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Linen and Tea Newsletter
July 2009 Issue
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For those who have previously received a newsletter called, Cuppa Tea & Scones, I am now going to write the column each month and post it directly on my website rather than have it sent to your email address.
There are many reasons to do this but the most important one is to cut back on my monthly costs related to my tea business which means that I can keep my website tea business prices reasonable.
The Linen and Tea Newsletter will be released each month on the 15th beginning with July 2009.
I hope this change will be also be good for you since you can now go to my website and read the newsletter at your convenience.
Blessings,
Bonnie
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Welcome all who enjoy a great cuppa tea!
For some readers, this will be your first newsletter from me. Others will have received a newsletter, Cuppa Tea & Scones, about a year or so ago or maybe you signed up for the newsletter and never received it--to those readers, I apologize. Please read-on.
Life started out crazy over a year ago with two surgeries, one was a new pacemaker--my 6th if I count the scars correctly--and another yucky sinus surgery. I think after two of these sinus surgeries I would rather have a root canal done since it is almost painless (the shot to numb still kills) and the recovery time is much shorter with a LOT less discomfort! I won't go into details but lets just say enough is enough!
Some of you also know that when we moved to Texas from southern California, we had our house built with my mom in mind. We planned for her moving in with us and when that happened, it was such a fast-moving, almost crazy time. Between flying back and forth to Prescott, AZ to help her sell her house and then either disperse her belongings and pack up what she still needed and wanted, the sky miles really added up quickly.
During her short stay with us, I put aside my writing and condensed my tea business so I could spend more time with her. At the same time, I was diagnosed with Diabetes 2.
Back to my mom's moving in with us:
After a while it was more than apparent that she had more than just some dementia as her doctor told me. In fact, she was in the second stage of Alzheimer's disease. Living apart from her for the past 30 years was probably the reason why I didn't pick up on it sooner. If I had, I wouldn't have moved her here since the move was the worst thing for her. She never settled in and had to return to AZ. She is now in a wonderful home for Alzheimer's persons and she absolutely loves the food!
It was hard on me when she left but I knew it was the best for her. She is also back living close to my brother who has helped her down through the years.
It took me longer than I thought it would to recover from all that happened while she was here, accepting that she has Alzheimer's, and going on with life. I felt as though someone had kidnapped my mother and all I wanted was for this person to return her to me! Picking out a Mother's Day card was really hard on me. What card can relate to your mother who isn't really your mom any more. I sent her flowers and a small box of candy which she hid in her room so she wouldn't have to share.
But enough sadness. God's love will get all my family
through this difficult time.
The great news is that I have decided to concentrate on my website and tea business, and have made some interesting changes I hope you will like. Here are just a few of the changes: I have even more blends of Linen and Tea loose-leaf teas, have some great prices on tea accessories and tea party have-to-have's, I will release a new chapter each week from Steeped in Secrets book one in the Linen and Tea women's fiction series beginning in January 2009, am now offering gift certificates, Teas of the Month gifts, and have begun preparation for my Friendship Teapots Celebration also beginning January 2009. You will find information on all these changes by clicking on the links at the left side of the page. I still have many of the same tea pages as before. But the biggest change is in the design of Linen and Tea's website! I hope you will like these new changes.
Blessings,
Bonnie L Line
I am The Tea Lady!
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Tea Tips
Since it's almost time for iced tea, here are some tips to help make it easier. First, always start with good water which isn't what comes out of your tap because it has chlorine in it that will affect the taste of your tea. Next, bring the water to a full boil but don't let it over boil since it can affect the full-body flavor of your tea. Most iced teas are black and there's a good reason for that--most green teas don't taste as good iced. Some blacks also don't, so if you stick to a good blend of black teas like Yorkshire Gold, or "breakfast" teas such as English Breakfast, or a flavored black tea such as ginger peach, you will have a great-tasting iced tea.
Measure your loose-leaf tea carefully. It's not like making coffee with heaping measurements and one extra for the pot. Some people do measure an extra teaspoon of tea for the pot but it does make for a stronger tea and if that is to your liking, then by all means, go ahead and do so.
Steeped the black teas to your personal taste. I prefer a shorter steeping time while others may enjoy several minutes of steeping the tea.
I like to let the tea cool down before pouring it over ice cubes because whenever I do, the tea becomes cloudy. If this happens, add a little boiling hot water to your iced tea and that should clear up the cloudiness. Sometimes later after you've refrigerated the iced tea or the next day, the pitcher of iced tea may become cloudy. Again, slowly pour a little boiling water into the pitcher and the cloudiness will clear up.
Is sugar hard to dissolve and ends up in the bottom of your iced tea glass?
Here's a sure recipe for making a sugar syrup to help with that annoyance.
Mix 2 cups of sugar to 1 cup of boiling water; bring to a full boil stirring constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved. Removed from stove and let the syrup cool. You can add orange, mint, or lemon to the cool syrup for additional flavoring or experiment with flavors you already enjoy with hot tea--like maybe a chai flavoring of vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Store syrup in a closed container in the refrigerator.
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New Linen and Tea loose-leaf gourmet blends.
Black: Earl Gray, Passion Fruit,and Snickerdoodle
Oolong: Ti Kwan Yin
Green: Jasmine Pearls and Matcha
Half Green & Half Black: Pomegranate Blueberry, Ginger Peach, Vanilla Creme, and Fireside
Herbal: Rooibos, Rooibos Masala Chai, Rooibos Chocolate Mint, Rooibos Belgian Chocolate, Rooibos Candied Ginger Peach, Rooibos Creme Au Caramel, Rooibos Vanilla, Rooibos Georgia Peach, and Rooibos Earl Gray
Children's: Tutti Fruiti
And once I return June 2nd from the World Tea Expo, I hope to have ordered, then packaged and uploaded the pictures of the following teas:
Flowering or Artisan green teas, Keemum, Earl Gray Green, Irish Breakfast, Darjeeling, and many decaf teas.
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