I Won the SaChasi Blends Giveaway

Back at the end of February a friend entered a SaChasi blends giveaway and I decided to as well. Part of the entry was to share what else have you used tea for and I replied that I have used it for my dry or irritated skin, made a hair rinse, and have baked quite a few tea-infused items: such as Crispy, Chewy, Matcha Green Tea Cookies; The Picture of Earl Grey Tea Cookies; Lavender Earl Grey Tea Shortbread Cookies; Cranberry-Spice Scones; Lavender and Earl Grey Scones; Cranberry Chai Scones; and Brown Butter Matcha Brownies.

Unfortunately, after I won I realized I hadn’t paid attention to the giveaway rules and that it was actually only open to UK residents. I apologized and said I would understand if they would need to choose another winner, as it was clearly my fault for not reading the rules correctly. However, they decided to send me my giveaway prize in exchange for a review. You know me and free, I just can’t resist.

I ended up winning a sample bag of Maple Pecan Pie Tea.

A slice of heaven. Famous for serving a sweet, buttery crunch with every glazed, nutty bite – our Sri Lankan black tea and wholesome rooibos perfectly recaptures this delicious North American dessert. All intricately enhanced with a sprinkling of indulgent, yet bountiful, carob and creamy lucuma.

SaChasi Maple Pecan Pie Tea

Ingredients: Ceylon black tea (Orange Pekoe), rooibos, dried apple, dates (rice flour), organic cacao husks, organic carob powder & lucuma powder, pau d’arco, vanilla powder, orange blossom and natural flavouring

I tried the tea and I really enjoyed it. I thought it was delicious, comforting, sweet, and a little nutty. I have to say this tasted much better than a lot of other pie flavored teas I’ve had before. A lot of pie flavored teas are either extremely weak and need multiple teaspoons or tablespoons like the Pinky Up brand. SaChasi gave you a full flavored tea that didn’t require adding extra amounts of loose leaf to your tea cup/infuser.

Prices range from $4 for a sample size (20g) to $8 for 50g and $16 for 100g.

As Wednesdays we have tea (one of my book clubs meets on Wednesdays) I decided to share the tea with the other members.

Two of us members loved the tea while the other two thought it was a great Pecan Pie Tea, but could use extra maple pieces or maple sweetener to really make it pop for them.

I still thoroughly enjoyed it and drank most of the pot all by myself! (Sorry book club members, once I start drinking tea it can be hard to stop).

For more giveaway posts, go to I Won the Ellery Adams’ September 2020 Giveaway + My Review of the First Two Books in the Secret, Book, and Scone Society Series

For more tea posts, go to Magical Matcha Latte

A few years back I was given a collection of five teas, A World of Teas. As I was about to try them out, I started thinking: which books would best suit these teas? After all, nothing goes together better than a good book and a delicious cup of tea.

Thats me

Since then I try my best to repeat it whenever I review new teas. 🙂

Let’s spill the tea.

I was trying to think of which book best went with this tea. I needed something comforting (a comforting read), something that was relaxing but sweet and fun; along with having a few nutty characters thrown in there…and finally decided this tea paired perfectly with Emma.

For those of you who haven’t read it, Emma is the story of a girl who has been mistress of her house and doted on by her father. After her governess marries (a match she believes she put together) she becomes bored and intends on trying her hand at matchmaking. She pygmalions her new acquaintance, Harriet Smith, and plans to set her up with the new minister. Things do not go according to plan as her matches do not take hold and her “creation” takes a life of their own.

For me Emma is a fun comedy (although it does have its dramatic parts) with quite a few nutty characters and situations. We have Emma’s failed matchmaking, Miss Bates’ silly chatter, Mr. Woodhouse hypochondria, etc. Everyone in the book is guilty of being silly at one point or another.

For me it is a comforting read and even though Mr. Woodhouse wouldn’t approve of the sweetness of maple pecan pie; when I drank the tea it made me think of spending a chilly day by a fire (or heater), and the following quote popped in my head:

For more Emma, go to The Emma Project

On Me Next Thousandth Birthday, I’ll Stalk Your Fairest Offspring and Claim Her As Me Bride!: Leprechaun 2 (1994)

A curse be placed upon your seed, William O’Day. You may have saved your daughter, but on me next thousandth birthday, I’ll stalk your fairest offspring and claim her as me bride! Ha ha ha ha ha! Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

Back in 2017 October had a Friday the 13th and I was excited as I planned to review the second installment of the Friday the 13th franchise, Friday the 13th Part II

Then I had the idea, why not make every Friday a slasher film? I could review Psycho II, Halloween II, and Nightmare on Elm Street II. Unfortunately, a lot of things happened that year, the biggest issue being that my charge stopped working and the new one didn’t come in until much too late. I never finished that Horrorfest and I didn’t complete the four slasher film reviews I had been planning.

I then decided that I would just try to review the other two films in the years leading up to another Friday the 13th in October. After all it was happening again in 2023, that was plenty of time to review the films. Right?

Majorly

Yep it’s 2022 and I have failed to review the other films. I’m planning on still reviewing Halloween II, but I don’t have time to watch a movie I haven’t seen before, Nightmare on Elm Street II, as I have so little time these days. So I decided I would have to replace that slasher franchise with another one, but which one?

Hmm…

I started going through a slasher film list alphabetically and looking for a movie franchise where I had already reviewed the first film, seen the second and could review it, and had a third film for next year. When I hit the “L”s I saw the Leprechaun film franchise and even thought I dislike both films, it fit my requirements. That’s why it’s here and will be back again next year.

Leprechaun is a terrible film and the sequel is just as bad. In fact the only reason I have seen it is my friend and I watched it a few years ago to make fun of it. We had a “green food” themed Saint Patrick’s Day of which I made Irish Soda Bread (none green) and Brown Butter Matcha Brownies.

But enough of that, let’s get on to reviewing this travesty.

This is the only film in the Leprechaun franchise to take place on St. Patrick’s Day. Odd isn’t that? Originally the film was pitched with the Leprechaun searching for his bride, and tricking Tory (Jennifer Aniston) into marrying him. They reached out to Aniston, but she declined. Good choice.

Very smart decision

The film starts off in 994 on the Leprechaun’s 1000th birthday. He tells his slave that he has found the perfect bride and will free him once he is married. The slave, William O’Day, is happy at first, but then horrified to see that the bride is his daughter. The Leprechaun tells O’Day that if his daughter sneezes three times without someone saying “bless you” she will forevermore be his.

Yes someone was paid big bucks for that plot point.

Of course she sneezes, dad says bless you, she’s free and the leprechaun has to wait another 1000 years to try and marry again. Why? I don’t know.

The Leprechaun is angry that O’Day foiled his plans (although it’s his own fault since he told him, rookie mistake); curses O’Day and kills him.

We then fast forward 1000 years to L. A., 1994, and of course it is also Saint Patrick’s Day. The Leprechaun will be able to come back even though they killed it in the previous film. I hate when they do that, at least Halloween Michael Myers was also supposed to be the embodiment of evil and therefore unkilliable.

Anyways, our main characters in this is the unlikable and I don’t really care about Cody who works with his uncle on giving “dark death” tours of L.A. in a hearse. He was supposed to go out with his girlfriend, Bridget O’Day, (yep you guessed it, a descendant) but cancels when his uncle is too drunk to drive. She’s angry ant him always dropping their dates and decides to hang at the go-kart place with a guy who has a crush on her, Ian.

Meanwhile, the Leprechaun has woken up and come out of a tree that was at the home of Harry Houdini. He starts his reign of terror by stealing a man’s gold tooth.

Back with Bridget she’s been flirting all night with Ian who takes her home. He turns out to not be a nice guy as he tries to force himself on her, Bridget punching him to get away. After she goes inside, he sees her in the garage beckoning him over. Of course it’s not really her, obvious to any woman, but Ian’s not thinking with his brain, and it turns out the Leprechaun has disguised a mower and kills Ian with it.

Bridget doesn’t hear any of this, odd as his screams were super load and a mower is also not quiet; when Cody comes by to apologize with flowers. Bridget is happy but starts sneezing (as the Leprechaun is trying to claim her), but when Cody tries to say God Bless You, he starts to be strangled by a phone cord. They fight and the Leprechaun takes off with Bridget, but accidentally drops a gold coin.

From Clueless

The Leprechaun is furious as he’s greedy and can’t spare to loose a single piece of his treasure. He sets off to get it back. Meanwhile the police suspect Cody of Ian’s murder and Bridget disappearance. He runs away and begs his uncle for advice. Morty just happens to have an overdue library book on leprechauns.

They read about the Bride search and that cast iron is the Leprechaun’s weakness. The Leprechaun attacks Cody, he’s managed to be okay and he makes a deal with the Leprechaun to trade the coin for the girl. Morty intervenes and challenges the Leprechaun to a drinking contest, and wins. Meanwhile, Cody sneaks to the go-kart racing place and steals the cast iron safe. They manage to trick the Leprechaun into the case and win. It’s over!

Just kidding. Morty double crosses them and locks Cody in the closet. He demands the Leprechaun give him his pot of gold, which the Leprechaun does…only he makes it appear in Morty’s stomach.

The Leprechaun tricks Morty into letting him free and takes the gold out like he promised, killing the Morty in the process. The Leprechaun and Cody fight, the Leprechaun trying to run Cody over with a go-kart.

But Cody can’t die as long as he has the coin. Cody heads out to save his girl. When he gets to the lair he fight the skeletal slave O’Day. They then have to escape the labyrinth, but are separated. When Cody finds Bridget, she asks him for the coin, which he gives her. Rookie mistake as it turns out to be the Leprechaun.

But that’s okay, if turns out to be a chocolate coin. Cody kills the Leprechaun, and they all live happily ever after…that is until the third film.

Or is it? It isn’t, there are more films to come.

For more Leprechaun, go to What the H*** Are You? I’m a Leprechaun, Me Dear: Leprechaun (1993)

Brown Butter Matcha Brownies

Do you love Matcha? I do!

And I’m always on the lookout for a new matcha recipe. I discovered this brown butter matcha brownie recipe on Cooking Therapy, last year around Saint Patrick’s day and thought it would be perfect it makes as it is green. Unfortunately, they were out of white chocolate chips and I had to use regular chocolate. It tasted good, but didn’t look very matcha-y. I decided to try it again and make sure this time I had white chocolate.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup unsalted butter browned
• 4 oz white chocolate
• 2 tbsp matcha powder
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup light brown sugar
• 3 eggs room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• ¼ tsp flaky salt optional

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease a 8×8 baking pan with butter and line with parchment paper. Set aside.
3. Heat the butter over high heat until it melts. Lower the heat to low. Heat the butter until small brown bits start to appear. Remove from the stove.
4. Add white chocolate and matcha powder to a small bowl. Pour the brown butter over the top and stir until all the chocolate melts. Let the mixture cool for 2 minutes.
5. In large bowl, combine granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt. Beat with a hand mixer or stand mixer until thick and creamy (5-10 minutes).
6. While mixing, stream in your matcha chocolate ganache from step 4. Whisk until a uniform green batter appears.
7. Lastly, sift your flour into the bowl. Using a spatula, gently fold the flour into the batter using a until a green batter forms.
8. Spoon into your prepared baking pan.
9. Bake for 20-30 minutes.
10. Take out the brownies and slam them on the counter to get rid of some the air. Sprinkle some flaky sea salt over the top and put the brownies back in the oven. Bake for another 10 minutes.
11. Let cool for 20 minutes before serving.

This was absolutely delicious and I cannot stop eating it. I had to give it away to family it is so good.

Cannot stop!

For more Matcha recipes, go to Blueberry Matcha Smoothie

For more desserts, go to Applesauce Cake

For more recipes, go to Twice Baked Potatoes