Morning Coffee & Afternoon Tea

Pretty Teapots

Funny how surfing can take you down unexpected paths.  If you just let your mouse lead you, following links can be ... it's a little like Alice following the white rabbit down the rabbit hole.  Who knows where you'll end up. 

This morning my rambles took me to the Fitzwilliam Museum where they have this beautiful Wedgwood teapot from the late 1700's.  It's identified as Queensware from the late 1770s, named after Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III, who had ordered a tea set made from this same material in the 1760s.  That Charlotte, she sure had good taste.

S'wenyway, jump from museum-piece Wedgewood to outrageously expensive Yi Xing.  This 18th century dragon-shaped Yi Xing pottery teapot, "laminated with silver and ceramic plates", is apparently one of the few pieces existing today that mixes western ceramic painting and Yi Xing pottery.  Asking price $18,000.00.

I wish I had the kind of money that I could purchase a teapot for the price of a small car.  Cripes.  For po-fok like me, seriously out of the question.  If I was rich though, collecting teapots would probably be something I'd do.  What a fun hobby that would be.  Let the hubs collect cars or techno-toys, I'd collect china and pottery and jade.

*sigh* Dreaming, dreaming...

Well.  Anyway.  Speaking of jade, here's a teapot I could probably afford.  It's only $325, but then, it's not claiming to be ancient, or even antique.  This is the Jade Fire Dragon teapot from Holy Mountain Trading Company.  I love the shape of this dragon much better than the other one.  Isn't it pretty?

If you love teapots, check these links:

• Teapot Art Gallery - way browse-worthy
• History of Chinese Teapots
• Chinese Jade Teapots
• History of Tea & Tea Culture
• Japanese Tea Containers

Jack Sparrow's Coffee

Ok, ok, Jack Sparrow prolly wouldn't be caught dead putting something as mundane as coffee in his rum, but for the rest of us who might be looking for a yummy coffee drink that makes you feel like a pirate, here's my offering for this week's Carnival of the Recipes, which, by the way, I am hosting here, on this very blog and the theme of which is coffee/tea/chocolate (drinks or foods made with). 

How's that for a run-on sentence?  Don't forget to post your recipes by Saturday noon, either by email to recipe-dot-carnival-at-neversendspam-gmail-dot-c0m, or you can use the Conservative Cat's Carnival Submission Form.  Now, on with the recipe:

Jack Sparrow's Hot Buttered Coffee
1 pound brown sugar
1/2 pound salted butter
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp vanilla extract
Blend all ingredients together to make a creamy mixture.  Add 1-2 tablespoons to a large cup, add coffee.  For a super pick-me-up, use a double shot of espresso.  For a super-dooper-pick-me-up-and-toss-me-down, add a jigger of spiced or dark rum.  Whipped cream topping at your pleasure.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer and it will keep for a long time.

(This is essentially a hot buttered rum recipe, which is usually just added to hot water.  But it's delish added to coffee, with or without a splash of spiced rum.  Seeing as how it's only 6 am here, I'm having mine without the rum.)

Bloggity Bloggity Blog

Well folx, the BoB voting goes on, and on ... and on.  Apparently until the end of the month!  Not only that, but apparently you can vote more than once.  I don't really understand a system that lets people vote more than once, but ... whatever.  So, if you haven't voted, git over there and vote for your favorite blogs, and for me, of course.  And if you already voted, git over there and vote again!  The hinky thing is, apparently (uhoh, 3 "apparently's"... must get a thesaurus...) not everybody CAN vote again - there's a fart in the system that they're trying to fix - so some people may be benefitting from multiple voters and some people ... umm ... well ... aren't. 

None of this should matter, of course, being in the finalists really should be enough, and I refuse to lower myself ... I refuse to be a bigfat blogwhore and beg for votes ... I absolutely will not ...

Oh what the hell.  Please go vote for me, please please, pretty please.

There.  Enough.  No more.

I've got a few blogs & websites I've been meaning to add to my sidebar.  I'm so far behind in updating my links, it's ridiculous.

• Coffee Crew - cafe reviews, equipment reviews, and lots more
• All Coffee Recipes - as the title says, coffee recipes, plus other coffee tiddybitties
• Portsmouth Tea Blog - nicely done tea blog
• Tattlers' Teas - tea website w/ a good selection
• Boca Java - This small Florida coffee/tea company has been giving coffee to American troops serving overseas.

That's all for today.  Now go vote!

How Much FIRE is in that Oolong?

I'm still a newbie to the world of oolongs.  But I'm learning.  I found this most interesting post over at Tea Masters, concerning the differences in oolong teas.  I learned they can be broken down into 3 categories, depending on the amount of "fire" they received:

- Raw (Sheng) if the oxidation and roasting were light (High altitude Oolongs or Jinxuan fall in this category)
- Half done (Ban shou) if the oxidation and the roasting were medium
- Done (Shou) if the roasting and/or the oxidation were strong.

Check the post for examples and pics.  I always enjoy Stéphane's posts.  Aside from being interesting and informative, he's always got great photos.

Don't forget today is Martin Luther King Day.  This year the emphasis is being of service to others, making it "a day ON, not a day OFF". As the man said "Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve."  I also love the Thought of the Day over at the RefDesk:

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
Martin Luther King Jr.

Sunday News

I used to enjoy the Sunday paper for one reason and one reason only: the comics.  Once I realized how much my puny preference was contributing to the vast quantities of paper waste and killing of trees, I stopped subscribing.  I now no longer have anything to wrap my fish in.  Plus, no more Sunday comics. 

Thankfully, there are online comic strips now.   Visit ineedcoffee.com's comic section to see regular installments of Inanimate Objects by Todd Zapoli, WYSIWYG by Jym Annear and Best in Show by Phil Juliano, plus a smattering of others.  We all need a chuckle now and then, and these are on one of my favorite topics.  Now I just need to find a tea comic strip.

CoR #74
In other news, the Carnival of the Recipes is up at The Common Room.  They've done a great job on this, the 74th Carnival, with lots and lots of yummy recipes for your tasting pleasure.

Mark the Date!  Get Yer Recipes In!!
I am really excited to be hosting the Carnival this coming week!  The theme will be coffee, tea and chocolate, and the recipes can be drinks or foodstuff made from coffee, tea or chocolate.  That doesn't mean other recipes will be left out in the cold, so please don't feel restricted by the theme.  But if you want to follow the theme and need some ideas, check out these sites:

Coffee Recipes (drinks and food)
Coffee drink recipes
Tea Chef
IMBB 17: TasteTea Roundup Part I
IMBB 17: TasteTea Roundup Part II
IMBB 17: TasteTea Roundup Part III
Holiday Recipes a la Java
Espresso & Coffee Recipes, from homecooking.about.com
Essence of Emeril, Cooking with Coffee episode
AllRecipes.com Tea Recipes
AllRecipes.com Coffee Recipes

There, that ought to get you started, at least give you some ideas of things to try.  Don't forget to post your recipes by Saturday noon, either by email to recipe-dot-carnival-at-neversendspam-gmail-dot-c0m, or you can use the Conservative Cat's Carnival Submission Form. 

More Music!
Lastly, for you music lovers, I'll be updating my coffee/tea music chart, adding more songs, mp3's and album links.  Kat  has been kind enough to help me fill in the blanks and add to the list, so I'll be sending her a little thank you.  I gave her the choice of old dog toy, a lifetime supply of dust bunnies, or coffee.  Guess what she picked?  Heh.

Chocolate Frosting

I had to buy this lovely recipe book called Chocolate Dreams.  The picture on the cover made my mouse waddle, so I just had to buy it.  But when I got it home and started browsing through the table of contents I noticed a little inset that said "Difficulty level is indicated by the number of dots", one being the easiest, and three being the hardest - "Requires experience".

Not being easily intimidated (and sometimes a little dense... I mean, shoot, I've got experience), I screamed past the warnings and picked a recipe to try.  And had to reject it; too hard.  Rejected the next one too.  10 rejected recipes later, after I read of the shavings and curlings and fluffings and foldings and moldings, I realized ... I'm strictly a one-dot gal.  The only thing I feel safe with for now is this little no-dot recipe (in the front flap with the "tips and ideas") for a chocolate cream glaze:

Chocolate Cream Glaze
100 g / 3 oz. dark chocolate
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp glaze sugar
100 ml / 3 fl oz. cream
Heat chocolate, cut into small pieces, and water, in low flame.  When melted, add sugar and stir until smooth.  Fold in cream, and blend thoroughly.

Sounds easy enough, right? 

The nice thing about chocolate frosting is how much you can do with it.   It's good for cakes and cupcakes, of course, but don't forget yer frosted brownies, cookies and biscuits that need a little extra chocolate ooomph, and a really great stand-by for emergencies, frosted graham crackers.  Frosted fruit is good - apples, orange slices and strawberries are best.  Granted, frosted fruit is not quite as elegant as hard-dipped or hot fondue, but still, tasty.  And easy.  If you really feel adventurous, you can even add a layer of chocolate frosting to toast. 

Ok, maybe chocolate toast isn't to everybody's taste, but don't knock it till you've tried it.

For a really truly one-dot frosting recipe, I must include my mom's favorite:

Easy Squeezy Chocolate Butter Frosting
2 cups powdered sugar (1 box)
1 stick butter
1/4 cup milk
1-2 tbsp powdered cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
Mix together in a bowl until creamy. 

Because I'm just that way, I sometimes add a splash of almond extract or orange flavoring.

Here's a variation on the butter recipe, using another of my favorite things: cream cheese.  Not quite so easy; it does involve melting chocolate, but I'd still count it as a one-dot recipe.  From about.com's Southern Cuisine

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
1/4 cup butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 ounces (3 squares) unsweetened chocolate, melted
dash of salt
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup half-and-half
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream together the butter and cream cheese. Add melted chocolate, salt, sifted confectioners' sugar, half-and-half, and vanilla. Beat until smooth and spreadable.

So, there you go, for all you one-dot cooks like me.  Go forth and frost something for Chocolate Friday!

BoB Voting

The Best of Blogs voting booth is open.  Go have a look-see at all the amazing blogs, and vote for your favorites here.

Note to self: must learn how to pimp self gracefully

Coffee Croons & Tea Tunes

I had this blogpost bookmarked (found via Cafe Metaphoric) where I found some cool coffee songs to add to my ever-growing coffee/tea music collection, but now I find that the links to the mp3's are gone!  Well, it's a great coffee post, anyway, lots and lots of well-written coffee info, worth a read.  There's quite a good list of coffee songs there, but the comments here include a some more coffee songs, some of which I've never heard.  Or heard of.  I guess I need to expand my musical horizons.  Thanks to these posts and Kat's coffee and tea posts, etc, I'm getting quite a nice collection.

But, as you'll see, there are still some holes in my database.  Missing album titles, etc.  And I was surprised to realize how few tea tunes I have!  Must work on that.  Of course, this will be an ever-growing list.  If you know of a song about tea or coffee that's not on this list, please post in the comments.  I'll include mp3's when I have them, for a limited time.  And I guess I better borrow this blurb from Locust St., just to cover my butt, which I'm somewhat fond of and would rather not lose:

All songs are posted for a very limited time and are imported at a low bit rate level. They are meant to encourage purchase of the original albums. Please do not direct link to them. If you are the copyright holder of a posted song and do not want the song posted, by all means contact me and I will remove the song.

Stoked & Jazzed

I'm stoked.  I'm jazzed.  Some kind soul nominated this blog for the Best of Blog awards, in the recipe category! 

I've never been nominated for anything in my life, let alone make it to the finalists. 

Let me say that again... I made it to the finalists!!!!!  I'm so stoked.  I think if I won I'd probably blow up like a balloon and explode, but that's not likely, given the heady (foody) company I'm in there.  I don't care, I'm just so stoked to be in the finalists. 

Bailey's Chocolate Chip Bars

It was a dark and blustery evening and, somewhere in the quiet world, a woman in the throes of PMS desperation went to her kitchen, looking for sustenance and comfort.

Heh.  Ok, I told myself I was looking for a sweet recipe to make for our next tea party.  The truth is I was just craving something chocolatey, but none of my recipe books had anything that really made my bells chime.  So I started improvising.  This is the result, which I'm calling Bailey's Chocolate Chip Bars, or BCCB for short. 

This began life as the Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe, but I transformed, transmuted and transmorgrified it to the recipe below.  The result is a terrible, horrible, very bad, no good, god-awfully decadent treat, to be avoided at all costs by dieters.  Now that you've been properly warned, here it is:

Bailey's Chocolate Chip Bars
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter (1 stick) softened
1/2 cup shortening (if you don't have Crisco, you can just use another stick of butter)
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
1 cup quick cook oats
1/4 cup Bailey's Irish Cream
12 oz package semi-sweet chocolate chips
Nuts if desired

Filling:
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1-2 tbsp Bailey's Irish Cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

In a small bowl combine oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  In a large bowl, beat together butter, shortening, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla until creamy.  Beat in eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each.  Slowly beat in the flour mixture.  Stir in the Bailey's and chocolate chips.  Add chopped nuts if desired.

Spoon about 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of a small greased cake pan.

In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, sour cream, Bailey's, sugar and vanilla.  Mix until creamy.   Layer this mixture into the cake pan.

Add the remaining dough to the pan in small dollops. Don't worry about smoothing or filling in all the gaps. As it cooks, the dough will expand and fill in most of the spaces.

Bake at 375° for about an hour. The top will be brown and crispy long before the center cooks, so about 30 minutes in, I covered the top with a layer of tin foil and reduced the heat to 350. Test by inserting toothpick, and if it comes out clean, it's done! 

Allow to cool and then slice into small bars and serve!

Some additional notes:

For maximum cooking pleasure, enjoy a sip of Bailey's while you cook.  Over ice, or splashed in the coffee cup.  Yum!

These would be great for afternoon tea, or for a special brunch or holiday treat, but I have to tell you, they're the perfect breakfast for the PMSing woman.  Delish and Decadent.