Angela Webster McRae's Blog, page 132

The teapot tea infuser goes to …

Sandy Garvey! And Sandy, I've sent you an email asking for your snail mail address so I can get this new infuser headed your way. Congrats!

A new video and new teas from Fortnum & Mason

Do you all subscribe to the emails from Fortnum & Mason in London? I do, and I do not ask for very many emails. Yesterday, I enjoyed viewing this new tea video teased in their latest email. If you view it—and it's just about a minute and a half—watch for the Bloody Mary Tea. That caught my eye.
And so did this … Fortnum's is now offering silky teabags containing loose leaf tea, just as Harney and other US vendors have done for years. Even though I won't be flying to London to shop there anytime soon, I like knowing that my favorite UK department store is getting with the times and offering a more convenient form of their fabulous loose leaf tea!

Flea Market Garden Style magazine

I absolutely love the new gardening magazines that appear each spring, especially the ones that promote using flea market finds as garden decor. This week, I picked up Flea Market Garden Style at Walgreens and flipped through it to see if it needed to go home with me.
And it did! I love sedums, and I love teacups and sugar bowls, so what's not to love about this spread?
And oh, this lovely little mossy arrangement in an old enamel tea kettle is so charming! There are quite a few more winsome ideas in this issue as well, along with some "shabby chic" decor, old statuary, and vintage linens. If that sounds like your cup of you-know-what too, you might want to look for this magazine!

March Giveaway: Teapot-shaped tea infuser

One of my favorite tea infusers is this twisting tea ball from Oxo, but last fall I got (nicely) pulled out of line at the Milwaukee airport for having it in my suitcase. Oh, it's legal and all, but that plastic handle doesn't show up on the airport X-ray machine, and the infuser looks like a sharp metal weapon. I was as puzzled as the security guy when he pointed at the scan of the long skinny object in my bag and asked me what that might be. After he reached in and pulled out the tea infuser, he laughed and waved me on through. So on my most recent trip, I meant to take an infuser that wouldn't create any problems. Alas, I forgot it, and fortunately my stepdaughter had some tea filters left over from a previous visit, but still I *mean* to keep a plastic infuser in my suitcase for use in the event of a tea emergency. (I know, I know. First-world problem, for sure!) But when I found this silicone infuser on eBay for 99 cents, I decided I'd go ahead and order two, one for me and one to give away to one of you!
It's a pretty simple gadget to use, as the lid neatly pops off and right back into place after you scoop some tea inside.
As often happens with this type of infuser, I found a few tea leaves slipping through, so I will probably keep this as my "travel infuser" rather than an everyday infuser. Perhaps you're headed on a trip and could use one too? If so, just leave an "Enter me" to this post between now and 7 a.m. EST on Friday, March 9, and you'll be entered to win. US and Canada only, please. And may the luck of the Irish be with ya!

A Currier & Ives tea print

Well, this is a first! I was browsing the Library of Congress website for vintage tea images, and I found one I'd never seen before, this print from Currier & Ives that reads "Splendid Tea!"

When I enlarged it, the line directly under the picture of the old lady, who bears more than a passing resemblance to a smiling Abe Lincoln, reads "Copyright 1881, By Currier & Ives, N.Y." Underneath "Splendid Tea!" it says only, "New York, Published by Currier & Ives, 115 Nassau St."

I've always associated Currier & Ives with the vintage prints of snow-laden landscapes, but I've certainly never seen any of their prints related to teatime. And what on earth do you suppose "Splendid Tea!" is about? Tea is splendid, I'll agree, but don't you think this was probably some sort of advertising piece? If you have any ideas on it, I'd love to hear them!

Trying a new tea in a new-to-me teacup

One of the many things I enjoy about visiting my stepdaughter's family in Wisconsin (besides getting to visit our two adorable grandsons!) is that Heather and her husband always make me feel so welcome. Early on, she made it clear that her house was my house, so when she was busy working and I wanted a cup of tea, I knew I was welcome to browse in her cabinets and use anything I found, including this lovely teacup!
I was eager to try a new flavor of Bigelow tea I'd found at their local Walmart, the Toasted Coconut Almond Bark flavor.
It sounded quite delicious, billed as "a decadent combination of toasted coconut and almond flavors." I had high hopes for this tea, and I've loved almost everything I've ever tried from Bigelow, but I must admit that this one didn't quite live up to its promise. It was fine for an almond-flavored tea with a hint of sweetness, but I didn't detect the toasted coconut flavor at all. Maybe that's just me, though, and your experience might be different!
I did, however, enjoy learning that Heather found this gorgeous teacup for $3 at a Wisconsin garage sale (as evidenced by the sticker I found on the bottom), and it was a floral pattern I've seen before but not on this particular style of teacup. Yada is such a fun name for a china company. (If you have three of these teacups, do you have some "Yada, yada, yada"?)
And last but certainly not least, here are our sweet little Badger boys, as we call them, Andrew and Michael, on their way to school as we prepared to say goodbye and head back to Georgia!

Discovering a new tea spot in Green Bay, Wisconsin

Alex and I are up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, visiting family, and on Saturday, while they were all attending a birthday party for a young friend, we decided to check out The Attic, a used bookstore and tea and coffee shop in Green Bay. 
I sampled their "Dahl House" blend, a ginger and peach black tea, and a huge chocolate chip scone, both very good! Alex had a bagel and coffee, which he also enjoyed.
They had a great selection of loose teas, tea wares, and tea gadgets (including a new one I purchased and plan to review once I get back home).

I enjoyed seeing the clever collages displayed at the store, including this one with a familiar tea quote.
I left with a new tea tumbler (an unbreakable souvenir that's suited for air travel) and some Caramel Apple Rooibos that is a delicious antidote to the cold weather up here in Wisconsin!

"The Taster" by V. S. Alexander

Summary: Magda Ritter, a young woman in Nazi Germany, goes looking for a job, and a well-connected uncle helps her get one of the most interesting (and dangerous) occupations ever, serving as a personal taster for Adolf Hitler, even though she's not a Nazi party member and is by no means sold on Nazi beliefs. And without spoiling some of the storylines in the book, let me just say that the teacup on the cover represents quite a few pivotal scenes in this book. I was surprised!

My thoughts: Oh, I hope some of you have read (or will read) The Taster, because I found it thoroughly fascinating. I can't exactly say I "enjoyed" it, because I have always been and forever will be so appalled by the monster that was Hitler, but this book gave me lots of food for thought. I can't recall ever before reading a novel in which Hitler was a character, so it was intriguing to view him through the eyes of a young German woman who gets a job of making sure his food hasn't been poisoned. In some scenes, Hitler is actually nice to the people (and animals) around him, and I found myself thinking, "Could that have been possible?" The author certainly made it seem so. Magda gets involved with an SS officer who, like her, is no fan of Hitler, and it soon becomes clear that not everyone in Hitler's orbit is enamored with him. Although we all know how the story turned out, I found myself lingering over one part of the book about a failed assassination attempt on Hitler and thinking, "Oh, if only …" The Holocaust is referred to only briefly—and somewhat obliquely—and that is perhaps the book's greatest weakness.
Also, while I usually love to learn about any famous tea houses in history, I was bothered to learn that Hitler enjoyed a tea house, simply because I'm sorry to know that he ever enjoyed anything. The fictional Hitler had a fondness for tea and loved his apple cake, two things that are apparently true of the real Hitler.
The judgment: I highly recommend this book for some enlightening reading and discussion. The well-written book is an easy read, but it also is thought-provoking for anyone who wonders whether fascism is alive and well today. I used to think that "nationalist" thinking died with Hitler, but then I watched those awful videos from last year's white nationalist rallies in Charlottesville and realized that, tragically, such evil thinking is still with us. The book was a sobering reminder of what happens when evil leaders and beliefs are blindly accepted by the masses.
For discussion: Did you learn some new things about Hitler from this book? Do you have difficulty imagining him treating people or animals well? What did you think about Hitler's tea house and tea parties?

Next Month's Book: Whew! This month's book had such a heavy theme, I need some lighter fare and can't wait to get the new Laura Childs book, Plum Tea Crazy, as our Tea Lovers Book Club read for March. See you "back in the book club" on March 30!

A teacup toast to two queens!

Sometimes I wonder why I pay for cable TV, because there's not much on it I care to watch anymore. This winter, however, I finally caved and subscribed to Netflix, so in addition to PBS's "Victoria," I've also been enjoying "The Crown," and naturally I had to order the companion books that go with each series. 
I love history, and I realize the dramas are not 100 percent true to life, so I enjoy having these books to consult after each episode. I also have a designated teacup for sipping during each show. Is that silly? For "The Crown," the obvious choice was this teacup from Paragon, issued to commemorate the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
On a recent episode of "Victoria," I was sorry to learn that a storyline about Victoria and Albert getting lost in Scotland and seeking refuge in a poor couple's shack was not based on anything recorded. Wouldn't it be fun to think the two showed up like common beggars and requested a night's stay? Still, it's a fun show, and the designated teacup for viewing it is this one I bought at Windsor Castle, the teacup's pattern having come from a Minton dessert stand purchased by Queen Victoria at The Great Exhibition in 1851. Are any of you also watching and/or reading about Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth? Are you taking note of all those great tea scenes (and tea sets) as I am?

Some new shopping buddies!

Most of the time if I write about any weekend tea finds, you'll hear me mention that Aunt Jane is my regular shopping buddy. Once in a while, my youngest niece, Amelia, joins us. This weekend, however, it was my middle niece, Cari, and my sister's youngest child, nephew Matthew, who joined Aunt Jane and me. We had a great time together, and all of us came home with some fun new finds, including the tea and chintzware carafe here.

First we went to the mall in Douglasville, where the good news is that the Hallmark shop's tea I'd had my eye on was 75 percent off. Made for Hallmark Gold Crown, the Crafters & Co. tea was the organic Black Cinnamon flavor, and I believe it's the first tea I've seen with a pull-top can.

The bad news is that the tea wasn't very good. It tasted weak and not very appetizing, but perhaps it was simply old. That's not good, but the really bad news is that the Hallmark shop itself is going out of business! The one in my town closed a few years ago, and now one at a mall can't survive? I'm a little nervous about where I'll get my Hallmark Christmas ornaments for all the children in our family this year, but I guess there's always Hallmark.com. (Right?) I'm curious how many of you have a Hallmark store near you. Very many of you?


After we ate lunch at Chick-fil-A and finished up at the mall, Cari asked if I would *mind* going to a new antique mall nearby so she could look for vintage clothes. (Are you finished laughing yet?) Of course, good aunt that I am, I obliged. And to my surprise, I came upon something I'd been looking for but didn't expect to find anytime soon, a new carafe. I'd been looking for a simple water carafe for my bedside table, but the only ones I found online didn't appeal to me at all. This one, chintz and just $11.50, will do quite nicely!


Cari, by the way, bought a lovely pink vintage gown. She explained to me that she just loves all things vintage, and I was surprised (but delighted) to learn that my niece shares my love for old stuff, including this carriage at the entrance to Ben's Antiques.

And just in case I need to taunt him with it at his rehearsal dinner one day, here's a picture of me and Matthew. What a fun Saturday!