SerendipiTEA - Tea Mantras

While working on my "tea calming" post, I came across some fun phrases re: tea. Here are some of the photos. I'm taking the easy way out on this post, guys, sorry. But feel free to add your personal tea mantras below.

http://simonemesham.wordpress.com/
The blog I found this pic from has some other great items. Check out the felt tea cups. I love it! :)

Next:

I sincerely hope there was more tea in the cup... but I'm a pessimist; it's half empty.

I typed "tea mantras" into Google images...as a teaist can I say how sick I am of the Tea Party? I don't mean any cute little girls' b-day parties, or ladies dressed for high tea. I don't mean us - fellow teaists swapping thoughts and discussions on tea. I mean the stupid political part. UGH.

Got any other pics of your tea mantras? Share below.

SerendipiTEA: High Tea Society Kit

Now you can own - and host! - your very own High Tea Society Kit! Learn how to make the essential cucumber sandwiches, mini scones and other treats to impress your friends at your next garden party.

Seriously, folks, this kit is out there. I'm all for tea, you know that, but this just reeks of pretentiousness.

And yet I totally want one!

High Tea Party Kit

http://highteasociety.bigcartel.com/product/high-tea-party-at-home-kit 

The cookbook will show you how to prepare the sandwiches, scones and cupcakes. The rest is in the kit: party invitations, cupcake wrappers, loose leaf tea, table name place cards and to finish your cake stand; chocolates and biscuits. Over $120 value on sale for: $69

- High Tea at The Victoria Room cookbook 

- Madame Flavour Signature Blend 250g loose leaf black tea 

(from three renowned Ceylon Estates) packed into a foil pouch. 

- Madame Flavour elegant black embossed display & storage tea tin. 

- 12 reusable cupcake wrappers from Cupcake Wrapper Co 

- 10 Cristina Re invitations with fridge magnet & 10 envelopes 

- 10 Cristina Re place cards 

- 3 x 100g bars of Green & Black’s chocolate 

- Citrus Lemon Butterbursts biscuits from Luken & May 200g pack 

- Gift wrapping and gift message

Over $120 value on sale for: $69 inc gst 

Postage and handling is $10. Delivery in Australia only. (Damn! I can't get it...any Aussies out there interested? Go halvies?) 

Anyone else concerned that the link says "bigcartel?"

SerendipiTEA Post 1: Invention of Chocolate Chip Cookies

Serendipity is defined as discovering/developing/inventing one thing while trying to discover/develop/invent something else. SerendipiTEA, on this blog, is interesting tidbits about tea and tea-related items I've read about during my research of one of the world's oldest - and my favorite - beverage.


Chocolate Chip Cookies
Like to eat cookies with your tea (or just in general)? Well according to Wikipedia sources, there is actually one woman responsible for the first chocolate chip cookie - of the Toll House variety. And, the cookie itself hasn't been around all that long. I can't imagine a world without cookies, but for Ruth Wakefield there was such a time.

Check this out: Ms. Wakefield was a baker and original owner at the Toll House Inn, no longer in existence due to a terrible fire in the 1980s. But during her tenure there, she developed the chocolate chip cookie. According to Ideafinder.com, Ms. Wakefield developed the chocolate chip cookie accidentally while trying to enhance her famous butter drop cookies. She added bits of Nestle chocolate thinking the chocolate would melt and swirl within the batter. But the chips didn't melt; they held their shape. The resulting cookie became highly demanded at the Inn, and sales of the Nestle chocolate bar skyrocketed.

Ms. Wakefield was a smart cookie herself. She approached Nestle and eventually reached a deal. Nestle printed her recipe on the chocolate bar and supplied Ms. Wakefield with - get this! - chocolate for life so she could continue baking the Toll House cookies. What a sweet deal!

Eventually Nestle begin developing the candy bar to be more user-friendly - easier to score, and even sold the bar with a tool to make chopping the bar easier. Finally, Nestle developed the bite-sized morsels, which morphed into the chocolate chips we know - and love today.

And what happened to Ms. Chocolate Chip? She kept baking her treats until her death in 1977; during her lifetime, she also wrote a cookbook which eventually went through 39 printings.

So next time you sink your teeth into a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie, thank Ruth Wakefield! (And fate.)

For more information:
http://tollhousecookies.net/toll_house_history