Thursday, November 12, 2015

Let's make Christmas tea, shall we?

 

 My Blossom girl loves a pot of tea.
Many of our shared and treasured memories of her childhood and young adult years are drawn from the everyday rituals of an afternoon tea time. 
 We home-schooled you see, which allowed us to spend the mornings on academic study and the afternoons pursuing study and discussion of the arts - music, painting, Shakespeare, opera, ballet, poetry, the classics - all enjoyed over a wonderful afternoon tea.


 From a young girl of six through to the woman of 21 she is today, tea has held a special place in our time spent together. I'm so glad to have taken a few photo memories along the way.

2002 - tea party at our home in Coffs Harbour for homeschool friends...

 2006 - a special birthday tea party for a friend in Alice Springs...

2009 - our usual afternoon tea together but this time in another home and a new town (Charters Towers)... 
We had our tea wherever the mood took us.
In the garden (2010)...
 ...at home or out and about.

We still have tea together, not as often, but just as special.



Each year we brew pots of home made Christmas Tea. It's a blend I've been preparing for a while and we all love it. A bonus is that once made it will store for years, so I thought you may like to make some for yourself, and perhaps for gifts? 



Fill a jar and give it a stir, then seal and leave for month before brewing.
I do think some dried orange peel or a split vanilla bean added to the blend would be delicious, so I shall "tweak" my own recipe this festive season!

Drop by tomorrow as I shall be sharing an idea for packaging the tea as a Christmas gift, but until then, have a lovely day!
Perhaps with a nice pot of tea and precious young soul to share it with?

hugs

18 comments:

Lorrie said...

This sounds like a delicious tea for Christmas. Tea with my own girls is always a special time.

Anonymous said...

Lovely post Jenny, does sound delicious thank you for sharing your special recipe along with the lovely photos, a wonderful walk down memory lane for you and Blossom, gorgeous photos including the lovely china settings, they all look lovely and inviting. Thank you for all you so kindly share. Have a wonderful day and weekend coming up, hugs, Judithann :-)

Ondrea said...

How clever!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing those lovely moments of tea with blossom. My older child loves tea, from the point of view of Japanese culture, and many types of teas make him happy. I have given him teapots and teacups and tea paraphernalia for years. I, on the other hand, drink only herbal teas, but there's one from STASH that I love called Christmas Eve. I often make my own herbal combinations, but that's one that I buy. Next time we have a little tea party, I'll have to take a photo, too!

Bev C said...

Hello Jenny,

Nothing quite like a cup of real tea. Thanks so much for the recipe. After doing some research recently about why tea bags don't compost down due to the contents of what the tea bag is made of I think we should all be using loose leaf tea. Loved seeing Blossom's love of tea.

Happy days.
Bev.

Debbie said...

A lovely post Jenny...my daughter and I have always shared our love of tea together...not so much now she is at University but to have tea is always the first thing we do when we see each other...apart from a hug of course. I will have to give your festive recipe a try. x

Águeda said...

Precioso post. Gracias por compartir los bellos sentimientos. Y gracias por la receta del té. Besos.

Sharon - creativity and family said...

Precious memories, the tea recipe sounds delicious, I like the sound of adding orange! x

Cassandra Cusack said...

Thanks Jenny, I'm going to add this to my little kitchen gifts I'm giving everyone this year. It's perfect.

Cassandra Cusack said...

Thanks Jenny, I'm going to add this to my little kitchen gifts I'm giving everyone this year. It's perfect.

Brenda said...

Jenny, Oh how delightful that you have shared this tea recipe! All of the ladies in my family drink loads of tea, both of my step daughters worked in tea shops and I know they will all enjoy receiving this as a gift. A funny little tidbit about myself, up until my daughters tea shop experience, I really did not know that you could create your very own tea assortments. In the majority of the markets that we grew up with in the Midwest that was available was Lipton. Now of course, there are complete sections of tea choices; plus, specialty tea shops are opening up I think we have two. I have only been in the one and it is small. So truly, I will be giving your tea recipe a try and creating special decorated storage jars for each of my girls and my mom. Thank you and have a wonderful creative day!

Createology said...

What a lovely tradition you and Blossom have shared through the years. Your tea blend sounds delightful and I do love a good cup of tea. Thank you for sharing dear.

Jackie said...

Thank you for the lovely recipe. I got hooked on tea when I visited England. I always have a cup of tea in the afternoon along with a homemade goody.

shirley flavell said...

I love my cup of tea and will try your recipe. Sounds delish. Thank you for all that you share Jenny.

Farm Quilter said...

Afternoon tea is a wonderful British tradition...wish it was as common here in the United States!! I love having tea with my daughters, granddaughters and friends...so very special!! Thanks for the recipe, since I love tea, I'll give it a try!

Baa. xxx said...

Hmmm....... tea... Love it. I have been drinking Rooibos lately. Very nice.

Carla Fiedler said...

Lovely! Thank you for sharing!

Robin in New Jersey said...

So sweet. My girls do not share my love of tea drinking. I have several teapots that I never use anymore. I think I need to get them out and take the extra time to brew some tea and relax and enjoy the loveliness. My favorite teapot is the one I bought in France back in 2000 when I had the opportunity to travel there with my husband.

Have a great day!