Poetry In A Pot Of Tea: green tea

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Green Tea Poundcake~

How would you like to eat your tea? Green tea powder can easily be used in cookie and cake recipes~ You can also steep your favorite tea in any liquid the recipe calls for such as milk, cream, wine or water. Just make sure the milk or cream is not boiled, but just warmed, before adding the tea. Then let the tea steep until mixture cools, remove tea bags or leaves, then finish preparing the recipe. Most fruit, spice, almond, mint, lemon or cinnamon stick flavored teas work well in baking. We like making Martha Stewart's Green Tea Cookies for teatime.

photo from Martha Stewart website

When the world is all at odds
And the mind is all at sea
Then cease the useless tedium
And brew a cup of tea.
There is magic in its fragrance,
There is solace in its taste;
And the laden moments vanish
Somehow into space.
The world becomes a lovely thing!
There’s beauty as you’ll see;
All because you briefly stopped
To brew a cup of tea~

anonymous

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Whatever You Want Wednesday

Monday, August 15, 2011

Raxacoricofallapatorian Tea!

It all started with a mug. The moment I laid eyes on it I knew I was taking it home!

In fact, I knew I was taking two home with me so Miss R (our tea drinking soon-to-be college girl) could share a pot with me. Look what is written on the front....Where there is Tea there is Hope. Is that not perfect?! ha ha~ It certainly is for me, as I feel this way! And on top of the humorous quote was the fact that it is TARDIS blue.

For those who have not watched Doctor Who on BBC, the TARDIS is the time machine the Doctor and his companion travel inside. The original series began in 1963. My family and I really like the series filmed from 2005-2009. There is an episode that aired in December 2005 where the Doctor regenerates, his appearance changes, and he becomes the 10th Doctor. In that episode he is sleeping for a good part of the show as his body finishes the process of regeneration. Stay with me here, I know this is sci-fi geekery, but if you got to know the Doctor you'd see why I get a kick from this next part! So, some big bad aliens invade London! The Doctor's companion, Rose, along with the Tardis, is brought onboard the Sycorax ship. In the nick of time, the Doctor awakens after inhaling tea vapors from a thermos that had spilled near him and saves the day!!

He later said, "Tea! That's all I needed! Good Cup of tea! Superheated infusion of free radicals and tanin, just the thing for healing the synapsis." ~ I knew he was my kind of guy!~ lol

With the perfect quote and color of these cups I figured my daughter and I would have a Doctor Who themed tea time. I have a fresh tin of matcha so we decided to make green tea shortbread in honor of the green aliens from Raxacoricofallapatorias called the Slitheen.

~Green Tea (Slitheen) Shortbread~

Sift 2 cups all purpose flour and 2 tablespoons powdered green tea together. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt. In a separate bowl, cream 2 sticks unsalted room temperature butter.

Stir flour mixture lightly into butter. Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar, stir. Do not overmix.

Chill for 30 minutes~

Roll on floured surface to 1/4 inch thick and use cookie cutters of your choice. We used stars for our sci-fi teatime!

Place on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake 15-18 minutes at 325 degrees. Rotate cookie sheet halfway through baking time.

These are not too sweet and have a light as air texture....mmmm! My daughter drizzled a few of them with a basic vanilla icing. Then we set the kitchen table for tea.

Fans of the Doctor will recognize a couple of the additions to our table setting~ there is a British cracker (from the same episode I mentioned above) as well as the Tardis key on a chain! A tiny Dalek also found a place near the tea tin. Guess he felt comfortable there, both being made of metal and all!

~ ha ha~ Notice the Thermos? We decided on a full bodied English Breakfast from Grace Rare Teas called Winey Keemun. It is a fabulous tea any time of day.