My Favorite Drink

You Are Tea

You are mellow and reflective. You don't allow yourself to feel in a rush and frenzied. You're likely to appreciated the ideas or connections that come up over a warm cup of tea. While you do enjoy the energy of a caffeine boost, you love that it allows you to take a break. You're not in a rush to do anything. You're content with your life, and in no rush to change it.

Are You Coffee or Tea?

I Would Be Worried Too :)

AFP: British planners feared tea shortage after nuclear attack---

LONDON (AFP) - Never mind the radiation: British contingency planners worried there would be a dramatic shortage of tea in the aftermath of a nuclear attack, recently declassified documents showed Monday.

The shortfall of the staple British beverage would be "very serious" if the country were to come under attack with atomic and hydrogen bombs, said according to a memo drafted between 1954 and 1956.

"The tea position would be very serious with a loss of 75 percent of stocks and substantial delays in imports and with no system of rationing it would be wrong to consider that even one ounce (28 grams) per head per week could be ensured," it said.

"No satisfactory solution has yet been found."

Tea is very necessary as a comfort. This is no joke! :)

Time for Tea

I just came across this lovely little article on having a proper tea time. If you enjoy tea or want to have a tea, you will find some excellent tips and recipes, as well as a bit of history on tea in England.

Here is an excerpt.

PennLive.com: Tea time---

With English author Jane Austen undergoing a popularity boom through feature films and a PBS series, it's an opportune time to consider what just might have been her favorite beverage: tea.

In Austen's novels, being invited to stay for tea was a symbol of social acceptance. And while more than one romantic intrigue deepened over the rim of the teacup, affairs of the heart were always tempered with practicality -- just like afternoon tea.

I think having tea every day around 4pm is a delightful custom and one I would gladly take up. It provides a delicious little moment where one can relax and let the stress of the day fall away before beginning to prepare dinner. Plus, its tea!

And the Winner Is . . .!

Congratulations to Denise, the winner of my little Jane Austen Contest to celebrate the kick-off of PBS' The Complete Jane Austen Season. I pulled Denise's name randomly out of my blue English teapot and she wins a copy of the 1995 Sense & Sensibility starring Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet (not a PBS version!) and some loose leaf English Evening tea, and some other little things.

Congratulations, Denise! Please send your address and e-mail to me at TheLadyJane@gmail.com! I will be sending your prize this week. :)

(Sorry, the prize doesn't include my Union Jack Bag! :) lol)
Thank you to Kimba, Lizzie, Karen in Maryland, Luthien84, Susan, and Elizabeth who all visited and entered! I appreciate all your visits and comments! Come back soon for another contest!

Feeling Stressed?

Women's Day Magazine has 10-Second Stress Busters
---15 in all. Check them out!

The first is my favorite:

Drink Tea
Black tea has been shown to have an effect on stress hormone levels in the body. Researchers in England have found that people who drink black tea de-stress more quickly than those drinking a fake tea substitute. Tea contains catechins, polyphenols, flavonoids and amino acids that affect your brain's neurotransmitters and ultimately reduce blood levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

I drink tea all the time, especially black tea, and it is always so comforting.

What do you do when feeling stressed?

New Jane Austen Contest!

In honor of the beginning of PBS' The Complete Jane Austen Season, I thought I would have a little JA Contest!

The prize is a copy of the 1995 Sense & Sensibility starring Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet (not a PBS version!) and some loose leaf English Evening tea, and possibly some other little things. (I'll post a picture in the next few days).

Here are the rules:

• Write a comment on this post by 9pm pst Monday, 21 January 2008.
• Your comment can be about anything related to Jane Austen.
• I will randomly pick a name out of my blue English teapot Monday night and post the winner.

That's it! Good luck!

And the Wuthering Heights Winner Is . .

. . . Miss Paula! Congratulations, Miss Paula! You have won a copy of Wuthering Heights, some loose-leaf Yorkshire Harrogate Tea from my favorite tea shop; and a pair of wristwarmers that I knit. Please send your address to me at TheLadyJane@gmail.com.

Thank you all for entering! I loved reading your fantastic comments and I wish I had a copy for each of you! I hope you will visit again, as I plan to have another little contest soon.

Congratulations, Miss Paula!!

Wuthering Heights Contest!

Every autumn (October, usually---I'm running behind), I re-read one of my favorite novels, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. It is such a passionate, tumultuous novel, which seems to match the changing weather.

This year, I have decided to have a little Wuthering Heights Contest. The prize includes a small, gilt-edged copy of the novel; some loose-leaf Yorkshire Harrogate Tea from my favorite tea shop; and a pair of wristwarmers that I knit.

The contest will end Friday, 30 November, at 3pm, after which I will pick a winner at random. All you have to do to enter is comment on this post. You can comment on anything: the book, tea, the weather, etc. If you have read Wuthering Heights, I hope you will tell me what you most love---or hate---about it. If you haven't but want to, then tell me that too! Just write whatever you want to.

Good luck!

Drink More Tea!

And then buy lots more.

AP: A storied industry falls on hard times---

India has long been famous for its tea, and the $1.5 billion industry launched by British colonials nearly two centuries ago is, after China's, the world's second largest. More than 1 million tons were grown in 2007, much of it here in the northeastern state of Assam.

But production costs are mounting and a brutal insurgency has targeted the planters. Globalization, with the spread of cheaper tea from countries such as Vietnam and Kenya, has increased competition. While there have been glimmers of good news recently — a $320 million revitalization package announced by the government, and an uptick in prices from historic lows — the business is still at the bottom rungs of profitability.
[. . .]
This is a business that seems to attract trouble. Yet here is the contradiction: It's hard to find a planter who wants to give up. These are well-connected landlords who could sell out if they wanted, yet few do.

"For me, looking after the garden is a great joy," said D.N. Boruah, a planter whose family has been growing tea for nearly a century. "I may not be earning anything — I'll tell you that — but the joy is to be involved."

I promise to do my part!



And thanks to whomever recently bought Twinings Earl Grey Tea Tea Bags through Lady Jane's Diversions, my Amazon.com store. I really appreciate it!

My ParTea has Arrived!

My ParTea Swap package from Leigh Ann arrived this afternoon! I have just finished opening it and was constantly delighted. The theme of the swap was ParTea. Our task was to come up with something to represent each letter (P-a-r, etc.), related to tea, and to include a teacup and saucer.

Leigh Ann, from The Pink Kitchen, and I were swap partners, meaning I sent a package to her and she sent one to me.

Here is what Leigh Ann sent to me (click on photos to enlarge):

P is for Pretty Tea Cup & Plate

A is for A Set of Notes

R is for Reading Materials (Leigh Ann's favorite pasttime while sipping a cup of tea---mine too!)

T is for Twinings Tea (my favorite! and Earl Grey too!)

E is for Embellished Journal

A is for A bunch of yummy treats from Leigh Ann's favorite food store, Trader Joe's

Here is everything together:


Isn't it all lovely?

All the lovely goodies from Leigh Ann! A tea canister. Some lovely note cards and a pad of tea paper. Some delicious smelling cookies. A darling tea towel. A fabulous English tin with a solider on the front and Twinings Earl Grey inside! My sweet teacup and large saucer (all that room for scones and things! Hooray!). A tea ball (a fabulous one which will be easy to get the tea out of when I'm done!). Luscious lemon curd (I love lemon curd!). Honey sticks (I also love honey. There is something absurdly fun about sucking honey out of a little plastic stick!). A box of green tea muffin/cake mix! A cool British book on Windsor Castle. A book called London, which promises to be very interesting, with a darling bookmarker inside. And a little journal that Leigh Ann decorated in Tea fashion! I love everything! Thanks, Leigh Ann!!!

You can see all my ParTea Swap photos here.
You can see other ParTea Swap packages here.

Chicken Curry!

A couple of summers ago my dear friend Lady Lori introduced me to Indian food, which is one of her favorites. I have had it a couple of times, but never attempted it until recently.

As I do for most recipes, I turned to Rachael Ray, specifically her magazine, and found this: Chandran's Chicken Curry.

The kitchen smelled fabulous the entire evening. Cinnamon. Coconut milk. Garlic. Fresh Ginger (Yum-o!).

It was easy, very delicious, and, based on my experience, tasted authentic. If you have never made curry before, I highly recommend this recipe!

Here are some pictures of my Chicken Curry:

Chicken Curry

Basmati Rice and Chicken Curry

Chicken Curry with Basmati Rice and Chai Tea

Another Tea Benefit?

Reuters: Tea drinkers may have lower skin cancer risk---

People who unwind with a cup of tea every night may have a lower risk of two common forms of skin cancer, new research suggests.

In a study of nearly 2,200 adults, researchers found that tea drinkers had a lower risk of developing squamous cell or basal cell carcinoma, the two most common forms of skin cancer.

Men and women who had ever been regular tea drinkers -- having one or more cups a day -- were 20 percent to 30 percent less likely to develop the cancers than those who didn't drink tea.

The effect was even stronger among study participants who'd been tea fans for decades, as well as those who regularly had at least two cups a day, according to findings published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

However, the findings do not mean it's okay to bake in the sun as long as you have a cup of tea afterward. The researchers found no evidence that tea drinking lowered skin cancer risk in people who'd accumulated painful sunburns in the past.

Why?

Still, the findings support the theory that tea antioxidants may limit the damage UV radiation inflicts on the skin, according to the study authors, led by Dr. Judy R. Rees of Dartmouth Medical School in Lebanon, New Hampshire.

In particular, a tea antioxidant known as EGCG has been shown to reduce burning on UV-exposed skin.
[. . .]
Tea consumption was linked to a lower skin cancer risk, even with factors such as age, skin type and history of severe burns considered. However, tea drinkers who'd suffered multiple painful burns in the past did not have a lower risk of skin cancer.

It's possible, the researchers explain, that the antioxidants in tea are enough to limit skin damage caused by moderate sun exposure, but not the "more extreme" effects of sun exposure, such as cancer-promoting damage to the DNA in skin cells.

So drink more tea! I always recommend Earl Grey and English Breakfast.

And, while we are on the subject of tea, Queen Elizabeth is stateside and will be attending a White Tie State Dinner at the White House. One can only suppose they will have tea at some point. I wish I could be there.

Don't forget, don't add milk to your tea.

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