I Tried Madsen Creations’ Reusable Cloth Teabags

 

MadsenCreations gave me this reusable teabag in exchange for an honest review. 

So when I first heard “cloth teabag” I wasn’t quite sure. We all know what happened the last time I experimented with a different kind of tea bag.

I also had a few other qualms, being cloth wouldn’t the dye get into the tea? MadsenCreations assured me that she pre-washes every one so there won’t be any issue with that.

Hmm…

I was also wondering about the bags keeping the tea inside as you just tie them closed instead of having a built in closure. But she assured me that you fold it over twice and nothing would come out.

Hmm…

I also wasn’t sure if they would work for repeated usage as I don’t drink just one cup of tea, and when I do it is actually the size of two cups. Wouldn’t it stain the bag? Wouldn’t it be hard to get the leaves out? Madsen Creations told me that each bag holds 4 tsp of tea, so plenty for me. She also said that the rounded edges makes it easy to clean out. Dump the leaves, rinse, and let the bag dry or drop in you washing machine. 

I loved that as I have several infusers and the one I use the least is the one that is pointy on top as it is hard to get the leaves out.

Also being cloth I realized this would be perfect for any size cup or teapot. It can easily work for any cup you have or squish into a teapot with a small opening. And holding 4 tsp, it is perfect for a tea party. 

So I brewed myself a cup and tested it out.

This works fantastic.

It is super easy to use, just put your tea in, roll the top over twice and tie it up. Steep the amount you need to, clean out the tea, rinse, and you are good to go. You can wash it in the washing machine or hand wash in the sink.

Now I really like to drink tea, so after rinsing my teabag of the leaves I just leave it out to dry on my drying rack. Then the next day I use it again.

I’ve been taking it to work every day as it is so nice to not worry about my infuser getting crushed in my bag, spilling the tea out, or having to take a tin and teaspoon. I just pack it with tea in the morning, put it in the pocket of my bag and then use it at lunch. I bring it back in my washed lunch container and let it dry, then repeat for the next day.

The other really nice thing about this is that the teabag floats, so if you have a tall glass or mug you are using, it is really easy to remove when it is finished steeping.

This also is great when you are at the end of your tea. Often the last bit of tea in the tin is too small and comes out of your infuser when it is steeping. With this cloth one you won’t waste any tea as you can use up the very last bit of it. 

These also make cute gifts or favors as you could pack a friend some tea to try. 

Right now she has the options of getting four for $10 and they come in Harry Potter, Frozen, Star Wars, Justice League, and Care Bears; but you can always DM her and request a specific one. 

I highly recommend it for any tea fan. If you love tea, add one of these to your collection of infusers.  

For more tea posts, go to Lavender and Earl Grey Scones

For more on Madsen Creations, go to I Won the Madsen Creations Giveaway

For more on tea accessories, go to How to Clean Your Tea Infusers

In other news, I will be taking a small vacation and won’t be posting on here for the week. I still will be on Instagram, and tiktok (I have quite a few ideas I want to post)

Green Tea Frappuccino

So I know some of you are thinking…uh didn’t you say you were going to resume reviewing Rational Creatures?

You are all 100% right. However, this weekend I left the hot three digit heat to visit my friend in cool, comfortable degree weather-San Jose.

I was hoping to have the next installment of Rational Creatures ready but it’s isn’t and I don’t want to post a lackluster review for a book that I have been enjoying. So instead I thought I would pause and share a yummy tea recipe that will help you beat this summer (it’s not fall in California until October) heat.

This recipe comes from my sister blog, MysteriousEats, and is a way to make a homemade Green Tea Frappuccino which stars one of my favorite teas:

So I mentioned in Matcha, Matcha, Matcha that my niece and I would go on these faux-around the world trips. One day she wanted to go to Japan so I planned a trip around town and then we ended the day with the tea ceremony. As I had leftover Matcha and I love the Starbucks Green Tea Frappuccino-it was a no brainer to use my sister blog’s recipe and make my own.

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup of Ice Cubes (Less than 10)
• 1 Scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream
• 1 Cup of Milk
• 1 Tablespoon + 1 Teaspoon of Sugar
• 2 Teaspoons of Matcha Green Tea Powder
• 1/8 Teaspoon of Vanilla or Vanilla Extract
• Xanthan Gum (Optional)
• Whipped Cream (Optional)

Directions:

1. Add all the ingredients in a blender.
2. Pulse and blend on high until thorough.
3. Add whipped cream if you want.

It’s absolutely delicious!

For more tea posts, go to I Won the Regency Marketplace Giveaway

For more Mysterious Eats recipes, go to Cheese Round

For more recipes, go to Matcha, Matcha, Matcha

For more Jane Austen quotes, go to Rational Creatures: Elizabeth & Charlotte

I Won the Regency Marketplace Giveaway

So if you have been following me for a while, you know how I feel about free things.

So I just cannot resist a giveaway-anytime I see one I have to enter it.

They are calling to me…

I have been following  Regency Marketplace on Instagram and love their stuff. When I saw the giveaway I had to enter.

I don’t remember if I was tagged first and then tagged others or if I saw it and then tagged friends, but however it happened, I entered and won.

I won two teas and a tea infuser. Of the teas, I had the option of:

• English Breakfast Tea Bags
• Jasmine Green Tea Bags
• Irish Breakfast Loose Leaf Tea
• West Indies Citrus

I can have a hard time making choices…(you should see me in restaurants)

Which way should I choose?

So I asked the proprietress to send me any of them and then settled in to wait.

I was a little anxious about when it would come as it has been soooooooo hot here. Like EXTREME heat, 98 to 100s, and I didn’t want it sitting in the mailbox all day.

It took about a week to get to me from Colorado to California, which is really great for a giveaway (others I have won have taken much, much longer.)

The  package was wrapped in a beautiful flowered envelope:

And when I opened it (video on facebook, twitter, and instagram) I saw I had won two Oliver Pluff & Company teas: Jasmine Green and English Breakfast.

So I decided to try them out with my mom and get her opinion as well. I even pulled out my teacups for the special occasion. First came English Breakfast Tea. 

My mom loved it and thought it was good, even though black teas aren’t her favorite. I LOVED it!

I don’t really drink a lot of English Breakfast Tea as a lot of the ones I have tried in the past have had a strange, acidic aftertaste.

Meh.

But this one was fantastic. I drank two cups, and ended up taking the tea canister to work so I could have it on my break.

The second one was Jasmine Green Tea.

My mom tried this one and really loved it as green tea is something she drinks often. I poured the tea for myself and put some sugar in and drank it, and wowee, boy was that sweet.

The tea was very good and didn’t need any added sugar as it was plenty sweet on its own. I am currently using it to cold brew some iced tea.

The tea infuser was beautiful and so easy to clean! (Those of you who brew loose leaf tea know what I am talking about.) I scooped out the leaves, rinsed it, and it was good to go for another brew. I also love how it has a little cup to set the infuser in and capture extra water/tea and keep it from staining your plates or counter.

So I love what I won in my giveaway, and I know for a fact I will be entering any future ones and will be checking out the store.

For more tea posts, go to Clean Cup! Clean Cup! Move Down, Move Down, Move DOOOWWWNN!!!!!

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 the teas? After all nothing goes together better than a good book and a delicious tea. I decided to repeat it with these two teas. After all:

Tea #1: English Breakfast Tea

So like I said, I’m a bit wary/particular with my English Breakfast Tea as in the past I haven’t had the best ones. But I was WOWED by this one. Hmm…so a book that I didn’t think I would like, but just absolutely loved?

I saw this book and was grabbed by the eccentricity of the title. Potato peel pie society? When I saw that it was an epistolary book, I was also a little hesitant as sometime they can be amazing, but they can also be very boring or make you feel like a voyeur. When I read this book, I was WOWED by it. I couldn’t stop reading and enjoyed it so much I made my book club read it. (I promise that I will do a full review soon!)

Juliet is an author in post-WWII London trying to figure out her next book, but having terrible writer’s block. She receives a letter one day from a Dawsey Adams on Guernsey Island who is writing to her as he purchased a used book and it had her name and address in it. The two exchange letters and Juliet learns about life on Guernsey Island during WWII and how reading and their literary society saved them during the German occupation. Soon she is receiving letters from all the literary members and their stories have such an impact on her, she heads to the island to meet them and write about them.

Like the English Breakfast Tea, this book happily surprised me!

Tea #2 Jasmine Green Tea

So this was harder…this tea was sweeter than I thought it would be, and extremely tasty…after thinking on it I went with

Rachel Snow has never had a good relationship with her father, and when he kicked her out as a teenager-her relationship with her sister suffered as well. Now her mother has dementia and Rachel is declared the power of attorney; not only does she finds herself at odds with her father again, but happily closer to her sister as they try to solve a mystery about a book her mother had. In between the sisters of Snow, the book tells the story of the legendary female samurai, Tomoe Gozen who lead the army in Yoshinaka’s military, along with being his concubine. When Yoshinaka marries a girl from court, Yamabuki, Tomoe resents everything about her. But as the two spend more time together, they grow to become sisters of the Heart; and discover that both hold traits that help each be stronger.

Just like the tea, I didn’t expect the book to be as sweet as it was and enjoyed both.

For more on Sisters of Heart and Snow, check out my sister blog From Print to Screen

Women are Like Werewolves

So I’m back from my mini vacation with my niece, and my review of the second half of The Buccaneers, isn’t finished. So we will have a brief intermission with this post.

Have you ever noticed that women are like werewolves?

Huh?

I know some of you might find it weird, rude, and possibly offensive for me to suggest it-but hear me out. I have shared this on twitter before-but thought I would go a bit more in-depth on here.

So I’m on my period, and I’ve talked about this before-it sucks.

Yep, that pretty much sums it up.

And every time it comes the same thought enters my mind. A woman on her period is like a werewolf.

So werewolves-they are affected by a full moon which happens to be about 4-6 days once a month (sometimes two if the days fall a certain way.)

Women have their period once a month (sometimes two if the month falls a certain way or stressful situations arise) and it lasts about 4-7 days. Hmm…

Hmm…

When a werewolf changes he has no control over his emotions or body. They get hairy, larger, claws, etc They can’t fit in their clothes right-it seems like none of the tops ever fit, only the pants-barely.

And for us ladies on our period-acne, aches and pains, I always feel I’m more hairier, and I feel gigantic in everything. I can’t go clothes shopping as I’m bloated and there are certain clothes that do not fit.

Ugh!

And it isn’t a painless process either. Like I hate modern adaptions where the werewolves change and it is no sweat, in legend and original films the transformation was a painful thing.

And same for us ladies. Every time my period comes, constant pain.

No joke this enters m mind every month

Not to mention the anger. Original werewolf tales-angry, furious, and can’t control it.

I Was a Teenage Werewolf

When I’m on my period-watch out!

When one is transformed into a werewolf, they crave strange substances-human blood, flesh, raw meat…

And I don’t know about you, but when I’m on my period I start craving the strangest things. I’m not really a sugar person but on my period all I can think of is candy, cake, pie, brownies, etc. And I’m not a big meat eater-mostly vegetarian, but whenever my period comes-I’m dreaming of steak, burgers, pepperoni and sausage pizza, etc. And I want to eat all the time.

I know some of you think I’m crazy, but I’m not.

I just think us women are like werewolves.

I hope you all enjoyed this silly post, and of you have anything for me to add, leave a comment.

For more werewolf posts, go to Mr. Hyde Versus the Werewolf: Dr. Jekyll Versus the Werewolf (1972)

For more period posts, go to Period Days are Reading Days

 

Scottish Oatcakes

I was cleaning out my old room at my parent’s house and I found a pile of papers with recipes on it.

What is this?

I have no clue where this came from, but it sounded good and easy to make. And perfect for tea! (You know me, I’m always looking for something new for tea time.)

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup of Rolled Oats
• 1/3 Cup of Flour
• 1/2 Tsp of Sugar
• 1/4 Tsp of Salt
• 1/4 Tsp of Baking Soda
• 1/4 Cup of Unsalted Butter, Cut into Pieces
• 2-3 Tbsps of Water
• Honey (Optional)
• Marmalade (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat Oven to 325 degrees F
2. In a food processor fitted with metal blades, process oats to a fine meal.
3. Add the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and butter.
4. Process briefly to mix well.
5. With motor running add 2-3 tbsps of water and process 20 seconds to form a crumbly dough.
6. Add as much water as needed to achieve the desired texture.
7. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface.
8. Knead a couple of times to incorporate any crumbs, then form into a ball.
9. Cut in half.
10. Using a rolling pin, roll out each half into rounds 6 inches wide an 1/4 inch thick.
11. Crimp edges with your finger and thumb to make a fluted border.
12. Using a metal spatula, transfer he rounds to a baking sheet and cut into four equal wedges. separate the wedges slightly then prick the top of each one 3 or 4 times with a fork.
13. Bake until pale and tan and no longer soft (about 25-30 mins)
14. Transfer the oatcakes to a wire rack to cool.
15. Serve with honey or marmalade, if desired.
16. Makes about 8.

So the first one is when I didn’t pay close attention to the recipe, while the second is from following the directions.

These were fantastic! So good, and perfect with your tea!

I would ground the oats in the processor or blender, but when you get to the water just put it in a bowl and use your hands.  Otherwise, delicious!

For more recipes, go to Earl Grey Infused Blueberry Smoothie

For more items to go with your cup of tea, go to Carrot Oatmeal Muffins