DIY: Tea lamp

My friend Kateryn found this for me, and while I didn't love the style at first, I have warmed up to it. The best part about this little project is the life it can give to odd pieces of old tea sets that might otherwise get thrown away or forgotten about.

Kudos to Design*Sponge for the nifty project idea! Click the image to go to the details on how to make this lamp for yourself.

My biggest concern with this project is a) finding a group of pieces I don't mind drilling holes into, and b) managing to drill holes without cracking or shattering dishes/cups/pots. I find that most tea sets like this are incredibly thin, and therefor fragile - I'm surprised they were able to drill into the pieces so easily!

While I probably would never want a lamp like this in my own home, I would love to put one (or several!) in a possible future tea shop...

Thé des Légendes

I tried this tea ages ago, took notes and pictures, and never got around to uploading it! I've been busy job searching and have neglected my poor tea blog. I'm sorry!

This particular tea is another from the set that Shaunna got me from Dean & DeLuca. It is, as the post's title might suggest, called Thé des Légendes from the Mariage Frères brand. The description suggests this is a "sweet citrus green tea", and it couldn't be any more accurate.

For some reason, the flash on my camera makes everything come out much more yellow in hue than it truly is. The leaves of this blend are a beautiful rich green, similar to a dark forest color. The scent is one I'd love to have as a potpourri or spray for my apartment; the smell of citrus and green tea match wonderfully and create a pleasant hybrid smell. Just opening the can and taking a whiff, I am already anxious to try this tea.

I took a small scoop into my infuser - about a teaspoon worth. I steeped the tea for at least five minutes. Note: I'm terrible at timing these things accurately. Because my favorite mug is glass, I generally just use my eyesight and a quick taste test to determine if it's a good saturation. I promise to get better and more accurate with my times eventually!

Again, my camera is overly yellow. This tea is not yellow at all, but a muskier color like dry bamboo.

After the antagonizing wait, I was not disappointed. When tasting a tea for the first time, I generally do not sweeten them for that initial sip. It allows me to try and discern the nuances of the tea (I'm still training my palate on this), and decide if it needs sugar or not!

This tea's flavor was absolutely gorgeous. While the Earl Grey I tried before was decent, I was left slightly disappointed. I knew this brand had a great reputation, so I had high expectations. Thé des Légendes did not disappoint; rather, I was incredibly impressed!

The short and simple description on the tin could not be more accurate: sweet citrus green tea. It had the straw-like or grassy undertones most green teas have, but this was only in the background to the cheerful, bright citrus flavors that hit your tongue. The potential acidity or bitterness from the citrus was easily deterred by the slightly sweet aftertaste. The sweetness was hard to detect, but I found that to be even better than if it were too overbearing.

I highly recommend this tea. While black teas tend to be my go-to and favorites, this tea has definitely earned a spot on my "regulars" shelf.

Earl Grey Impérial

My friend Shaunna spoiled me by sending a package of three tins of loose leaf tea from Dean & DeLuca - an Earl Grey, and two green teas (one a citrus blend and the other vanilla-infused.) I was thrilled to try them since D&D seems to have a fantastic reputation. I had never heard of the brand tea before (Mariage Fréres.)

Being that I had been baking so many sweet treats, it made more sense to me to try the Earl Grey (for some reason green tea and madeleines just don't go together in my head.) This tea is PUNGENT! Earl Greys always have a very distinctive scent to them - one that is, frankly, not very appealing to me. But the subtle nuances to the taste of this tea far outweighs any hesitations I might have due to its fragrance.

All that being said, the scent of this blend does not stray far from my generalization of Earl Grey scents: it is very strong and can be clearly discerned within moments of being opened from nearby. The can describes this blend as a daytime bergamot brisk tea. I can't lie - I had no idea what bergamot meant until after tasting and my review notes.

The first thing I noticed as I removed the infuser from my mug was the amount of particles sitting at the bottom of the mug. I was somewhat surprised by this, and am unsure whether it was a fluke, a sign of good/bad quality leaves, or just a problem with the infuser. I don't know. I do know D&D and this particular tea company have fantastic reputations, and the leaves from the tin look superb, but again - I was a little concerned by the large amount of small particles.

The personality of this tea is definitely like that of a man one would describe as a 'big teddy bear.' Essentially, the leaves pre-steeping were almost intimidating, but the flavor was much calmer with a distinctive aftertaste of citrus rind (not too acidic though.) I found that I steeped this tea for quite some time, and got very close to oversteeping; the bottom of the mug was bitter. This might have been due to the excess particles at the bottom.

The flavor well complemented the lemon madeleines I had baked earlier that afternoon. This tea is definitely good for snacking, meals, and tea services.

Bottom line: this tea is satisfying, though not something I would be likely to buy for myself in the future. However, drinking the remainder of the can definitely will not be a chore.

Chocolate chip shortbread cookies

I love these cookies with every fiber of my being. They're so easy to make, and so hard to mess up.

I love these bowls and measuring cups too! They're so cheerfully bright and durable. I definitely want to try and steal them from my mother one of these days. I have some colorful plastic ones I can trade her.

Beside the bowls are the ingredients! I halved this recipe so it would only yield one batch (and a little dough leftover to nom.) 2 cups all purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 cup unsalted butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, and then I add chopped up dark chocolate chips at the end.

So, I sort of skipped taking pictures of the dough-making process. Sorry!

Et voila! Bake them for about 8 minutes at 350F, and you've got shortbread cookies... and a reason to use our new cooling rack, that I love! Before, the cooling rack was a little ghetto and designed more for cakes than cookies, so any cookies would sag between the wide bars. Not anymore!

Thank you JoyofBaking.com for your delicious and reliable recipes!