How to Clean Your Tea Infusers

If you are a tea addict, or teaddict, like me, you drink a lot of tea.

And when you drink as much tea as I do, your tea infuser gets all gross and brown and embarrassing for people to see.

But I have found a way to clean them. On the box that my forlife teapot came in said to use baking soda and warm water.

Huh

Not super clear, so I went online and cruised a few pages for a little more info:

1. Put some baking soda on the areas affected. Then add a little warm water so it is pastelike.
2. Scrub the areas with the paste, adding more baking soda if needed.

Voila! It looks amazing.

I’ve had this infuser like 4 years now and it looks brand spanking new. Amazing!

This one I’ve had even longer, and it was horribly brown and look at it now!

I just wish I had taken a before picture for you all so you could see it. I’m kicking myself as this is amazing, baking soda is amazing!

Wow!

And it will help all you tea lovers keep their tea things nice and clean.

For more tea posts, go to Cucumber Aioli Canapés

For more tea love, go to Mug o’ Tea Treats Christmas Gift

The Magician’s Nephew Tea Party/Book Club: Cucumber-Four Peppercorn Goat Cheese Canapés

So every Wednesday, starting in October, I have been a part of a Tea Party/Bible Study/Book Club on The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis. This is different from my book club and the Book Club Picks I have been reviewing (and desperately need to catch up on). The first week we had Cederberg Tea Company Rooibos + Ginger Tea, Cranberry-Spice Scones with Maple Cream, Ham and Cheese Sandwiches, Cucumber-Four Peppercorn Goat Cheese Canapés, Fotina & Pork Puffed Pastry, and Mini Apple Pies.

I couldn’t share the recipes in October as I was in the middle of Horrorfst IX, so I will be starting now-and as I started with scones, I’m moving on to sandwiches.

Party time!

So this recipe comes from Tea Time Magazine Annual British Issue, and was originally called Cucumber-Blue Cheese Canapés, but I don’t like blue cheese. I think it is extremely gross.

So when I was browsing for a goat cheese substitute I spotted Laura Chenel’s Chèvre Four Peppercorn Fresh Goat Cheese Chabis and boy let me tell you, that cheese is absolutely delicious. So if you want the original recipe, you’ll have to buy the July/August 2020 issue as the recipe isn’t online.

Ingredients:

• 4 Slices of firm White Sandwich Bread
• 3 Tablespoons of Mayonnaise
• 1 Teaspoon of Laura Chenel’s Chèvre Four Peppercorn Fresh Goat Cheese ( I used way more as I love cheese)
• 1/2 Teaspoon of Chopped Parsley
• 1/2 English Cucumber
• Garnish: Parsley Leaves

Directions:

1. Using a serrated bread knife in a gentle sawing motion, trim and discard crusts from bread slices. Cut bread into 8 2.5×1.5 inch rectangles.
2. In a small bowl, stir together mayonnaise, cheese, and parsley until combined.
3. Spread a layer of the mixture onto the bread rectangles. Add more cheese to your desired taste.
4. Using a sharp knife, cut a cucumber in half lengthwise. Using a mandoline, cut 32 very thin lengthwise slices from cucumber halves. I actually did half and half as I love the cucumber cut into circles.
5. Arrange 4 cucumber slices width-wise in a shingled, parallel fashion on the mayonnaise side of the each bread rectangle, trimming cucumber slices to fit the bread rectangle.
6. Garnish each canapé with a parsley leaf, if desired.
7. Serve immediately, or cover with damp paper towels, place in a covered container, and refrigerate for up to an hour before serving.

These were soooo good. I loved the mix of the four peppercorn cheese with the cucumbers. In fact I used the leftovers to make sandwiches the next few days and it was fantastic. This is a wonderful addition to any tea party.

It was delicious, just as I planned.

For more from The Magician’s Nephew Tea Party/Book Club, go to Cranberry-Spice Scones with Maple Cream

For more recipes, go to Brown Sugar and Cream Cheese Scones

For more cucumber sandwiches, go to Cucumber Sandwiches

For more sandwich recipes, go to Basic Chicken Salad

For more tea posts, go to Mug o’ Tea Treats Christmas Gift

Super Easy Classic Deviled Eggs

It is hot.

So of course when the weather gets like this, tea time must adapt. Yes, even though it is incredibly hot out-I still have my tea time.

Or scones!

But when its hot, I want to eat cool food…like deviled eggs. I love deviled eggs, they always make me feel so fancy.

YUM!

I could eat a whole dozen by myself. They are just so good.

This recipe comes from Son Shine Kitchen. 

Ingredients:

• 6 Eggs
• 1/4 Cup of Mayonnaise
• 1/2 Tbsp of Mustard
• Salt
• Pepper
• Paprika

Directions:

1. Hard boil the eggs.
2. Peel and slice eggs lengthwise.
3. Scoop out the yolk.
4. Crumble yolks in a medium bowl and combine with the mayonnaise, mustard, salt, and pepper.
5. Use a pastry bag to pipe in yolk mixture. If you don’t have one, take a ziplock bag, pour in the mixture, and cut the tip of the bottom-filling each egg half.
6. Garnish with paprika, if desired.

These were so good, and will be great for tea time (or snack time). Just so you know, this was extremely hard for me not to eat them all myself.

Stay cool out there everybody! Don’t forget to hydrate.

For more recipes, go to Strawberry Lemonade

For more tea time recipes, go to The Picture of Earl Grey Tea Cookies

Skinny Chai Tea Latte

It is winter and cold and what better thing to do than to have some chai tea?

Especially if you have won a giveaway that has a box of tea, including chai tea.

Yes, I’ll be reviewing this at a later date, but for now I have this recipe to tide you over. This recipe comes from a book we added at the library, Lose Weight By Eating: Detox Week by Audrey Johns. I was flipping through the book, processing it, when this recipe caught my eye and I had to make it.

“Oh, the irony…I’m typing this at a coffeehouse. I’m just trying to be honest here, because though I don’t often visit coffeehouses, I do once in a while when I need a quiet space to work. I made this recipe earlier today, then figured, “What the heck, let’s make sure it is as good as Starbucks,” so I headed on over to my local spot and ordered-you guessed it-a chai tea latte. So here I am, drinking my second chai tea latte of the day and typing up my recipe, which I think tastes exactly the same.

I whisk the milk by hand, and it’s very easy. It only takes a minute and you’re done (and by the way I’ve had two wrist surgeries in my whisking hand, so I assure you anyone can handle this mild activity).”

Ingredients:

• 3 Chai Tea Bags, with the Paper Tags Cut Off
• 2 Cups of Unsweetened Almond Milk or Milk of your choice
• 2 Tablespoons of Pure Maple Syrup (optional)
• Sugar (optional)
• Pumpkin Pie Spice (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat 2 cups of water.
2. One heated, remove from heat and steep 3 bags of chai tea for five minutes.
3. In a small saucepan heat the milk over medium-low heat. As soon as the milk is simmering, whisk it.
4. Pour the tea into two cups and and add sugar, maple syrup, or other sweetener.
5. Top with frothy milk.
6. Sprinkle on some pumpkin pie spice (if using).
7. Congratulations, you just saved yourself $5.04.

I thought it was really good, but I had way more milk than tea. I don’t think the author planned for how it grows when heated and whisked. I had to make additional cups of tea to use it up-but otherwise, it was delicious!

For more tea posts, go to Blueberry Matcha Smoothie

For more recipes, go to Crispy, Chewy, Matcha Green Tea Cookies

I Won the Two Sisters Tea Giveaway

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

As I always say:

“Free is always good unless it is diseases.”

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

I can’t stop myself.

So a while back I entered the Two Sisters Tea and Tea and Me giveaway. I received my tea at the beginning of October, but because I was in the midst of Horrorfest VIII I didn’t get a chance to review it.

I won one bag of tea and had my choices of Original Hibiscus Iced Tea, Hibiscus Iced Tea with Cardamom, Hibiscus Iced Tea with Cinnamon, and Hibiscus Iced Tea with Dried Pineapple. You know me and making decisions…

Which way…?

So I told them to send whichever, and I waited for it to arrive.

I received the Original Hibiscus Iced Tea which contains 3 family sized teabags of whole hibiscus flowers, each makes 80 fl oz./2.3 liters.

The Two Sisters of Two Sisters Tea are Jennifer Michelle and Claudia Maria. The sisters grew up drinking Rosa de Jamaica, or Jamaican Rose, tea in Guatemala. After moving to America, it was hard getting it, so the two created their own company to share the amazing health benefits of Jamaican Rose Iced Tea and bring it into every home.

So when I opened the iced tea, there were these giant tea bags. I felt a little unsure how much to do, but on the back of the package it gives clear directions on how much water and sugar are needed.

And then I made it and just had to wait…

It was pretty good, not what I usually drink, but I enjoyed it. It was extremely refreshing as well.

A friend of mine saw it and loves hibiscus tea so I sent some off with her and she loved it as well.

My friend is actually Elizabeth.

So if Hibiscus Iced Tea is your thing, you should definitely check them out!

For more giveaways, go to I Won the Regency Marketplace Giveaway

For more tea posts, go to Green Tea Frappuccino

For more on the Tea and Me blog, go to I Tried Tea & Me’s Tea Infused Facial Cubes

So 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 better together than a good book and a delicious tea. I decided to repeat it with the teas I won in the Regency Marketplace Giveaway. Since that went so well, I think it will just be my new thing. After all:

 

Original Hibiscus Iced Tea

So something set in Latin America, involving sisters-the first book that popped in my head and stayed in it was:

In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

I first came upon on this book when I read How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents and Before We Were Free; both part of a recommended reading list. I enjoyed Alvarez’s style of writing and was intrigued by her account of living under the dictatorship Rafael Trujillo-something that she experienced along with having her father be a part of the resistance movement. At the time I was reading it I knew extremely little about this time in history-but her words hooked me and caused me to research about it.

I must find out more.

Out of all the books, the story In the Time of Butterflies was the one that really stuck with me. It tells a fictional account of the four Mirabal Sisters, known as Las Mariposas (Butterflies)-Patria, Minerva, Maria Teresa, and Dedé- who take a stand against their dictator and fought to save their country and their people.

“We cannot allow our children to grow up in this corrupt and tyrannical regime. We have to fight against it, and I am willing to give up everything, even my life if necessary.” -Patria Mirabal

Alvarez took an already amazing story and brought the sisters and their bravery, freedom, and all they did and stood for back to life again.

I recommend reading it with a glass of Two Sisters Tea Rosa de Jamaica.