers. An excellent diuretic
depurative.

Ingredients
Hibiscus flowers, Rosehips, Apple granules, Citronella herb, Natural flavors,
Blackberry leaves, Orange peels, Cinnamon Bark, Red poppy flowers,
Citric acid, Licorice root