Paris Resto and Culinary

Reading Tea Leaves ~ The Symbol Cup

Although many people prefer a simple white cup for tea leaf reading, there are also traditions concerning the positional placement of the leaves in the cup, and some find it easier to work with marked cups. Beginning in the late 19th century and continuing to the present, English and American potteries have produced specially decorated cup and saucer sets for the use of tea-leaf readers. Many of these designs are patented and come with instructions explaining their mode of use. Some of the most common were those that were given away with purchases of bulk tea.

There are dozens of individual designs of fortune tellers' cups, but the three most common types are Playing Card cups, Symbol cups, and Zodiac cups.

Symbol cups - These sets are decorated with between a dozen and fifty of the most common visual cues that can be found in tea leaves, often numbered for easy reference and supplied with an explanatory booklet. The symbols are generally displayed inside the cups, but there are also sets in which they decorate the outside or appear in the cups and on the saucers. (Information courtesy of Wikipedia.)

Taken from http://uniquelytea.blogspot.com/

Seeds of Change

This photo may not look like much, but it is. Each speck that you see above is the seed of an heirloom tomato plant, and each seed will grow into its own plant, which will in turn produce it's own seeds, and so on. As Farmer Al says, "One grain of corn planted in a suitable environment will in turn - someday - feed the world."

Taken from http://teaandfood.blogspot.com/

Perfect Rosebud

The God who takes a summer storm
and ends it with a rainbow,
who lights the very darkest night
with silver stars above. . .
The God who, with a tiny seed,
can form a perfect rosebud,
is our God, and the One who heals
our sorrow with His love.

B. J. Hoff

Photo copyrighted by Brandon 2007 ~ ~ ~ taken at home by the Pink Simplicity Hedge Row

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Taken from http://www.gracioushospitality.blogspot.com/

la mouche qui pète

hier soir je me suis fait un gyokuro , du coup cette nuit insomnie et le peu de sommeil que j'ai eu a été très léger : le moindre bruit me réveillait .

debout à 5 heures du matin...

c'est fini pour moi les thés verts le soir .

Taken from http://tetsubin.blogspot.com/

My little guy,s growing up

My little Celadon Tea Pot is getting his first fracture, isn't it cute? He,s becoming a toddler. No really, the fracturing and cracking of the glaze is what Celadon is known and admired for. It will eventually become covered in small and large cracks creating a kind of spider web appearance. In some ways it,s disconcerting but that,s just what Celadon does. So if you cant stand the idea of your brand new tea ware cracking then stay away from Celadon.

Above are two more examples of Celadon that I,ve had for a while and the cracking is pretty well done it,s thing. One is a small "Monks Bowl" teacup that has the larger sized cracks. The other is a fair cup that is covered in tiny fractures. I think it varies from piece to piece with no real predictability as to which type of fracturing might take place.

note: to get a better look just click the pics.

Taken from http://teadork.blogspot.com/

"Sacred" Ground

I have proof the chickadees prefer pine nuts to sunflower seeds! Not that it is of the least importance. A whole bag of these expensive things languished in the freezer too long, soI put them out in the bird feeders - very popular with our crowd. The titmice can't seem to eat at the same feeder, but a crowd of chickadees or a flutter of finches seem to be able to munch quite happily together.

I have had a tummy bug, so I have not been in the mood to taste teas. Mostly I have been drinking Bigelow's Herbal Assortment. All tea bags. All okay, if not exciting. But then, I wasn't looking for excitement.

How're you doing on your Thanksgiving planning? We're just having friends over, so there isn't the tension of long standing family stuff to deal with. I have the meal all planned and except for things like fruit, which you really can't get ahead, I'm all set. I confess I am a real traditionalist for this meal. The stuffing is sacred ground! And there has to be mashed potatoes and gravy and cranberry sauce. After that, the sides can be whatever. Since our friends are bringing most of them, I am only going to make Indian Creamed Spinach with Cashews for the ones who like Indian stuff.

When I was a kid, my mother always made creamed onions, which no one ate. Finally I asked her why and she said her grandfather loved them and they were always on the table for Thanksgiving. He died in 1938. I think it was at least 1955 before I asked. Talk about tradition.

Hmm, what tea to have with the meal. Actually, it will be with dessert. We are having coconut cream pie for Himself and I can't make up my mind about the others. I am considering pecan, pumpkin, apple and chocolate. Since there will only be 6 of us, I can't really make them all. Much too oinky.

Taken from http://teafortoday.blogspot.com/

Homemade Green Tea Spritzer

It's National Iced Tea Month but who says iced (i.e., "cold") tea is just for drinking ??? !!! Keep a bottle of this homemade Green Tea Spritzer in your fridge for an Iced Tea Whole Body Experience!

Green Tea Spritzer
Boil a cup of spring water, then add 4 tsp of loose green tea leaves (or break open some tea bags) and 1 tsp mint leaves. Let the herbal mixture stand for 10 minutes then strain and allow it to cool completely before pouring it into a small spray bottle. Store in fridge and use as a body spritzer whenever you need a pick me up. (Safe to use on your face!)