APRIL 25, 2012 - RED HAT SOCIETY DAY

Today, April 25th, is RED HAT SOCIETY DAY.

It is celebrated on this date each year.  2012 marks their 14th birthday.  Happy Birthday!

In Hollywood they are celebrating at The Hard Rock Cafe.

For more information on the Red Hat Society, their events and how to become a member, visit their link at:
http://www.redhatsociety.com/

BREWING TIMES FOR TEAS

There are over 3,000 varieties of tea but they all come from one plant -- the Camellia Sinensis, an evergreen bush with dark leathery leaves.  There are hybrids of this plant and the flavors vary according to soil, altitude and climate. 

How the leaves are processed / fermented decides the type of tea.    

Here is a list of the most common varieties with basic process, flavor and brewing information.

BLACK:  fully fermented and dried -- rich, full-bodied; 
brew at a rolling boil 3-5 minutes

OOLONG:  semi-fermented -- flowery scent, subtle flavor between black and green;
brew at 190 degrees, 1 - 8 minutes

GREEN:  unfermented, steamed, rolled, dried -- grassy, mellow flavor
brew at 160 degrees, 1 - 3 minutes

WHITE:  least processed, made from silver buds and selected leaves that are steamed and dried -- light, delicate, slightly sweet
brew at 180 degrees, 4 - 8 minutes

YELLOW:  rare, produced only in China, fermented but not completely oxidized, slow drying phase -- subtle, fresh taste, light and mild

brew 180 degrees, 1 - 2 minutes

OTHER TEA VARIETIES INCLUDE:

BLENDED TEAS:  a mixed variety of tea

FLAVORED TEAS:  tea mixed with fruit, spice, flowers, smoke or a combination of them. 

brewing both blended and flavored varies according to type of tea used.

HERBAL (Tisane):  made with herbs, flowers, fruit, roots, berries, bark or leaves from plants other than the Camellias Sinensis.  It is not a true tea.

brew at a rolling boil, 5 - 8 minutes

RED (Rooibus):  a South African herbal tea -- sweet, slightly nutty flavor

brew at a rolling boil, 3 - 5 minutes 

January is Hot Tea Month

Celebrate Hot Tea Month by discovering some new teas, enjoying your favorites and sharing tea time with those you love.

PROVENCE TARTINE - recipe

It's always nice to come up with different menus

for afternoon tea. 

Open face sandwiches are a bit lighter with one less piece of bread

and offer a nice layering effect visually.

Picking the right bread for the filling

is another subtle aesthetic than can elevate the flavors.

There is a famous bakery (boulangerie) in Paris that locals flock to for their daily bread and many fine dining establishments serve throughout the city.  Poilâne bread differs from the usual baquettes found in most bakeries and stores because it is a sourdough bread made with stone-ground flour, sea salt from Guérande and a wood-fired oven.  Poilâne has a small range of breads to ensure their quality. Each bread was developed to satisfy a specific use.

Today's recipe is directly taken from Lionel Poilane's Favourite Savoury Tartines cookbook.  Tartines are the French version of open-faced sandwiches.  He calls it "borderless food." 

PROVENCE TARTINE (Serves 2)

Ingredients

• 12 oz / 350g  eggplant
• 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4t tomato paste
• 1T vinegar (not malt)
• 1 pinch of oregano or fresh coriander, according to preference
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Directions

Grill the eggplant for around fifteen minutes, turning it occasionally

so that the skin chars all around.

Remove from oven, and peel while still hot.

Slice in half and cut into pieces.

Saute the onion slightly in a little olive oil,

then put into the food processor bowl with all the other ingredients.

Process until you have a paste, and then

add in olive oil slowly as if you were making mayonnaise.

Taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary.

Chill.

When ready to serve



Spread the mixture thickly on slices of warm toast, and enjoy.

If you would like to learn more about Poilâne,
here is their website:   www.poilane.fr

ANNOUNCEMENT - Tea Journals

We are so pleased to announce the launch of our new, exclusively designed product

TEA JOURNALS

The idea came when I would go to afternoon tea and try the different flavors, usually finding a favorite.  I would forget which ones I liked or where I bought the tea and even though sometimes I'd write it down could not find it when I needed it.  So I created a small journal specifically to keep that information.  

For my Planning A Tea Party Workshops (http://www.teapartyworkshops.com/),  part of the class included a tea tasting so I revised the formatted pages as a handout to use not only for the tea tasting portion but for the afternoon tea that followed.  The tea room I taught in had 300 varieties to choose from so my handout was helpful in remembering the ones they liked.

That tea room carried an early version of the journal which was made with handmade paper but now has evolved into a hand bound and a spiral bound version.

  The hand bound has a dark brown, pebble-textured, leather-like cover, with an inside pocket to hold a pen, business cards, folded menus, etc.  It is trimmed and ties with a matching dark brown silk cord and a silver tone tea pot charm to accent it.

The spiral covers are offered in top and side spiral bound versions and a choice of cream or light brown cover with the word TEA hand stamped in a random pattern.

I designed and carved the stamp myself, making the letters in the shape of tea leaves.

The inside pages for all of the journals are cream color with dark brown ink and the paper is Green Seal Certified.  I wanted the colors and tones to echo the colors of tea and cream.  They are just the right size to easily slip into a purse or pocket when you go on your tea adventures.

After monitoring tea shops, the internet, and tea sites as I developed these designs, it appears I am the only one in the world that offers them. 

They make a wonderful addition to any tea gift basket.  The journals are a labor of love and I am very proud to offer them for purchase.

If you are interested in purchasing them, or want additional information such as detailed descriptions, photos, company profile or view other products also available, please visit my on-line store at:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/wwwpaperarchitectcom

Hope you have a T-lightful day!

TEA IS USED AS MORE THAN A BEVERAGE

As it turns out, there are many other uses for tea besides drinking it. 

From time to time I will be introducing some of these other uses.

Today's use:  
YOUR PLANTS         

If you have leftover tea, you can dilute it a bit further and feed it to your plants.  It's recommended that you do this every third watering.

And you can also use brewed leaves as a mulch for your plants.

Not only will you be exercising your green thumb, you are also living green by recycling. 
Win, win.

FYI ... moved my blog here

My original tea blog was on a different blog site

but I did not find it user friendly.

Now TEA PARTY INVITATION has a new home here on blogspot and we couldn't be happier.

Hope you enjoy our new home and visit often. 

You are welcome any time.