Morning Coffee & Afternoon Tea

Happy Halloween!

Me and my crones ... err... cronies and our cuppas.

Carnival of the Recipes #63

The Carnival is up at Everything and Nothing.  Check out all the Tricks, Treats and Eats.  For once I found myself drawn to the main dishes.  KeeWee's Hot 'N' Honeyed Chicken Wings sound SO good.  And PractiGal's Beef Stew sounds like something the hubs would love.  Hmmm, maybe it's time to start thinking about dinner.  Damn, too bad I didn't read these recipes before I went to the store this morning.  Then again, the reward for going to the store is good coffee ... it might just be worth another trip. 

Sunday Morning Coffee Treat

I get to go to the grocery store this morning!  In fact, any minute now, before the crowds wake up.  No, I'm not off my rocker, and no, I haven't suddenly developed better feet or more energy or a driving desire to shop.  I just hanker for an espresso treat, and the coffee shop that now sits at the front of my grocery store is my first stop.  Double shot please.  Maybe a latte.  Maybe a squirt of almond.  I'm drinking just enough coffee now to be able to make a fist ... errr... to be able to drive.  And then I'm off to the store! 

Maybe I should get dressed first.

Ingenious IngenuiTEA

It really is.  Ingenious, that is.  This little baby arrived yesterday afternoon, and let me tell you, I was a happy puppy opening my little package.  Adagio's ingenuiTEA is everything it promises to be.  It's easy to use, easy to clean, and it's pretty.  I was a little worried about the size of the rim, but it even fits on my pretty china tea cups, tho I have to be careful not to overfill.  In short, I love it! 

I tested it all kinds of ways, in the nuker, using boiled water, with loose leaves and tea bag, and for the one-cup-at-at-time person, it's just about the best thing since sliced bread. 

It arrived with 3 kinds of tea.  I tried the Jasmine Pearls first.  The smell, ohmigod, the wonderful smell.  I had actually planned to try all 3 last night, but frankly, I got stuck on the Jasmine and couldn't move on.  You know what they say about smell being tied to memory?  Well, it's true, and this tea transported me back to spring days, when the jasmine was blooming on my patio.  I open the sliding glass door to let the fragrance waft into my office and library and I'm in heaven.  Sipping this tea was another little slice of heaven.

The second steeping was as fragrant as the first, though not as strong tasting.  Still good.  The second time around I took the pearls out of the bag.  It didn't seem to matter to the flavor, bag or no bag. 

What I love is how the pearls unfold.  It's a visual treat as well pleasing the other senses.

They start out like this ...

  ... and end up like this

Now isn't that just beeeyootiful? 

On the agenda for this afternoon... Golden Yunnan. 

Chocolate Friday: Brownies!

I posted these pics yesterday on my other blog, and got the brownie bug.  So this week's Chocolate Friday is all about brownies. 

Being a lazy git (and also rather impatient when it comes to getting my chocolate fix), I usually just go for a boxed mix of some kind, and I'm pretty childlike about it.  Unfussy.  Visual.  Meaning that when I shop, I look at the pictures on the box, and I let my "little girl" pick what looks good.  I do usually go for the fudgy rather than cakey, prefering moist and chewy to dry. 

I've tried all kinds of mixes and they're really all about the same.  I add nuts sometimes, and sometimes chocolate chips.  Occasionally I mix some cream cheese into the batter. 

If you're one of those folx who likes to cook from scratch, here are some brownie recipes I found online that you might want to try:

Chocolate and Guinness Brownies - yes, Guinness.  This recipe calls for 1 1/4 C. Guinness stout.  Now, that's unusual.

BCCY's Near Perfect Brownies - where baking good brownies is serious stuff!

Bite-size Chocolate Almond Brownies - from Jacques Torres and MrChocolate.com .  Almond paste!  This could almost tempt me to bake from scratch.

Healthy Fudgy Brownies - if you really MUST be health-conscious.

Three recipes from Now You're Cooking:
Peanut Butter Brownies
Cherry Brownies w/ Chocolate Cherry Icing 
Espresso Brownies - uses coffee liqueur (yum), but also uses powdered instant coffee, not actual espresso.  Ick.

Is your mouse waddling yet?

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

My brother has been experimenting with pumpkin seeds for years, trying out all kinds of flavors.  I think he's finally reached some kind of pumpkin seed guru status.  This is the recipe he likes best.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
2 cups pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
Garlic salt

If you're using the seeds from your Halloween pumpkin, rinse the pumpkin goo off the seeds and pat dry.  You want the seeds to be as dry as possible. 

Place them on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 250 degrees for 15 minutes or so.  This is to dry them out so they'll absorb the sauce.

Melt the butter and combine with wooster sauce.  Transfer the seeds to a bowl and pour liquid over.  Mix well.

Return seeds to cookie sheet.  Bake at 275 degrees for 30 minutes, then turn them over with a spatula.  Sprinkle with garlic salt.  Then bake for another 30 minutes or until crunchy.

Other flavor options: cheese (use the powdered mix that comes with macaroni & cheese mixes), soy sauce (use sparingly!), mexican spices.  There are a million ways you can make these.  Anybody got any more ideas?

Traveling with Tea

Cindy of Cuppa Tea & a Blog has been traveling, but she's back home now and has posted some of her experiences with traveling with tea.  Some good tips there for the tea-loving traveler. 

I'm looking forward to hearing some of her travel stories as well.  Hopefully she'll give me some more great places to put on my travel itinerary!

Tea & Coffee Art

Two offerings from the art department this morning.  First, the tea...

I've had this picture posted in my tea room for years now, and I occasionally get emails asking the source.  I'm sorry to say I have no idea.  I don't know who the artist is, I think it came off of a greeting card, but I'm not even sure about that. 

Anybody know anything about this picture?  I just love the feeling of it, it reminds me of sweet childhood dreams.  It's especially dear to me because of the dog in the chair. 

Next, a cool coffee posting from Rick Lee, one of my favorite photoblogs: Coffee at Lord & Taylor.  This is just the first pic, click to see the bigger and the rest.  The ice cream sandwich looks yummy too, but this elegant coffee setting really pleases my eyes.  Go have a look at the whole blog, if you have time.  All scrumptious!

Carnival of the Recipes #62

The Carnival is up at Fishtown Chatter.  Be sure to stop by and see the great collection of recipes this week!

Some notables:

• I'm going to have to try Caltechgirl's Halloween Pumpkin Cake.  I just happen to have some leftover pumpkin stuff from my pumpkin scones baking frenzy, so this will be perfect!
• something called Potica Bread (Yugoslavian Christmas Bread) from Mélange (shown in the photo here, which I just had to steal because it made my mouth water, complete with coffee...) and
• ohmigod, Chrissy's Chocolate Chip/Toffee Cookies sound SO good.  Heh, I thought the Carnival post said Chocolate Chip COFFEE cookies, so I was a little confused.  No coffee in this recipe, wha?  Gotta get new glasses.  Or get some glasses.  Heh.  No matter, there's chocolate chips and Amaretto, two of my favorite things! (I would add a bit more of each to make this the perfect recipe...)

Yummm!  Enjoy~

Celebrity CTC News

A few choice celebrity tidbits from Women's Lifestyle Magazine.  I'm not generally a celeb-voyeur, but I like to know when they do or say something related to coffee or tea. Or chocolate.

• Tom Hanks Switches From Coffee to Tea - this is not an either/or question for me, but he should have had his coffee black to keep the fat down.
• Gwyneth Paltrow Serves Tea & Biscuits (for charity)  What a gal.
• Pamela Anderson, Endowed By Espresso?  (Thanks to Cafe Metaphoric for this booby chuckle)
• Jerry Hall Has Rival Over for Tea
• Madonna Asked to Fetch Tea - whoops!  That's not the receptionist, that's THE Material Girl!!

Mom's Chocolate FIX

Today, in honor of it being my mom's birthday, I wanted to share what we used to call The Chocolate Fix. 

My mom had a bigger chocolate addiction than I do, which is saying something, let me tell you.  And when the craving came on her, god forbid there should be no chocolate in the house.  It was important that - should there be no chocolate bar handy - we be able to make something ... quick.  Some items were good to have: chocolate chips, Nestle's cocoa, and bread (for cocoa and toast which can serve as breakfast or dinner), chocolate ice cream, and Hershey bars.  But, certain items were considered STAPLES in our house:  butter, powdered sugar, regular sugar, unsweetened (powdered) cocoa, milk, graham crackers. 

Now, don't get me wrong, we ate stuff besides chocolate.  But we learned early what was important and what was not.  And fortunately for us kids we had a grandmother who was perfectly willing to serve us chocolate ice cream for breakfast, and cocoa and toast for dinner, so there was little to no interruption in the building of our chocolate addiction.

Here are a couple of mom's Quick Chocolate Fixes:

Chocolate Graham Cracker Cookies
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 - 1/2 cup butter or margarine
1-2  tbsp unsweetened cocoa

Mix till creamy, and add sugar/cocoa to taste. 

Spread on a graham cracker and eat open faced, or press another square on top to make a sandwich.

Fudgy Fudge
I wish I had mom's Fudge recipe.  It was sort of her chocolate signature, but she didn't work from a set recipe and apparently nobody ever wrote down the ingredients, so it's gone forever.  I did find a recipe for Microwave Fudge, which I may have posted before, but it's the best I can do.

3 cups semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup butter or margarine

Place all ingredients in large microwavable bowl.  Nuke on medium (50% power) for 3-5 minutes, until chips are melted, stirring 1-2 times while cooking.  Remove from microwave oven and stir in other ingredients if desired, such as nuts, marshmallows, shredded coconut, dried cherries, etc.  Spoon mixture into well buttered 8/8/2 inch baking dish.  Refrigerate until set.  Makes about 2 pounds.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Pumpkin Scones

Scones are great anytime, for morning coffee, brunch, or afternoon tea.  Since it's the season for pumpkin recipes, what could be better than pumpkin scones with pumpkin butter? 

Actually, I never thought I would like pumpkin scones, but these are delish.  I have to say though, what made these really special was the flavored butter.  In fact, I'm gonna go get another to eat while I type this up.

I started with two scone recipes I found here and here.  What follows is my transmorgrified version, which turned out really scrumptious if I do say so myself. 

Pumpkin Scones
2 cups flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup pumpkin (if canned, be sure there are no spices or sugar added)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix together flour, sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.  Cut butter into small pieces and cut into flour.  Mixture should look like coarse crumbs.  In a separate bowl mix together the pumpkin, buttermilk and vanilla.  Add to flour mixture and mix until the dough comes together (don't overmix).

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead gently 3-4 times, and then shape/pat dough into a circle about 1 1/2 inches thick.  Slice in half, and then cut each half into 3 equal pie-shaped wedges.  Brush with egg glaze (1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp milk), and sprinkle with Turbinado sugar. 

Bake on a cookie sheet for @ 375° for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Makes 6 scones.

Optional:  Add white chocolate chips and/or chopped pecans.

Pumpkin Spice Butter
1/4 cup (half a stick) butter, softened
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
Combine all and mix till creamy. 

Enjoy!

Serving Tea... Artful-Style

Check this out.  "Two Chinese artists dressed in old style perform art of tea serving". 

This was taken at a tea-drinking event held in Hangzhou to preserve and spread knowledge about Chinese tea culture, promoted by the International Institute of Tea Science and Culture.

Quite an unusual position to be pouring hot tea!  Is this more of a dance than an actual tea pouring?

Found via English.Sina.com

Here's another photo, from the same event held earlier in the year. 

Apparently these performances of tea art are presented in a number of tea houses in Hangzhou during these events to attract consumers.

Found via People's Daily Online

You Want Me to Do WHAT With My Coffee?

Most of the news about coffee and tea and our health involves ingestion of said beverage, and how the various chemicals and ingredients passing through our stomachs affect us for the better (or worse).  There are also non-ingestive uses for tea which most folx have probably heard about.  You can make poultices, or take a soothing tea bath using a variety of herbal teas.   But this is the first I've heard of a non-ingestive use for coffee.

A coffee enema. 

Apparently it's a good way to detoxify the liver.  According to SAWilsons.com

Coffee enemas rapidly help remove toxins from the liver. They often provide quick relief when one is fatigued, sleepy, has headaches, or is just feeling poorly. They also help against spasms, precordial (heart, throat, chest) pain and difficulties resulting from the sudden withdrawal of all intoxicating sedation.

A coffee enema, when done properly, causes the liver to produce more bile, opens the bile ducts and causes the bile to flow. In this process, a toxic liver can dump many of its toxins into the bile and get rid of them in just a few minutes. This often gives great relief to all parts of the body, and often makes the difference between lying down feeling miserable and feeling good and being active. Coffee enemas are also effective in relieving pain. Patients with cancer, for example, may achieve relief from pain even when drugs failed.

Is this new news or am I just out of the loop of ... ummm ... various alternative forms of detoxification?  I confess, I don't go looking for this kind of information.  I know there are people who swear by their high colonics, but ... well, I just can't imagine a worse use for coffee.

However, these folx make a special brand of coffee specifically made for this purpose.  No kidding.  Special Enema Coffee -- "organic coffee available that has been specifically blended and roasted for enema use".  Apparently it tastes awful, so if you run out of coffee, don't raid the enema stash.

I have a sick sense of humor, I know.  I find this really funny.

Chocolate Friday: Halloween Treats

I really do love Halloween.  At odd moments, I find myself wishing I had kids so I could have a Halloween party and serve some of these eeeewy dishes.  Holidays are so much more fun when there are kids around.  I look forward to the trick or treaters every year, especially the little ones, all dolled up.  They're SO cute.   

For Chocolate Friday, what else?  An assortment of chocolatey Halloween treats and tricks:

• Chocolate Dipped Halloween Pretzels - from Bella Online
• Halloween Cupcakes - decorated with Halloween Peeps, among other things
• Shock-A-lots - bright yellow candies, guaranteed to blow your socks off.  A combination of chocolate and coffee.  "Five to six beans contain the caffeine equivalent of 120 milligrams of caffeine!" Holy cats.  Sounds like MY kind of treat.
• Chocolate Bug Nuggets - from CooksRecipes.com
• Graveyard Crunch - another from CooksRecipes.com.  There's a bit of chocolate in this concoction, and it sounds good, but I wonder how it would be with chocolate syrup??
• Black Cat Cookies - easy-sounding recipe.  And if you don't wanna just make cat heads, try this recipe with some Halloween shaped cookie cutters and sprinkles
• Cow Pies II - Yes, there is a Cow Pie I as well, but I don't like coconuts.
• And don't forget Dragon Dirt, Cat Crap Cookies, and Bat Guano (I know, I'm getting repetitive, saying things more than once, and repeating myself redundantly... )

Enjoy!

China's Tea & Horse Road

Ran across this article on Tea Talk stating that a new section of the ancient Tea & Horse road has been found.  At least I think that's what it said.  I tried to access the news source, but I can't read Chinese, so I'm SOL.  A quick search on the net turned up lots of stuff about the Tea & Horse Road, but nothing recent about a leg rediscovered.

This is a fascinating bit of history.  According to The Silk Road Foundation:

"Few people have realized how vast and unprecedented this sudden expansion of caravan traffic between India and China was, or how important. It was a unique and spec-tacular phenomenon. No complete story has yet been written about it, but it will always live in my memory as one of the great adventures of mankind. Moreover, it demonstrated to the world very convincingly that, should all modern means of com-munication and transpor-tation be destroyed by some atomic cataclysm, the humble horse, man’s oldest friend, is ever ready to forge again a link between scattered peoples and nations" [Goullart 1955: 88].

Some of the towns and villages along the road have been listed among the most important international sites for historic preservation.  And apparently quite a few tourists are drawn to travel the Tea & Horse Caravan each year.  Looks like a mighty long trek.  All the way from Southern China to India?  Maybe they're just visiting portions with key villages. 

I found a coupla sites offering guided tours.   This one has one called "25 day TEA HORSE ROAD EXPEDITION", and it's got a warning on it: "This is a long and winding journey on challenging and dangerous unpaved roads". I don't mind challenging roads. As long as I can stop for a cuppa tea along the way.  This one's definitely going on my travel itinerary.

Gettin' Ready for Halloween

Halloween is looming large, and I'm so not ready.  Here are some CTC offerings in honor of the creepy and scary:

I posted on this one before but it deserves special attention at this time of year: The Coffee Shop of Horrors, a horror-themed coffee and tea shop.  They offer teas with really appetizing names like Vampire's Kiss and Spider Legs, and coffee blends like Witches Brew, Shrieking Toad, Graveyard Shift, and Hallowed Grounds. 

I may have to buy some of the Re-animator blend.  Guaranteed to bring you back from the dead.  What a hoot!

Also on the menu, 3 flavors of Bat Eggs (candy), coffee mugs with horror pictures on them, a coffee shop cat that's trying to be scary but is just too cute, horror action figures & toys, and horror movie reviews.  And online ordering is now available.

If you're planning a trip, you might want to visit Hershey Park for a chocolatey Halloween.  They've got a whole passel of activities planned.  Check out Halloween in Hershey.

Looking for costume ideas?  Here are instructions for making a tea bag costume.

Adagio is offering a selection of holiday teas in honor of Halloween.  The package includes candy apple, candy cane, chestnut, cranberry, gingerbread & pumpkin spice. 

Lots of pumpkin offerings going on out there now.  Look around for Pumpkin Spice chai tea, for a seasonal treat.  Starbucks is apparently making money hand over fist on their Pumpkin Spiced Latte.   Bad Andy recommends going for a Tazo Chai Tea Latte with added Pumpkin Spice Syrup to avoid the bitter aftertaste he says he finds in the regular espresso-based latte.  I guess I'll have to go try one.  Or maybe I'll just get some-a-this Pumpkin Spice flavoring for my coffee.

We mustn't forget the fun/silly/gross recipes for those of you having Halloween parties.  Try Dragon Dirt, Cat Crap Cookies, Bat Guano and Pumpkin Seed Popcorn Balls for starters.  And be sure to check out last week's Carnival of the Recipes for more recipes, and links for places you can still pick your own apples, pumpkins, and order chestnuts.  The big holidays are sure coming up fast.  I guess I better put on my tennies, I'll have to sprint to catch up.

Coffee In the Movies: Pretty Woman

Coffee plays an interesting role in this movie.  It's one of my favorites for light romance and unrealistic endings, and the key characters are just so fine to look at, it's hard not to enjoy it just for the aesthetics.  And c'mon, who doesn't enjoy a good Cinderella story?  So it wasn't until about the 10th or 12th time through that I even noticed the "coffee moments". 

As always, click to view larger images...

First I want to point out that there's often a blatant absence of coffee where I expected to see it.  For instance, here we have a meeting, of suits, lawyers, high powered business folx, etc... and NO coffee on the table.  Not one cup.  Is that realistic?  I can see a character like Edward Lewis not needing coffee, your basic A-type Shark-in-a-Suit, but I'd think the others would ALL need a LOT of coffee in order to keep up with him.

Later in the movie we get a shot of another meeting breaking up, and there, finally are the coffee cups I expected to see. My feeling was that the coffee in this scene was meant to give the feeling of exhaustion, hard work, having been through the wringer, corporately speaking.

Two other noticeable uses of coffee...  One is that the sleazy lawyer, played wonderfully by Jason Alexander, seems to be the only guy with coffee and/or coffee toys.  In the scene shown at right, he's the only one with coffee in front of him.  And look behind him in the shot below.  Is that a Krups or some variation of espresso machine there on the left?  I guess lawyers do need caffeine to keep up.  At least this one does.

I had a vague notion that we're also meant to associate coffee with sleaziness here, but I ignored it.

The last coffee moment is the most significant.  In fact, it's pivotal, and I think it's interesting that the filmmakers chose to use coffee to communicate this important point in the movie.  Richard Gere's character, Edward Lewis has done a complete about-face, and decided not to take over Morse's company, but to partner with him instead, to "build something".  This is the result of his relationship with Vivian (Julia Roberts) and shows us that his love for her has changed him. 

In the beginning of this scene, the final "takeover" meeting is about to begin, when Edward puts on the brakes.  The other suits are dismissed from the meeting, and Edward turns to Morse to propose his new idea.  But he seems not to know how to begin.  So he starts by offering Morse some coffee.  He goes to the sideboard, pours Morse a cup, and brings it to him.  This is an act of submission, of kindness, and it shows Morse that the Shark has stepped down and is no longer on the hunt. 

Unfortunately we don't get to see much of the actual coffee pouring, or drinking, but it's there.  A delicious transformational coffee moment.

Flavia Fusion Drinks Station

I ran across the FLAVIA® FUSION™Drinks Station from SharperImage (via GadgetMadness), and it sure is pretty.  But what's it do?  According to SI:

• At-home brewing system uses foil-fresh single-serving "filterpack" leaf tea or fresh-ground coffee to make a variety of cafe drinks with no hassle at all.
• Eliminates the need for a kettle, carafe, strainer, filters, grinder and everything else — except your own mug!
• Includes Drinks Station, travel mug and an impressive selection of 34 filterpacks.

I still can't wrap my mind around the idea of having my coffee or tea delivered via POD.  Filterpack.  Whatever.  I mean, this item claims to make "single cup of coffee, espresso, tea, latte and more".  Tea in a pod as well as coffee, apparently without compromising the taste of either. 

The folx at GadgetMadness tried it and liked it.  And it's not too expensive, just over $120 with shipping and all.  And it IS pretty.  Wouldn't that look nice on my countertop?  But still.  Can I use anything other than the filterpacks?  If not, I'll prolly pass.

Lord.  Am I becoming a coffee/tea snob???

Cranberry Bran Muffins

What goes good with morning coffee? Lessee, we've done scones, bagels, mini-muffins, and crumpets.  It's time to pull out an old recipe for healthy-type muffins.  I haven't made these in a loooong time, I forgot how good they are.

Cranberry Bran Muffins
2 cups oat bran
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
Dash salt
1/3 cup brown sugar or honey
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1/4 cup margarine, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 - 3/4 cup vanilla yogurt
1/2 - 1 cup dried cranberries (I prefer orange flavored)
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Combine all dry ingredients in large bowl.  Add milk, butter, yogurt, vanilla and beaten egg.  Mix until creamy. 

Stir in cranberries and nuts.  See below for variations suggestions.

Spoon into muffin tin, filling cups just to top.  Bake at 400F for 15-20 minutes.

Variations:

I've made these with dates, raisins and mashed bananas instead of cranberries.  If you use bananas (especially if they're quite mushy) you might want to cut back a bit on the yogurt.  The yogurt is what makes these muffins really moist, but mushy bananas will do the same thing, and you don't want to overkill.

Another tasty variation is blueberries and blueberry yogurt.  That's a really yummy combo. 

If you want less fat, use 1% or 2% milk and low-fat yogurt. 

The recipe makes 24 small muffins (don't fill the cups completely full), but I prefer mondo-ginormous muffins with my morning coffee.  So I use the big-size muffin tins, and fill them more than full. 

This requires a slightly longer cooking time.  The result is ... well ... ginormous.  And delicious.  Great for brunches, and afternoon tea parties too.  Although if I were going to serve these at a tea party, I'd probably make them smaller.

Chocolate for Your Health

Whoooops, almost missed Chocolate Friday!  I've had a busybusy day, which started out badly, as I was out of coffee.  But GloryThanksBeToDog, my grocery store has just opened a coffee shop, complete with espresso, biscotti, muffins, and comfy couches.  I thought about just planting myself there for the rest of the day, but I had things to do, people to see, calls to make and muffins to bake.  So I bought myself a superdoopergrande latte and went on about my shopping.

ANYway, so now, here I am at the END of the day, finally getting 'round to ChocoFriday stuff.  This week, some articles on ways that chocolate is good for you.  A German chemist in the 1800s said, "Chocolate is a perfect food, as wholesome as it is delicious, a beneficent restorer of exhausted power."  Smart man. 

First, the benefits of dark chocolate...

• Eating dark chocolate may lower blood pressure
• Researches find dark chocolate may help curb smoking addiction - if only I still smoked!
• Dark Chocolate Helps Diarrhea: Study Confirms Ancient Myth

And ...

• Cocoa found to benefit smokers
• Chocolate could improve health - you can't say enough good stuff about chocolate for me!
• A great sports drink? It's chocolate milk! - I don't think this will ever fly.  It's not the energy renewal or nutrients at issue here.  It's the ... hmmm, scuse me here ... it's the phlegm.  You don't want something coating your throat when you're breathing hard.

Stock up on chocolate, it's good for you!

Teapot Blogging!

Teapots, teapots, teapots is a blog all about that friendliest of vessels, the teapot! 

This is a fun blog!  Lots of variety, from elegant and beautiful to whimsical, cute and collectible.  Not to mention strange and unusual.

Check out this oddity, the "Box too small" teapot.  Would you believe it sold for $4000?  Amazing.  I'm in the wrong business.

via Wonders of Tea

Brugo Travel Mug: Tip & Sip

For the traveling coffee connoisseur, the BRUGO™ Travel Mug from Jolex.  The idea behind this gizmo is the old "how to keep it hot" problem.  Well, according to the press release, it's a little more complex than simply keeping it hot:

"Fresh coffee is brewed at 200 degrees or more, but its vibrant flavors are most distinguishable and pleasing at around 150 to 170 degrees. By using a simple "tip and sip" motion, BRUGOTM owners transfer sip-sized amounts (one fluid ounce) of their hot beverage to the temperature control chamber, where it immediately reaches this "perfect temperature zone." Only the liquid in the chamber is cooled and only this liquid exits the sip opening. A tight seal keeps the remaining coffee at its hottest and most aromatic. This inventive system eliminates the need for coffee drinkers to blow on their beverage, add ice to it, or wait for it to cool. Instead, they have immediate access to their hot beverage, and they can enjoy it longer at its peak freshness and flavor."

This little doo-dad has a lid with three settings: locked, tip & cool, and sip.  I dunno if that's gonna fly, folx.  Can the average driver do all that with one hand (and eye) still on the wheel?  I assume they've eliminated the possibility of getting hot coffee down your front by confusing tip with sip.  I guess I'll have to get one to see how it works. 

What I really like is the little animated cups on their website.

Book Review: Coffee Grounds & Tea Leaf Reading

I gather this book, The Complete Guide to Coffee Grounds & Tea Leaf Reading, is part of a series of "guides".  I hope the others in the series are better than this one.

I bought this book because I thought it would be fun to invite my nieces up for a tea party and do a little foretelling.  They're at an age when tea parties start to lose their childhood shimmer, and I would hate for that to happen.  So, says I, let's do something fun! 

However, since they don't drink tea (they usually drink cocoa at our tea parties) I needed to find an alternative to tea leaves.  Why, then, you're asking, did I buy a book on coffee ground/tea leaf reading?  Because there isn't anything out there on reading cocoa dregs.  The title of this book led me to think it was a little broader in scope than the "traditional" tea leaf reading books. 

And it is.  But it's greatly in want of a good editor.  For instance, the text reads: "The cup pictured on the right is suitable, whereas the one on the left is not."  Followed by this picture:

Now I ask you, how is one to become an expert in tasseomancy given this kind of confusion?

To give credit, this book didn't cost much, and it does have a ton of symbols and meanings.  However, for the newbie, black and white drawings don't really help much.  I would have like to see at least ONE example photograph, and sample interpretation. 

I will probably keep this book on my shelf as a reference, but I'm going to try out some other divination type books before I schedule my tea party.  And since this is all in fun, if I can't find anything good, I'll probably just make up a bunch of stuff.  After all, how hard can it be?  Teenage girls still want to hear about the cute boy coming their way, don't they?

Carnival of the Recipes #59

I forgot to mention the carnival.  I really hate it when real life interferes with my bloglife.  Who can I talk to about fixing that??

Anyway... this week's carnival has a seasonal theme: An Ode to Autumn.  Does that make my submission highly appropriate, or just a tad out of step?  I can't finger that one out.  Heh.  Not unusual. 

Plenty of good dessert recipes this time around.  And LOTS of chicken.  What's that about?  A few of special interest, and a few added to my "gotta try soon" list:

• Mini Pizza - This one brought back memories!  My mom used to make a variation on these too.  Check my contribution in the comments.
• Meat Loaf - Not yer average hunk of HB.  This one I'm saving for a special occasion!
• Fried Green Tomatoes - I've always wanted to try making these, never had an actual recipe.  Now I do!
• Plum / Pluot Cobbler - I love cobbler!  Never tried plum cobbler.  Sounds yummy.

Now my mouse is waddling and my tumbly's grumbly.  Gotta go have some breakfast.