This post is not about a restaurant I went to, and then the meal I re-created afterwords. It's about two things I love, and I just morphed them together.
Back in February, I had a tea party. Not just any tea party, but one where a good friend of mine came in, set everything up, made all the tea, and served all of my guests. Karin has been a good friend of mine since I met her at a similar party at my friend Shelby's. Karin works for a home-sales company called Tealightful. It's a wonderful way to host an afternoon party with your friends and/or family. Karin pretty much comes in and does all the work. But you all know me... I can't just sit back and do nothing. The night before, I decided to make ice cream to serve as dessert. Not just ice cream though... my special touch was adding in my favorite tea: Chai. I followed the directions for my ice cream maker's cooked vanilla ice cream. While simmering the cream (which takes like 30 minutes), I tossed in a tea bag of Spice is Nice Chai to simmer away with the cream. The outcome: pure heaven. Well, almost. I did make it a wee bit strong (learned wee while in Scotland), and there was just a touch too much sugar. So, the next time I make it, I will make it into pure heaven.
I am thinking of trying to make a sorbet with some of the herbal teas. I don't think citrus will work too well with cream, but sorbet would be perfect. At the tea party we made a Sangria tea punch with Sangria herbal tea and a bottle of Moscat di Asti. It was wonderful. The Moscat added a perfect amount of sweetness to the very fruity sangria tea. I think I could "kick it up a notch" (thanks Emril) by turning it into sorbet. If I do try it, I'll be sure to let you know how that turns out.
About this tea I use... Tealightful. It is a great tea product made in Rochester, NY. I had to move to Virginia to find it, when all along it was right under my nose every time I visited my husband (well, boyfriend at the time). He grew up in Rochester, about an hour or so drive east from where I lived in Buffalo. All of the tea they make is sold in a loose leaf style, and you get it in packages of 4oz. When you are ready to enjoy your tea, you brew it to the directions on the package in a brew basket, or a tea filter of your choice. I usually use my brew basket and then compost my leaves after making the tea. It pretty much eliminates the waste. My favorite tea is the Spice is Nice Chai tea. So far it is the best tasting one I've had. I did try one from this little tea shop in downtown Fredericksburg, but their flavor was really off. (I sorta think the owners are a bit off as well). The tea is also very affordable. It's similar to buying food in bulk... when you buy tea in individual tea bags, you pay a good premium. When you buy tea in loose leaf form, each cup of tea is only a few cents. I don't know the exact math, but I think it's like 30 cents or less per cup. I encourage you to visit their website and see what it's all about. It's a great cup of tea to enjoy while reading my blog.
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