Dear lemon tarts,
As you see, this blog's been deserted for quite a while now. Many things have been going on in my life and, though I'm still a teaholic from the other side of the looking glass, I've changed in so many ways I'm considering either deleting this blog, or deleting a few old posts that don't suit and giving it a whole new direction. I've been taking a baking course (not that I couldn't bake before, anyway) and I might show you some of that over here.
In the meantime, I've started a new blog. This one's in Spanish.
It's called "Lluvia en la memoria" and it's devoted to my poetry (and I'm about to post there my Ode for Tea, with some biscuits for my fellow cupcakes, in case anyone still comes round here). I really just felt the need to tell you about it here, since there might be readers searching my name on Google and, when you do, this blog appears first, but the new one doesn´t.
See you at "Lluvia en la memoria". Tea and muffins!
Showing posts with label tea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tea. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Who needs lunch?
I hardly ever have lunch. I either have breakfast at lunch time, or I have breakfast about 9 am, tea about 2 pm, and more tea at 8 pm -I'd like to have tea at 4 o'clok, but I'm usually in class at that time; however, I carry a thermo at times-. That last tea is usually my dinner, but at times I wait and have dinner with my father about 10 pm, which is, of course, finished with a before-bed cup of some infusion.
You see, cupcakes, as tea may accompany both sweet or salted foods, any meal can be turned into "tea time".
This was my lunchtime tea to-day.
Perfect tea, dears!
You see, cupcakes, as tea may accompany both sweet or salted foods, any meal can be turned into "tea time".
This was my lunchtime tea to-day.
Perfect tea, dears!
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Reasons to drink Tea
And I mean, often.
When Robert mentioned that the caffeine in tea is stronger than that in coffee, I started searching for some information about that. I started with the article on tea from Wikipedia, and was amazed by the amount of benefits it has. Here's a copy-paste:
Other benefits of drinking tea include its utility in keeping you mentally awake (which means it allows you to sleep if you want to, but it helps you concentrate on work or studies), the relaxation it provides while stopping to drink some and its anti-depressant effects. Anti-depressant? Yes. It makes a great substitute for adrenaline and can also help with serotonin needs (even better if taken with sugar), which means it provides the necessary dose to stabilize bi-polar diseases, both manic-depressive and hiper-active-fatigue.
Have tea, lots of them, dearests. Lemon tarts to all!
When Robert mentioned that the caffeine in tea is stronger than that in coffee, I started searching for some information about that. I started with the article on tea from Wikipedia, and was amazed by the amount of benefits it has. Here's a copy-paste:
In 2010 researchers found that people who consumed tea had significantly less cognitive decline than non-tea drinkers. The study used data on more than 4,800 men and women aged 65 and older to examine change in cognitive function over time. Study participants were followed for up to 14 years for naturally-occurring cognitive decline. (AAICAD 2010; Lenore Arab, PhD; UCLA[31])
Several of the potential health benefits proposed for tea are outlined in this excerpt from Mondal (2007, pp. 519–520) as following:
Tea leaves contain more than 700 chemicals, among which the compounds closely related to human health are flavanoides,amino acids, vitamins (C, E and K), caffeine and polysaccharides. Moreover, tea drinking has recently proven to be associated with cell-mediated immune function of the human body. Tea plays an important role in improving beneficial intestinal microflora, as well as providing immunity against intestinal disorders and in protecting cell membranes from oxidative damage. Tea also prevents dental caries due to the presence of fluorine. The role of tea is well established in normalizing blood pressure, lipid depressing activity, prevention of coronary heart diseases and diabetes by reducing the blood-glucose activity. Tea also possesses germicidal and germistatic activities against various gram-positive and gram negative human pathogenic bacteria. Both green and black tea infusions contain a number of antioxidants, mainly catechins that have anti-carcinogenic, anti-mutagenic and anti-tumoric properties.
Other benefits of drinking tea include its utility in keeping you mentally awake (which means it allows you to sleep if you want to, but it helps you concentrate on work or studies), the relaxation it provides while stopping to drink some and its anti-depressant effects. Anti-depressant? Yes. It makes a great substitute for adrenaline and can also help with serotonin needs (even better if taken with sugar), which means it provides the necessary dose to stabilize bi-polar diseases, both manic-depressive and hiper-active-fatigue.
Have tea, lots of them, dearests. Lemon tarts to all!
Friday, January 21, 2011
Laces for my Valentine
Three weeks is not a minute too soon to think about what you're going to wear for St. Valentine's Day, and Victoria's Secret has already launched their new special collection.
Just allow me to remind ladies that the delicacies of lingerie are not for anyone else to see, but for their own enjoyment when buying, touching, wearing and looking at theirselves in the mirror. Go ahead and walk around smiling secretly to yourself proud of the seductive weapons enclosed beneath your dresses that no one but yourself knows, and enjoy the thought of how irresistible you would be to anyone who could get a sight of your underwears.
I do encourage everyone to wear something special on every festivity, even when you are not assisting to any party, date, ball, dinner or meeting to celebrate it. So, why not choosing a love angel looking outfit, involving some red or pink, a corset, lace stay-up stockings and a deshabillé look?
Notice that St. Valentine's Day is a celebration of Love. It is dedicated to a priest who celebrated christian weddings when these were forbidden by roman laws. So I think it is everything but a date for loosing your chastity.
Celebrate Love. All sorts of love, including friendship love or family love. Tell them you love them, and wish them lots of love in their life. And lots of tea also: strawberry white tea, rose petal white tea, chocolate berry green tea, vanilla tea or strawberry & champagne tea are great varieties for this day.
Choose some special lingerie just for your self.
Play naughty, be good, cupcakes.
Visit www.victoriassecret.com to view the full collection.
Monday, January 17, 2011
How to make perfect Tea
Surely, tea may not only be enjoyed at any time of the day but also for any lenght of time imaginable. Or is there any better pastime than sitting around a tea table for hours?
Hence, you may by now have noticed that "six minutes" is not the time you spend drinking your tea. But, then, what does it refer to? Well, it is the time you brew your tea.
This may sound strange, since you've most certainly read on all tea packages you should "infuse for 3-4 minutes". However, after many years brewing tea and trying every amount of leaves and time of infusion, I can assure the perfect time is 6 minutes.
And the perfect amount? You should already know: one spoon for each cup and one for the pot. Now, to be more precise:
Consider a spoon to be a teaspoon filled 3/4 of it's length and 5-6mm high. This is a standard measure for Darjeeling or English Breakfast. You need, however, to consider the size of the leaves. Those which are very finely cut or rolled in little lie close to eachother, so you will need smaller measures. Those which are rolled as little tubes amount leaving great spaces among eachother, so your spoon will seem fuller. My advice is to always count the number of spoons according to the cups and change the size of this measure. Should you fill the spoon to the same degree but count less when the tea is cut finer, you will have no reference whatsoever.
Consider a cup to be about 1'5 or 2 small teacups, or 1/3 of an american mug. You can usually trust teapot specifications on how many cups they contain.
As you see, cups are not as simple as you may have thought. Our "cup" is bigger than the actual teacup we are drinking from, and less than a serving --wich means, never believe a 4 cup containing teapot will serve four guests! Most tea drinkers will have 1'5 or 2 cup measures, this is to say, 3 or 4 english teacups. Now, I will usually have 3 or 4 cup measures, wich means, should you share a pot for two with me, you may find the tea is all gone by the time you've had but two small cups! That is why I'd rather bring guests home and brew unlimited amounts of tea, instead of going to some tearoom or café.
I hope I haven't made the part of the cups too complicated. Now, to summarize it all: 2 teacups = 1 cup measure (which equals the amount of tea measures you need) = 1/2 serving.
And, how about that extra spoon for the pot? Well, you may have thought by now that it doesn't make much sense to add that one extra spoon should you be brewing two cups as well as eight. The truth is, this little extra is up to you to calculate, but I usually use one complete extra spoon for a 4 cup pot.
I hope you enjoy best tea from now on.
And, why is it this amount and six minutes?
Yes, it has an explanation. The amount of tea will influence taste and aroma, the time will influence body.
If you use too little tea, it will not have enough taste no matter how long you let it to infuse. If you use too much, it will soon become bitter, unless you infuse it for such a short time it will have no body at all and it will seem as you are drinking tea flavoured water rather than tea itself.
Six minutes is the perfect time for tea to have a good balance between taste and body. All the flavour is released, and body is just perfect to feel like tea but not to override the flavour. It is preferrable not to let it infuse much longer. However, tea doesn't change much after 8 minutes, so it won't work if you try to compensate a shortage of tea leaves by increasing the time.
Tea and muffins, dears.
Hence, you may by now have noticed that "six minutes" is not the time you spend drinking your tea. But, then, what does it refer to? Well, it is the time you brew your tea.
This may sound strange, since you've most certainly read on all tea packages you should "infuse for 3-4 minutes". However, after many years brewing tea and trying every amount of leaves and time of infusion, I can assure the perfect time is 6 minutes.
And the perfect amount? You should already know: one spoon for each cup and one for the pot. Now, to be more precise:
Consider a spoon to be a teaspoon filled 3/4 of it's length and 5-6mm high. This is a standard measure for Darjeeling or English Breakfast. You need, however, to consider the size of the leaves. Those which are very finely cut or rolled in little lie close to eachother, so you will need smaller measures. Those which are rolled as little tubes amount leaving great spaces among eachother, so your spoon will seem fuller. My advice is to always count the number of spoons according to the cups and change the size of this measure. Should you fill the spoon to the same degree but count less when the tea is cut finer, you will have no reference whatsoever.
Consider a cup to be about 1'5 or 2 small teacups, or 1/3 of an american mug. You can usually trust teapot specifications on how many cups they contain.
As you see, cups are not as simple as you may have thought. Our "cup" is bigger than the actual teacup we are drinking from, and less than a serving --wich means, never believe a 4 cup containing teapot will serve four guests! Most tea drinkers will have 1'5 or 2 cup measures, this is to say, 3 or 4 english teacups. Now, I will usually have 3 or 4 cup measures, wich means, should you share a pot for two with me, you may find the tea is all gone by the time you've had but two small cups! That is why I'd rather bring guests home and brew unlimited amounts of tea, instead of going to some tearoom or café.
I hope I haven't made the part of the cups too complicated. Now, to summarize it all: 2 teacups = 1 cup measure (which equals the amount of tea measures you need) = 1/2 serving.
And, how about that extra spoon for the pot? Well, you may have thought by now that it doesn't make much sense to add that one extra spoon should you be brewing two cups as well as eight. The truth is, this little extra is up to you to calculate, but I usually use one complete extra spoon for a 4 cup pot.
I hope you enjoy best tea from now on.
And, why is it this amount and six minutes?
Yes, it has an explanation. The amount of tea will influence taste and aroma, the time will influence body.
If you use too little tea, it will not have enough taste no matter how long you let it to infuse. If you use too much, it will soon become bitter, unless you infuse it for such a short time it will have no body at all and it will seem as you are drinking tea flavoured water rather than tea itself.
Six minutes is the perfect time for tea to have a good balance between taste and body. All the flavour is released, and body is just perfect to feel like tea but not to override the flavour. It is preferrable not to let it infuse much longer. However, tea doesn't change much after 8 minutes, so it won't work if you try to compensate a shortage of tea leaves by increasing the time.
Tea and muffins, dears.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Matcha Green Tea Muffins
To start the blog, I'm giving you a recipe created by my very dear Emilie Autumn for all her muffin fans.
Don't you know Emilie Autumn? Well then, check out her official website www.emilieautumn.com and her official Fan Club www.batteredrose.com
She's an awesome musician, I'm sure you'll love her.
There goes the recipe: Green Tea Muffins!
(And they're vegan, so they're a great choice if you're planning to invite any vegan friends to your next Tea Party)
This recipe was taken from http://www.emilieautumn.com/greenteamuffins.html
I hope you enjoy them.
Tea and muffins, dears.
Don't you know Emilie Autumn? Well then, check out her official website www.emilieautumn.com and her official Fan Club www.batteredrose.com
She's an awesome musician, I'm sure you'll love her.
There goes the recipe: Green Tea Muffins!
(And they're vegan, so they're a great choice if you're planning to invite any vegan friends to your next Tea Party)
This recipe was taken from http://www.emilieautumn.com/greenteamuffins.html
I hope you enjoy them.
Tea and muffins, dears.
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