Sitting Down for Tea - A Lost Art

I like the older traditions.  There, I said it.  Many of our friends are mildly surprised when they come over for tea the first time, especially if it happens to be on a weekend when I have time. I enjoy putting out the teacups, making a big pot of tea, and having the sugar bowl and milk pitcher on the side.  I never planned to host a tea, but it happened that way by pure chance.

Garden Party

Let's be honest.  A garden party is a good excuse to have wine with friends.  Our back garden has been revamped, and it looks amazing.  Just ask any of the friends that were here last night.  And we finally found a range of wine glasses we like.  No, not the normal ones (and definitely no the overpriced ones) but decent glasses that are available in the bigger sizes for red wine.  Red wine just tastes so much better in a bigger glass.  And of course, in typical Tiffany's fashion, I couldn't let the table stand bare of snacks from my side.  The interesting part is I planned the snacks under the impression today (21 January) is the Chinese New Year, however, it is only on the 28th.

It Came, It Finally Came!!!

Yes, after being almost 2 weeks overdue, my Turkish tea pot has finally arrived.  Isn't she a beauty?  Sad it may be, but I just had to use it today.  I so badly wanted to have a Turkish meal with the first pot ever brewed, but I don't have the patience to wait, so stuff it.  And how how glad I was for it.  I absolutely LOVE Turkish tea.

Turkish Food Without the Tea

Here we go with a last blog before work starts again.  Unfortunately all good things (holiday in this instance) must come to an end, however, that allows new good things to begin (that thing that I call work, so that means a day of ignoring the phone, drinking coffee and catching up with my colleagues.

I spent a good chunk of the 29th preparing Turkish snacks for when my Turkish Tea Pot arrives, so everything was kept in the freezer, ready for baking, thawing and serving.  As my pot still hasn't arrived, I decided to serve the snacks with coffee when our friends, Zumba and her husband Cum Bubble, came over for a long overdue visit.

Late Night Flowers

Husband and I have numerous friends and acquaintances, yet I can honestly say our best friends at this point, that we see regularly, would be his cousin (Lippietjies) and the fiance (Spongy).  Now the funny thing is, we met them about 5 years ago, and somehow, Husband and Lippietjies, and Spongy and I just grew into a strong group of friends.

To make this story even more interesting, Lippietjies and Husband's mothers were friends way back in the day before he was even born, and Lippietjies was friends with his older sister (let's call her Froggie).  Seems this world is rather small, as Lippietjies and Husband are also cousins from his mom's sister's side.

Baklava and Gezelligheid

There is a wonderful Dutch word called "Gezelligheid".  I am semi quoting from Nicole, from the blog The Dutch Table.  Not only are there wonderful recipes for Dutch foods, but also rich insights into the culture.  "Gezelligheid" is a word that few people who aren't Dutch, or in my opinion Afrikaans as well, would find easy to understand.  It is a feeling, a mood that is set when the right people or situation develops or evolves.

Tonight's blog came about with a meeting by my husband and a colleague/friend of his/ours, let's call her Mushroom (an inside joke).  While discussing whatever they needed to discuss the question of something to drink arose.  Without batting an eyelid, Mushroom asked "Is Tiffany's Chai on offer?"  For those that haven't tasted it yet, I've even had an Indian lady tell me that my Chai was on par with what she's had in India.  Unfortunately, I didn't have all the ingredients, but as I'm an avid supporter of The Tea Merchant, I happen to have a tin of Goa Chai, which will do in a pinch.

Dark Hazel Chocolate

I have to admit something.  I Hate, with a capital H, bad coffee and tea.  There is such an amazing world out there filled with wonderful beans and leaves that I almost want to burst into tears when I get served a cup of dishwater.  Thank heavens all my friends and colleagues feel the same way, and if you ever visit my office, the receptionist simply HAS to make you a cup of coffee.

My husband and I have a tradition that came into being because of myself.  On weekends (as I have the time then) we start the morning with coffee made from freshly ground coffee beans.  The beans we usually stock are:  Hazelnut, Kahlua and Vanilla.  These beans we buy at Peacock, then our normal unflavoured bean is from Ferndale, the German Emporium.  Dark roast of course as that's the best for a good espresso.