Got Tea?

I discovered a neato mosquito website, through Suzann, which will save your bookmarks on a website so you can access them from any computer. That's pretty handy! I keep all my bookmarks on my main computer but I also use other computers too from time to time so this is a pretty nifty tool for me. All you have to do is set up an account on Foxmarks then sync your bookmarks. Then you can access your bookmarks from any computer by logging in to the Foxmarks site. So far I have only found one downside. It doesn't seem to work with Safari (Apple's browser).

And since we're on a geeky topic, let me mention that Firefox 3 is finally out. Yay! I had been using 3 Beta for a while and it was working great. Now that version 3 has been officially released, all those Firefox add-ons should also catch up with compatibility.

One of my favorite Firefox add-ons is It's All Text. We've all been there, on a forum somewhere on the web, where we have to type up our message in an itty bitty text box or a very limited text box. I've always hated that. Well this It's All Text add-on will allow you to use a text editor of your choice. You can choose Notepad, Microsoft Word, or whatever you like.

My personal favorite text editor is VIM, which is an improvement on VI. There's a bit of a learning curve if you've never used a vi editor before, and I can't recommend it for everyone. However it can be a powerful editor if you take the time to learn all of its features. I have some vi tips links in my side bar under the "geeky links" section.

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Please send your thoughts and prayers to Chris and her husband Dave who has been experiencing heart trouble.

Please say a prayer for Claudia or wish her luck on her upcoming surgery on Tuesday.

Claudia, if you're ever near San Francisco, I think you'd really enjoy going up to Point Reyes (north of SF) and seeing the lighthouse at Point Reyes. I've taken out of towners up there when they visit, and we walk the 300-ish steps down to the lighthouse. The first time I walked down to the lighthouse I wondered why there was a bench along the way. Ha! I figured it out coming back up! Going UP those steps is a different matter. It's cold and windy there, so bundle up when you go.

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I went to Target in search of diapers and those tiny button batteries for one of Miss M's musical books. I never imagined that I would walk out with 6 new teas to try (one of them I have had before)! It does feel weird picking up so much tea when the weather is hot. Wonder if the cashier thought I was strange.

Celestial Seasonings Honey Vanilla White Tea Chai
Celestial Seasonings Sweet Coconut Thai Chai
Celestial Seasonings Chocolate Caramel Enchantment Chai
Celestial Seasonings Perfectly Pear White Tea
Stash Chocolate Hazelnut
Archer Farms Green Jasmine
Archer Farms Tropical

It's interesting how the tea selection varies at Target stores. I was elated to find the Celestial Seasonings Sweet Coconut Thai Chai tea (that was recommended by people on Ravelry) when I went to the Target in Cupertino, CA, this after not finding it at my local Safeway supermarket. However their tea selection in general was not impressive at all. I usually shop at this Target because it is on one level and thus easier to maneuver around with Miss M. The 2-level Target in Sunnyvale, CA is more challenging at times since I have to make certain I grab everything I want from the 2nd floor before I head back downstairs.

Anyhow, I hadn't gone back to the Sunnyvale Target in a while but I had to go there because I couldn't find the diapers I wanted at the Cupertino Target. Target stocks loads of diapers, but they're not always the flavor I'm looking for. Picked up my big box of pull-up diapers. Picked up a package of batteries for her book. Then wandered into the grocery store section. I never really paid much attention to that section of Target until someone suggested looking there for tea.

I picked up another box of the Sweet Coconut Thai Chai, now I have 3 boxes of that in the house. This one is yummy and I love how it is decaf especially since Miss M requests this tea by name. I'm currently expanding my chai tea bag horizons. I've never tried the Honey Vanilla White Tea Chai or Chocolate Caramel Enchantment Chai, but picked them up because I had not seen them before at Safeway. So that makes 4 flavors of Celestial Seasonings Chai Tea in my house, the other one was India Spice Chai, found at Longs Drugstore.

I saw the Perfectly Pear and couldn't recall whether that was the tea people recommended. I recalled a pear tea on the list, but couldn't remember the exact name. Anyhow this sounded interesting, I haven't had many teas with pear in it.

The Stash Chocolate Hazelnut and Celestial Seasonings Chocolate Caramel Enchantment Chai are my introduction to chocolaty flavored tea. Although I love chocolate, chocolate tea is not something I've gravitated towards in the past.

The two Archer Farms teas are a Target brand item. I've never tried them before and just threw them into my shopping cart on a whim. I think I have become incredibly lazy when it comes to brewing tea. I'm reaching for tea bags more frequently than loose leaf these days.

I haven't had a chance to try all these teas yet, just the Perfectly Pear, Chocolate Caramel Enchantment Chai, and the Jasmine. I like the first two. Yay! The Jasmine loose tea was nothing to write home about. If I don't like the other loose tea, then I will avoid all Archer Farms teas in the future.

Since I've started adding honey to my teas, I decided to pick up that ginormous bottle of honey from Costco. It is 2.3 kg (5 lb) of Sue Bee Honey, which is 6 or 7 times the size of the little bottle I picked up from Safeway which I went through so quickly. I hope honey has a long shelf life; I didn't see any expiry on the big bottle.

Anyhow, after all this talk about tea, I actually have not made any tea today. Yet I did make one cup of coffee using the coffee I picked up to make these cookies. I actually gave up coffee some years back for various reasons. I only have coffee as a treat now and then, and that is usually from Peet's, Starbucks or some other coffee shop. I was actually surprised at my cup of coffee today; it was pretty decent for an instant. Of course it has been decades since I last tried this stuff, so I can't be relied on for my impressions on instant coffee. And do you want to know the absolutely best part about my coffee this morning? I actually managed to sit down and drink half the cup UNINTERUPTED by Miss M. :-)

And about those cookies, I was a very very bad girl and ate five of them on the day I baked them. There are a few left now. We seem to have plenty of dessert in the house now. Cookies from Thursday, kahlua pie from yesterday, and some banana nut bread I baked earlier today.

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The following are just notes to myself for where I can buy specific flavors of tea bags:

Longs Drugstore in Sunnyvale, CA (El Camino, somewhere between Mathilda and Fair Oaks)
-- Celestial Seasonings India Chai Spice

Safeway in Sunnyvale, CA (El Camino near Wolfe)
-- Celestial Seasonings Honey Lemon Ginseng
-- Celestial Seasonings Wild Berry Zinger
-- Stash Chai Spice

Target in Cupertino, CA (Stevens Creek near De Anza)
-- Celestial Seasonings Sweet Coconut Thai Chai

Target in Sunnyvale, CA (Somewhere near Mathilda and the train station)
-- Celestial Seasonings Honey Vanilla White Tea Chai
-- Celestial Seasonings Sweet Coconut Thai Chai
-- Celestial Seasonings Chocolate Caramel Enchantment Chai
-- Celestial Seasonings Perfectly Pear White Tea
-- Stash Chocolate Hazelnut

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This flew in as I was picking up the mail one day. She landed on me and then fell onto the check I had just received from the Camino Medical Group (copay refund). She walked around the front side then disappeared to the underside. I was happy and excited about being able to show Miss M a ladybug up close. She found it interesting too. I managed to take some photos of her before I let her out into our back yard. She seemed reluctant to step off the paper, eventually did and then flew off...

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I got this from Barbara. Which side of the brain are you using? I can only see her rotating clockwise, so I'm using my right brain.

Getting a head start on Christmas projects? Check out Melissa's skein ornaments. Aren't they pretty? I wonder how hard it is to get the yarn to twist that way.

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This is just a tree I saw as I was at an intersection waiting for the light to turn green.
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Sugar Bowl

Before you get excited about college football or a ski resort in California, this is about a sugar bowl which generally holds C12H22O11 (Carbon 12, Hydrogen 22, Oxygen 11; aka sucrose or table sugar).

If you asked me, six months ago, what I thought about Celestial Seasonings teas, I would have told you that I didn't like them, even after trying several different flavors. They weren't weren't my cup of tea despite their popularity. I enjoyed tea(s) from other brands ubiquitously found at supermarkets, for example, Stash, Twinings, Bigelow, Tazo, Yogi, and Traditional Medicinals. What was it about Celestial Seasonings teas? I wondered for a while and finally decided to ask the tea connoisseurs on Ravelry.

One person suggested adding sugar to make the fruit tea flavors pop. Eager to try this, I made some Raspberry Gardens tea -- a flavor I was not impressed with at all -- with a teaspoon of sugar. Boy did that make a difference in my tea drinking experience! The tea was much improved by this simple addition.

I drink a tremendous amount of tea on a daily basis, however most of my teas are consumed unadulterated with any sweeteners or milk. I was never in the habit of adding anything to my tea and I can enjoy many black teas plain, even the ones which most people drink with milk in it.

After this amazing discovery of what I've been doing wrong with the Celestial Seasonings teas, I decided it was time for me to dig out the sugar bowl. I should mention here that we don't use much sugar in our house. It is mostly used for baking, so we just measure out what we need from the 5 lb bag from the store or a large container if I have stored it in one. This is quite cumbersome when one only wants one teaspoon of tea. So I went in search of our sugar bowl, which was still packed in a box since our move to this new house back in September 2007.

Mom's sugar bowl

This is my mom's sugar bowl, it's part of a set of china which I "inherited" when we moved to the new house. The rest of the set is still packed up in boxes, along with a second set of china also "inherited" from my mom. The second set is a fancy Chinese style set which is not very practical for using, so it will most likely remain packed in boxes for a few decenniums.

Sitting next to this sugar bowl is my new love. Celestial Seasonings Sweet Coconut Thai Chai tea which someone on Ravelry recommended. It is not sold at my local Safeway, however I managed to find it yesterday at Target. I made 3 cups yesterday. And Miss M enjoyed drinking half of my tea.

As I was out shopping today, I managed to pick up more tea: Celestial Seasonings India Chai Spice Tea; Celestial Seasonings Fruit Tea Sampler; 2 boxes of Stash Chai Spice Black Tea. I have had the latter before, consumed plain. I intend to try it with some sugar and milk added.

I have a modest tea stash in my new home. I have managed to allocate one drawer for tea, and both tea bags and loose tea are packed in quite densely. The drawer is only 58.5 cm x 52 cm x 21.5 cm (23 in x 20.5 in x 8.5 in). To make the most of the space, I have consolidated individually wrapped tea bags into boxes. I found this a better use of space than having several boxes each containing 4 or 5 tea bags in them. It may sound like a disorganized mess, but I actually know where my teas are since they are grouped by like kind. Well, sort of.

Teatime now .... I am enjoying a cup of Celestial Seasonings Wild Berry Zinger. It's almost time for Miss M to wake from her nap -- yes, I actually got her to nap today!!! -- and then it'll be time to start dinner. We made Russian Tea Cakes earlier this afternoon, a little surprise for DH when he returns from work...

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