Sunday, October 21, 2007
Penguin Tea Timer
I need this little gadget--I have a bad habit of forgetting my teabags and making my cups of tea all tannin-tastic. Check him out.
Monday, June 4, 2007
CONVERSATION: Gas ovens
Woke up at six-something this morning and stumbled sleepily upstairs to be awakened abruptly by the sickly sweet odor of GAS! MY GAS OVEN'S GOING TO KILL ME! IT'S GOING TO KILL ME! I'M DEAD!
Having grown up with electric ovens that turn OFF like NORMAL things when you're not using them and don't have tiny, insidious spurts of gas oozing out all the time ready to KILL you if their pilot lights go out, I am majorly freaked out by gas appliances. Okay, so at home our dryer and heater were gas, but they never threatened to kill me. My oven now likes to scare me every couple months, spreading gas across the living room and convincing me that the spark that turns on a light switch will erupt in a huge fireball, and any attempt to relight the pilot lights will send me to a fiery grave.
Though it was better than those two times in Chapel Hill when I was awoken by an overflowing toilet.
Having grown up with electric ovens that turn OFF like NORMAL things when you're not using them and don't have tiny, insidious spurts of gas oozing out all the time ready to KILL you if their pilot lights go out, I am majorly freaked out by gas appliances. Okay, so at home our dryer and heater were gas, but they never threatened to kill me. My oven now likes to scare me every couple months, spreading gas across the living room and convincing me that the spark that turns on a light switch will erupt in a huge fireball, and any attempt to relight the pilot lights will send me to a fiery grave.
Though it was better than those two times in Chapel Hill when I was awoken by an overflowing toilet.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
TEA: Milky tea is just as healthy
Tea—Milking It (Science News Online)
Janet Raloff
I'm a serious tea drinker. I'll down it hot or cold, plain or with lemon. Like most Americans, however, I don't regularly add milk. But when my colleague David Lindley, an editor here at Science News, was growing up, his family certainly did.
Being a Brit, David comes from a culture that holds considerable reverence for this brew and might be accused of being fussy about its preparation. When I add milk to tea, which I do only occasionally, I'm not careful about the amount. It's typically a big slosh—and always added after the tea is fully brewed and sitting in a mug.
In the Lindley household, by contrast, "a little milk was put into the bottom of a cup—just a touch," before any tea was added, David notes. And his mom invariably made tea in the pot, brewing it from some black, loose-leaf variety.
Because adding milk to tea is routine in the United Kingdom, a team of Scottish researchers decided to investigate the potential health significance of this practice. Their concern: Because milk can bind to some of tea's antioxidants, it might prevent them from countering free radicals.
These radicals can wreak havoc on DNA and other components of cells. And with the onslaught of age, disease, and pollutant exposures, our bodies find it harder to keep those radicals in check. The result: Studies have begun linking excessive free-radical production to a host of chronic disorders, from cancer and diabetes to heart disease.
Against this backdrop, Janet A.M. Kyle and her colleagues at the Rowett Research Institute purchased different teas from local stores, brewed them up, and then assayed their antioxidant activity. In a paper published online and in an upcoming Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, they report finding some brand-related differences in the inherent antioxidant activity of a brew. The good news: Adding milk doesn't alter that activity.
Moreover, they found, adding milk to tea doesn't diminish the amount of antioxidants—such as the epigallocatechin gallate, which many commercial teas tout as EGCG—that ends up in tea-drinkers' blood. So, it appears one can safely boost the protein content of your brew, by adding milk, without sacrificing tea's antioxidant bounty.
Rich in antioxidants
When it comes to quashing free radicals, tea provides an antioxidant bonanza. Best known are its catechins, a family of compounds whose star, EGCG, has been linked not only to weight loss but also to diminished cancer risk.
Teas also contain polyphenolic chemicals, another class of antioxidant compounds that appear capable of lowering an individual's risk of heart disease and cancer. Tea's chief polyphenol constituents are quercetin and kaempferol. However, because milk can bind to these, there had been concern that such chemical pairings might limit the polyphenols' biological activity or even their uptake by the body.
To test that, Kyle's group purchased six locally popular teas and evaluated the composite antioxidant activity of each. They boiled water and added 3 grams of tea leaves—the amount in a typical U.K. tea bag, but 50 percent more than is found in typical European tea bags—for each brewed cup. Chemical assays showed that the brews' levels of polyphenols and catechins rose steadily for about 7 minutes.
"Except for the cheapest supermarket brand," Kyle notes, "we got similar results for these teas." The low-cost outlier proved lower than the name brands in terms of the free-radical-quenching punch it delivered, mostly owing to its low concentrations of polyphenols.
The researchers selected the tea that had exhibited the strongest antioxidant performance for their follow-up human trials. On three separate occasions, each of 9 healthy men in their mid-20s to mid-30s avoided tea for at least a day, fasted overnight, and then drank a test beverage for breakfast.
On one morning, each man got two cups of black tea that had been steeped for 7 minutes. Together, the cups contained 300 ml of tea mixed with 100 ml of hot water. Another day, volunteers got 300 ml of tea mixed with 100 ml of skim milk. On the remaining test day, each recruit downed 300 ml of hot water that had been doctored with 100 ml of milk. (Didn't the latter taste ghastly? "It did," Kyle concedes, "and I'm very grateful to my volunteers for actually drinking it.")
Before and at various points over a 3-hour period following the consumption of each day's beverage, Kyle's group sampled the volunteers' blood to measure polyphenols, catechin levels, and the blood's ability to quash free radicals. While the gross, milky hot water had no effect on these parameters, both brews showed equivalent increases in circulating antioxidants and radical-thwarting prowess, which peaked about 60 minutes after tea had been consumed.
Kyle says her group now hopes to examine tea's antioxidant performance in a larger group of people and for a longer period. She's hoping it proves substantial because the only other source of the antioxidant chemicals being looked at in her study come from fruits and vegetables—and "we don't eat a lot of those in Scotland," she says, "but we do drink a lot of tea."
And what about David: After 24 years in the United States, does he still blend a touch of milk with his tea? No, he says. Milk is for black tea, which doesn't much agree with his constitution. Today, his brews are "mostly green and herbal teas."
By the way, David's not just one of our editors. The author-physicist also has 6 books under his belt. On Feb. 20, Doubleday published his latest—Uncertainty: Einstein, Heisenberg, Bohr, and the Struggle for the Soul of Science.
Editor's note: David Lindley played no role in assigning or editing this article.
Janet Raloff
I'm a serious tea drinker. I'll down it hot or cold, plain or with lemon. Like most Americans, however, I don't regularly add milk. But when my colleague David Lindley, an editor here at Science News, was growing up, his family certainly did.
Being a Brit, David comes from a culture that holds considerable reverence for this brew and might be accused of being fussy about its preparation. When I add milk to tea, which I do only occasionally, I'm not careful about the amount. It's typically a big slosh—and always added after the tea is fully brewed and sitting in a mug.
In the Lindley household, by contrast, "a little milk was put into the bottom of a cup—just a touch," before any tea was added, David notes. And his mom invariably made tea in the pot, brewing it from some black, loose-leaf variety.
Because adding milk to tea is routine in the United Kingdom, a team of Scottish researchers decided to investigate the potential health significance of this practice. Their concern: Because milk can bind to some of tea's antioxidants, it might prevent them from countering free radicals.
These radicals can wreak havoc on DNA and other components of cells. And with the onslaught of age, disease, and pollutant exposures, our bodies find it harder to keep those radicals in check. The result: Studies have begun linking excessive free-radical production to a host of chronic disorders, from cancer and diabetes to heart disease.
Against this backdrop, Janet A.M. Kyle and her colleagues at the Rowett Research Institute purchased different teas from local stores, brewed them up, and then assayed their antioxidant activity. In a paper published online and in an upcoming Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, they report finding some brand-related differences in the inherent antioxidant activity of a brew. The good news: Adding milk doesn't alter that activity.
Moreover, they found, adding milk to tea doesn't diminish the amount of antioxidants—such as the epigallocatechin gallate, which many commercial teas tout as EGCG—that ends up in tea-drinkers' blood. So, it appears one can safely boost the protein content of your brew, by adding milk, without sacrificing tea's antioxidant bounty.
Rich in antioxidants
When it comes to quashing free radicals, tea provides an antioxidant bonanza. Best known are its catechins, a family of compounds whose star, EGCG, has been linked not only to weight loss but also to diminished cancer risk.
Teas also contain polyphenolic chemicals, another class of antioxidant compounds that appear capable of lowering an individual's risk of heart disease and cancer. Tea's chief polyphenol constituents are quercetin and kaempferol. However, because milk can bind to these, there had been concern that such chemical pairings might limit the polyphenols' biological activity or even their uptake by the body.
To test that, Kyle's group purchased six locally popular teas and evaluated the composite antioxidant activity of each. They boiled water and added 3 grams of tea leaves—the amount in a typical U.K. tea bag, but 50 percent more than is found in typical European tea bags—for each brewed cup. Chemical assays showed that the brews' levels of polyphenols and catechins rose steadily for about 7 minutes.
"Except for the cheapest supermarket brand," Kyle notes, "we got similar results for these teas." The low-cost outlier proved lower than the name brands in terms of the free-radical-quenching punch it delivered, mostly owing to its low concentrations of polyphenols.
The researchers selected the tea that had exhibited the strongest antioxidant performance for their follow-up human trials. On three separate occasions, each of 9 healthy men in their mid-20s to mid-30s avoided tea for at least a day, fasted overnight, and then drank a test beverage for breakfast.
On one morning, each man got two cups of black tea that had been steeped for 7 minutes. Together, the cups contained 300 ml of tea mixed with 100 ml of hot water. Another day, volunteers got 300 ml of tea mixed with 100 ml of skim milk. On the remaining test day, each recruit downed 300 ml of hot water that had been doctored with 100 ml of milk. (Didn't the latter taste ghastly? "It did," Kyle concedes, "and I'm very grateful to my volunteers for actually drinking it.")
Before and at various points over a 3-hour period following the consumption of each day's beverage, Kyle's group sampled the volunteers' blood to measure polyphenols, catechin levels, and the blood's ability to quash free radicals. While the gross, milky hot water had no effect on these parameters, both brews showed equivalent increases in circulating antioxidants and radical-thwarting prowess, which peaked about 60 minutes after tea had been consumed.
Kyle says her group now hopes to examine tea's antioxidant performance in a larger group of people and for a longer period. She's hoping it proves substantial because the only other source of the antioxidant chemicals being looked at in her study come from fruits and vegetables—and "we don't eat a lot of those in Scotland," she says, "but we do drink a lot of tea."
And what about David: After 24 years in the United States, does he still blend a touch of milk with his tea? No, he says. Milk is for black tea, which doesn't much agree with his constitution. Today, his brews are "mostly green and herbal teas."
By the way, David's not just one of our editors. The author-physicist also has 6 books under his belt. On Feb. 20, Doubleday published his latest—Uncertainty: Einstein, Heisenberg, Bohr, and the Struggle for the Soul of Science.
Editor's note: David Lindley played no role in assigning or editing this article.
TEA: Indian Scientists Invent Fake Nose To Smell Tea
Model nose invented by CDAC for tea testing
Kolkata, Jun 03: Good news for the tea tasters! The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) has developed a model "nose" which can help detect complex odours and manufacture better quality tea.
Speaking to UNI, ITA Secretary General Manojit Das Gupta here today said that the instrument, invented by the CDAC, uses sensors to detect and differentiate complex odours.
''An odour stimulus generates a characteristic fingerprint or pattern and based on these patterns the teas can be classified, identified and graded as odour lends flavour to tea,'' he said.
Tea tasters, who manually taste teas by sipping it, rolling it on their tongue and inhaling the smell could now see their jobs being done with this "nose", which can also act as a "tongue".
Its computing system was capable of sensing compounds of tea and predicting scores (or quality standards), which otherwise is manually handled by tea tasters.
He said the equipment was demonstrated recently during a workshop.
The instrument would be available to the growers at Rs 50,000 and the equipment could help improve quality.
--- UNI
Kolkata, Jun 03: Good news for the tea tasters! The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) has developed a model "nose" which can help detect complex odours and manufacture better quality tea.
Speaking to UNI, ITA Secretary General Manojit Das Gupta here today said that the instrument, invented by the CDAC, uses sensors to detect and differentiate complex odours.
''An odour stimulus generates a characteristic fingerprint or pattern and based on these patterns the teas can be classified, identified and graded as odour lends flavour to tea,'' he said.
Tea tasters, who manually taste teas by sipping it, rolling it on their tongue and inhaling the smell could now see their jobs being done with this "nose", which can also act as a "tongue".
Its computing system was capable of sensing compounds of tea and predicting scores (or quality standards), which otherwise is manually handled by tea tasters.
He said the equipment was demonstrated recently during a workshop.
The instrument would be available to the growers at Rs 50,000 and the equipment could help improve quality.
--- UNI
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
TEA: London not Blair's cup of tea
London is not quite Blair's cup of tea
By Joe Murphyand Nicholas Cecil, Evening Standard
London: Tony Blair had London cafe owners steaming - after claiming they cannot make a good cup of tea.
The Prime Minister landed in hot water by moaning that it was impossible to find a decent cuppa in the capital any more. "I fear you may be right," he said when asked if he agreed that good mugs of tea were impossible to track down. "It's got to be properly strong, it's got to have the right colour. The trouble is, not many people do it like that."
"This is a British tradition that must not be lost. If I were running for office again, I'd make it a major part of any platform," he said.
But a spokesman for The Ritz, where afternoon tea costs £36 (Dh261) a head, said: "We are confident the several hundred cups of tea we serve a day are great."
A Downing Street spokeswoman declined to reveal who made the tea for Blair at No 10, but insisted: "It's always tea in his tea mug."
How to make the perfect brew
The Tea Council's official guide to the perfect cuppa:
Use a good quality loose leaf or bagged tea, stored in an air-tight container at room temperature.
Use freshly drawn boiling water - the water needs to contain oxygen to draw the best flavour from the tea. Let the tea brew for two to four minutes.
It does not matter if milk is poured first or last when using a pot. But milk must be poured last if brewing from a bag in a mug or it will cool the water too quickly.
By Joe Murphyand Nicholas Cecil, Evening Standard
London: Tony Blair had London cafe owners steaming - after claiming they cannot make a good cup of tea.
The Prime Minister landed in hot water by moaning that it was impossible to find a decent cuppa in the capital any more. "I fear you may be right," he said when asked if he agreed that good mugs of tea were impossible to track down. "It's got to be properly strong, it's got to have the right colour. The trouble is, not many people do it like that."
"This is a British tradition that must not be lost. If I were running for office again, I'd make it a major part of any platform," he said.
But a spokesman for The Ritz, where afternoon tea costs £36 (Dh261) a head, said: "We are confident the several hundred cups of tea we serve a day are great."
A Downing Street spokeswoman declined to reveal who made the tea for Blair at No 10, but insisted: "It's always tea in his tea mug."
How to make the perfect brew
The Tea Council's official guide to the perfect cuppa:
Use a good quality loose leaf or bagged tea, stored in an air-tight container at room temperature.
Use freshly drawn boiling water - the water needs to contain oxygen to draw the best flavour from the tea. Let the tea brew for two to four minutes.
It does not matter if milk is poured first or last when using a pot. But milk must be poured last if brewing from a bag in a mug or it will cool the water too quickly.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
TEA: Nontraditional Tea Parties
Host a nontraditional tea party
by Beth J. Harpaz, The Associated Press
published May 12, 2007 12:15 am
NEW YORK — You’d expect a book called “Tea Party” to provide instructions for a proper afternoon tea, complete with white linen napkins, polished silver and tiered trays of scones, finger sandwiches and petits fours.
But Tracy Stern’s book also provides inspiration for plenty of parties that stray from that cliche, including one for men with black-tea martinis and sausage sandwiches.
Advertisement
Or a zany Mad Hatter-style tea party (a very merry unbirthday) with mismatched plates and cups, ham-banana sandwiches and cherry tarts. And a fall harvest dinner with chai tea, squash soup and an apple-cranberry crisp.
Stern’s “Tea Party” (Clarkson Potter, $27.50) offers recipes and ideas for 20 such themed events. And that’s just the start of her repertoire.
“I could have written five books,” said Stern, whose company, Tracy Stern SALONTEA, sells specialty teas and tea-infused beauty products. “My head is filled with the fantasy of creating tea parties for adults.”
As a child, Stern collected teacups and was obsessed with giving tea parties. As an adult, she turned that passion into a business. In addition to her book, published in April, and her products, she’s lined up investors for a chain of stores called Tea Party, with plans to open the first store later this year in Manhattan.
Stern’s ventures come at a time when the tea industry is booming. Ten years ago, there were 200 specialty tea rooms and retail shops; today there are 2,200, according to the Tea Association of the USA. Statistics from the Tea Association also show that consumer purchases of tea have increased for 15 straight years, with away-from-home consumption increasing 10 percent annually for a decade. Strong growth is anticipated for the next five years.
“Tea is undergoing a renaissance,” said Joe Simrany, president of the Tea Association. Simrany said reasons include increasing awareness and popularity of specialty teas; ready-to-drink teas; and health benefits. (Tea is high in antioxidants.)
In creating her book, Stern, a married mother of two in her late 30s, drew on her experiences as a tea maven. After studying art at the University of Tampa in Florida, she opened the Royal Tea Room in Tampa, with handpainted tea cozies and her own blends of tea. She later sold the business and moved to New York, where she hosted formal teas at a hotel and organized tea parties for charities and corporate events, including creating drinks mixing tea and alcohol to launch liquor products.
The stores she envisions opening will sell her teas and beauty products, along with teacups and teapots she’s designed using antique china for inspiration. The stores also will serve tea and sweets.
“This is the place you’re going to want to be that will be a respite from the crazy city,” said Lauren Freedman-Bolton, CEO of Tracy Stern Inc., who helped Stern devise a business plan and secure financing for the stores. “It will stimulate your senses, but it will also be very calming.”
The same could be said of the tea parties Stern outlines in her book, which include gatherings celebrating New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, engagements, baby showers and bridal showers. In addition to recipes, each theme includes ideas for invitations, decor and activities.
For a bridal shower tea, Stern suggests a spa theme, with little plastic tubs for foot soaks in mineral salts and chilled eye masks. Guests even could chip in and hire a manicurist, pedicurist or massage therapist to come. The menu includes serve-yourself buffets: a sophisticated salad bar and a frozen yogurt and sorbet bar.
While her menus and themes are unorthodox, Stern is a purist when it comes to actually making the tea.
“I’m not doing the tea bag,” she declared. “I feel the tea leaf needs to open and unfurl to get the full flavor.” And microwaving a cup of water for tea is a no-no as well. Stern wants the water boiled, then steeped with loose tea.
She added that inviting friends for tea always “makes them feel special,” whether it’s in your home, a fancy hotel or a cozy cafe. “Grabbing a cup of coffee,” she said, “doesn’t have that same special cachet.”
Some easy tea party ideas from Stern:
• For a beach theme, make the table pretty using seashells filled with salt or sequins. Stick a flower in a conch shell.
• For an elegant centerpiece, decorate a branch with crystal teardrops and uplight it with candles.
• Fill clear glasses with the colored aquarium stones sold in pet stores.
• Use cookie cutters to cut sandwiches into bite-size shapes, such as hearts.
• If you own a variety of teacups but not a complete set, use glass plates to mix and match for a modern-vintage look.
• For place settings, put two glass plates together and press a pansy or palm frond between them. If it’s a birthday or shower party, insert a photo of the guest of honor between the plates.
• Use chilled brewed tea to create interesting cocktails. Stern’s black-tea martinis, recommended for a “Gentlemen’s Tea,” are made from 2 ounces of vodka, 2 ounces of chilled brewed black tea and ice. (Dip the moistened rim of the glass in chopped tea leaves and sugar before you pour.)
• Make edible place settings using canned, refrigerated soft breadsticks, which you can shape into your guests’ initials before baking.
• Set the tone for your party with creative invitations. For a garden party, enclose a small packet of flower seeds with each invitation. For a French-themed soiree, use postcards of Paris.
by Beth J. Harpaz, The Associated Press
published May 12, 2007 12:15 am
NEW YORK — You’d expect a book called “Tea Party” to provide instructions for a proper afternoon tea, complete with white linen napkins, polished silver and tiered trays of scones, finger sandwiches and petits fours.
But Tracy Stern’s book also provides inspiration for plenty of parties that stray from that cliche, including one for men with black-tea martinis and sausage sandwiches.
Or a zany Mad Hatter-style tea party (a very merry unbirthday) with mismatched plates and cups, ham-banana sandwiches and cherry tarts. And a fall harvest dinner with chai tea, squash soup and an apple-cranberry crisp.
Stern’s “Tea Party” (Clarkson Potter, $27.50) offers recipes and ideas for 20 such themed events. And that’s just the start of her repertoire.
“I could have written five books,” said Stern, whose company, Tracy Stern SALONTEA, sells specialty teas and tea-infused beauty products. “My head is filled with the fantasy of creating tea parties for adults.”
As a child, Stern collected teacups and was obsessed with giving tea parties. As an adult, she turned that passion into a business. In addition to her book, published in April, and her products, she’s lined up investors for a chain of stores called Tea Party, with plans to open the first store later this year in Manhattan.
Stern’s ventures come at a time when the tea industry is booming. Ten years ago, there were 200 specialty tea rooms and retail shops; today there are 2,200, according to the Tea Association of the USA. Statistics from the Tea Association also show that consumer purchases of tea have increased for 15 straight years, with away-from-home consumption increasing 10 percent annually for a decade. Strong growth is anticipated for the next five years.
“Tea is undergoing a renaissance,” said Joe Simrany, president of the Tea Association. Simrany said reasons include increasing awareness and popularity of specialty teas; ready-to-drink teas; and health benefits. (Tea is high in antioxidants.)
In creating her book, Stern, a married mother of two in her late 30s, drew on her experiences as a tea maven. After studying art at the University of Tampa in Florida, she opened the Royal Tea Room in Tampa, with handpainted tea cozies and her own blends of tea. She later sold the business and moved to New York, where she hosted formal teas at a hotel and organized tea parties for charities and corporate events, including creating drinks mixing tea and alcohol to launch liquor products.
The stores she envisions opening will sell her teas and beauty products, along with teacups and teapots she’s designed using antique china for inspiration. The stores also will serve tea and sweets.
“This is the place you’re going to want to be that will be a respite from the crazy city,” said Lauren Freedman-Bolton, CEO of Tracy Stern Inc., who helped Stern devise a business plan and secure financing for the stores. “It will stimulate your senses, but it will also be very calming.”
The same could be said of the tea parties Stern outlines in her book, which include gatherings celebrating New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, engagements, baby showers and bridal showers. In addition to recipes, each theme includes ideas for invitations, decor and activities.
For a bridal shower tea, Stern suggests a spa theme, with little plastic tubs for foot soaks in mineral salts and chilled eye masks. Guests even could chip in and hire a manicurist, pedicurist or massage therapist to come. The menu includes serve-yourself buffets: a sophisticated salad bar and a frozen yogurt and sorbet bar.
While her menus and themes are unorthodox, Stern is a purist when it comes to actually making the tea.
“I’m not doing the tea bag,” she declared. “I feel the tea leaf needs to open and unfurl to get the full flavor.” And microwaving a cup of water for tea is a no-no as well. Stern wants the water boiled, then steeped with loose tea.
She added that inviting friends for tea always “makes them feel special,” whether it’s in your home, a fancy hotel or a cozy cafe. “Grabbing a cup of coffee,” she said, “doesn’t have that same special cachet.”
Some easy tea party ideas from Stern:
• For a beach theme, make the table pretty using seashells filled with salt or sequins. Stick a flower in a conch shell.
• For an elegant centerpiece, decorate a branch with crystal teardrops and uplight it with candles.
• Fill clear glasses with the colored aquarium stones sold in pet stores.
• Use cookie cutters to cut sandwiches into bite-size shapes, such as hearts.
• If you own a variety of teacups but not a complete set, use glass plates to mix and match for a modern-vintage look.
• For place settings, put two glass plates together and press a pansy or palm frond between them. If it’s a birthday or shower party, insert a photo of the guest of honor between the plates.
• Use chilled brewed tea to create interesting cocktails. Stern’s black-tea martinis, recommended for a “Gentlemen’s Tea,” are made from 2 ounces of vodka, 2 ounces of chilled brewed black tea and ice. (Dip the moistened rim of the glass in chopped tea leaves and sugar before you pour.)
• Make edible place settings using canned, refrigerated soft breadsticks, which you can shape into your guests’ initials before baking.
• Set the tone for your party with creative invitations. For a garden party, enclose a small packet of flower seeds with each invitation. For a French-themed soiree, use postcards of Paris.
by Beth J. Harpaz, The Associated Press
published May 12, 2007 12:15 am
NEW YORK — You’d expect a book called “Tea Party” to provide instructions for a proper afternoon tea, complete with white linen napkins, polished silver and tiered trays of scones, finger sandwiches and petits fours.
But Tracy Stern’s book also provides inspiration for plenty of parties that stray from that cliche, including one for men with black-tea martinis and sausage sandwiches.
Advertisement
Or a zany Mad Hatter-style tea party (a very merry unbirthday) with mismatched plates and cups, ham-banana sandwiches and cherry tarts. And a fall harvest dinner with chai tea, squash soup and an apple-cranberry crisp.
Stern’s “Tea Party” (Clarkson Potter, $27.50) offers recipes and ideas for 20 such themed events. And that’s just the start of her repertoire.
“I could have written five books,” said Stern, whose company, Tracy Stern SALONTEA, sells specialty teas and tea-infused beauty products. “My head is filled with the fantasy of creating tea parties for adults.”
As a child, Stern collected teacups and was obsessed with giving tea parties. As an adult, she turned that passion into a business. In addition to her book, published in April, and her products, she’s lined up investors for a chain of stores called Tea Party, with plans to open the first store later this year in Manhattan.
Stern’s ventures come at a time when the tea industry is booming. Ten years ago, there were 200 specialty tea rooms and retail shops; today there are 2,200, according to the Tea Association of the USA. Statistics from the Tea Association also show that consumer purchases of tea have increased for 15 straight years, with away-from-home consumption increasing 10 percent annually for a decade. Strong growth is anticipated for the next five years.
“Tea is undergoing a renaissance,” said Joe Simrany, president of the Tea Association. Simrany said reasons include increasing awareness and popularity of specialty teas; ready-to-drink teas; and health benefits. (Tea is high in antioxidants.)
In creating her book, Stern, a married mother of two in her late 30s, drew on her experiences as a tea maven. After studying art at the University of Tampa in Florida, she opened the Royal Tea Room in Tampa, with handpainted tea cozies and her own blends of tea. She later sold the business and moved to New York, where she hosted formal teas at a hotel and organized tea parties for charities and corporate events, including creating drinks mixing tea and alcohol to launch liquor products.
The stores she envisions opening will sell her teas and beauty products, along with teacups and teapots she’s designed using antique china for inspiration. The stores also will serve tea and sweets.
“This is the place you’re going to want to be that will be a respite from the crazy city,” said Lauren Freedman-Bolton, CEO of Tracy Stern Inc., who helped Stern devise a business plan and secure financing for the stores. “It will stimulate your senses, but it will also be very calming.”
The same could be said of the tea parties Stern outlines in her book, which include gatherings celebrating New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, engagements, baby showers and bridal showers. In addition to recipes, each theme includes ideas for invitations, decor and activities.
For a bridal shower tea, Stern suggests a spa theme, with little plastic tubs for foot soaks in mineral salts and chilled eye masks. Guests even could chip in and hire a manicurist, pedicurist or massage therapist to come. The menu includes serve-yourself buffets: a sophisticated salad bar and a frozen yogurt and sorbet bar.
While her menus and themes are unorthodox, Stern is a purist when it comes to actually making the tea.
“I’m not doing the tea bag,” she declared. “I feel the tea leaf needs to open and unfurl to get the full flavor.” And microwaving a cup of water for tea is a no-no as well. Stern wants the water boiled, then steeped with loose tea.
She added that inviting friends for tea always “makes them feel special,” whether it’s in your home, a fancy hotel or a cozy cafe. “Grabbing a cup of coffee,” she said, “doesn’t have that same special cachet.”
Some easy tea party ideas from Stern:
• For a beach theme, make the table pretty using seashells filled with salt or sequins. Stick a flower in a conch shell.
• For an elegant centerpiece, decorate a branch with crystal teardrops and uplight it with candles.
• Fill clear glasses with the colored aquarium stones sold in pet stores.
• Use cookie cutters to cut sandwiches into bite-size shapes, such as hearts.
• If you own a variety of teacups but not a complete set, use glass plates to mix and match for a modern-vintage look.
• For place settings, put two glass plates together and press a pansy or palm frond between them. If it’s a birthday or shower party, insert a photo of the guest of honor between the plates.
• Use chilled brewed tea to create interesting cocktails. Stern’s black-tea martinis, recommended for a “Gentlemen’s Tea,” are made from 2 ounces of vodka, 2 ounces of chilled brewed black tea and ice. (Dip the moistened rim of the glass in chopped tea leaves and sugar before you pour.)
• Make edible place settings using canned, refrigerated soft breadsticks, which you can shape into your guests’ initials before baking.
• Set the tone for your party with creative invitations. For a garden party, enclose a small packet of flower seeds with each invitation. For a French-themed soiree, use postcards of Paris.
by Beth J. Harpaz, The Associated Press
published May 12, 2007 12:15 am
NEW YORK — You’d expect a book called “Tea Party” to provide instructions for a proper afternoon tea, complete with white linen napkins, polished silver and tiered trays of scones, finger sandwiches and petits fours.
But Tracy Stern’s book also provides inspiration for plenty of parties that stray from that cliche, including one for men with black-tea martinis and sausage sandwiches.
Or a zany Mad Hatter-style tea party (a very merry unbirthday) with mismatched plates and cups, ham-banana sandwiches and cherry tarts. And a fall harvest dinner with chai tea, squash soup and an apple-cranberry crisp.
Stern’s “Tea Party” (Clarkson Potter, $27.50) offers recipes and ideas for 20 such themed events. And that’s just the start of her repertoire.
“I could have written five books,” said Stern, whose company, Tracy Stern SALONTEA, sells specialty teas and tea-infused beauty products. “My head is filled with the fantasy of creating tea parties for adults.”
As a child, Stern collected teacups and was obsessed with giving tea parties. As an adult, she turned that passion into a business. In addition to her book, published in April, and her products, she’s lined up investors for a chain of stores called Tea Party, with plans to open the first store later this year in Manhattan.
Stern’s ventures come at a time when the tea industry is booming. Ten years ago, there were 200 specialty tea rooms and retail shops; today there are 2,200, according to the Tea Association of the USA. Statistics from the Tea Association also show that consumer purchases of tea have increased for 15 straight years, with away-from-home consumption increasing 10 percent annually for a decade. Strong growth is anticipated for the next five years.
“Tea is undergoing a renaissance,” said Joe Simrany, president of the Tea Association. Simrany said reasons include increasing awareness and popularity of specialty teas; ready-to-drink teas; and health benefits. (Tea is high in antioxidants.)
In creating her book, Stern, a married mother of two in her late 30s, drew on her experiences as a tea maven. After studying art at the University of Tampa in Florida, she opened the Royal Tea Room in Tampa, with handpainted tea cozies and her own blends of tea. She later sold the business and moved to New York, where she hosted formal teas at a hotel and organized tea parties for charities and corporate events, including creating drinks mixing tea and alcohol to launch liquor products.
The stores she envisions opening will sell her teas and beauty products, along with teacups and teapots she’s designed using antique china for inspiration. The stores also will serve tea and sweets.
“This is the place you’re going to want to be that will be a respite from the crazy city,” said Lauren Freedman-Bolton, CEO of Tracy Stern Inc., who helped Stern devise a business plan and secure financing for the stores. “It will stimulate your senses, but it will also be very calming.”
The same could be said of the tea parties Stern outlines in her book, which include gatherings celebrating New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, engagements, baby showers and bridal showers. In addition to recipes, each theme includes ideas for invitations, decor and activities.
For a bridal shower tea, Stern suggests a spa theme, with little plastic tubs for foot soaks in mineral salts and chilled eye masks. Guests even could chip in and hire a manicurist, pedicurist or massage therapist to come. The menu includes serve-yourself buffets: a sophisticated salad bar and a frozen yogurt and sorbet bar.
While her menus and themes are unorthodox, Stern is a purist when it comes to actually making the tea.
“I’m not doing the tea bag,” she declared. “I feel the tea leaf needs to open and unfurl to get the full flavor.” And microwaving a cup of water for tea is a no-no as well. Stern wants the water boiled, then steeped with loose tea.
She added that inviting friends for tea always “makes them feel special,” whether it’s in your home, a fancy hotel or a cozy cafe. “Grabbing a cup of coffee,” she said, “doesn’t have that same special cachet.”
Some easy tea party ideas from Stern:
• For a beach theme, make the table pretty using seashells filled with salt or sequins. Stick a flower in a conch shell.
• For an elegant centerpiece, decorate a branch with crystal teardrops and uplight it with candles.
• Fill clear glasses with the colored aquarium stones sold in pet stores.
• Use cookie cutters to cut sandwiches into bite-size shapes, such as hearts.
• If you own a variety of teacups but not a complete set, use glass plates to mix and match for a modern-vintage look.
• For place settings, put two glass plates together and press a pansy or palm frond between them. If it’s a birthday or shower party, insert a photo of the guest of honor between the plates.
• Use chilled brewed tea to create interesting cocktails. Stern’s black-tea martinis, recommended for a “Gentlemen’s Tea,” are made from 2 ounces of vodka, 2 ounces of chilled brewed black tea and ice. (Dip the moistened rim of the glass in chopped tea leaves and sugar before you pour.)
• Make edible place settings using canned, refrigerated soft breadsticks, which you can shape into your guests’ initials before baking.
• Set the tone for your party with creative invitations. For a garden party, enclose a small packet of flower seeds with each invitation. For a French-themed soiree, use postcards of Paris.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
TEA: Reagan and Prince of Wales and tea
An excerpt from a newspaper called the Scotsman:
Ronald Reagan's private diaries reveal that he also managed to fret about a social faux pas, such as when the Prince of Wales - "a most likeable person" - visited the White House and his tea was served American-style.
"The ushers brought him tea - horror of horrors, they served it our way with a tea bag still in the cup. It finally dawned on me that he was just holding the cup and then finally put down on a table. The prince said: 'I didn't know what to do with the little bag'."
Ronald Reagan's private diaries reveal that he also managed to fret about a social faux pas, such as when the Prince of Wales - "a most likeable person" - visited the White House and his tea was served American-style.
"The ushers brought him tea - horror of horrors, they served it our way with a tea bag still in the cup. It finally dawned on me that he was just holding the cup and then finally put down on a table. The prince said: 'I didn't know what to do with the little bag'."
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