'Tis the Season for Tea

Well come on, you didn’t think I couldn’t end the year without one more post about tea could you?  As the title states, it would be quite hard not to.  The cabinet that Joan and I dedicate to tea which is normally on the brink of overflowing has now finally reached its brink.  I got so much tea for Christmas that I don’t know where to store it all.

Some of the problem though actually goes back to my birthday at the end of October.  My in-laws gave me a small 20 oz Bee House teapot that I had been wanting for some time.  I needed a smaller pot for when I make puerhs or green teas.  Second, Joan gave me a membership to TeaSource’s “Tea of the Month Club.”  Basically, I get a free (well free to me) 4 oz package of tea every month.  Whereas they normally send the tea to club members, we live so close that we just go there every month.  So no longer do I just want to go to TeaSource every month, but now I actually need to go there.

 Birthday tea...

That then brings us to Christmas.  I might as well just simply list where we got all the tea from.  First, Joan and I got a $20 gift card for TeaSource from some friends of ours who live in Wisconsin (which we used when I had to go in for my December “tea of the month”).  Second, I got a package of tea from one of my sisters via our sibling Secret Santa gift exchange.  Then we also received more tea in the mail from some other friends from Chicago.  Fourth, I received some tea from an aunt and uncle of Joan’s.  Lastly, my brother-in-law Pete gave me another gift card to TeaSource (which I’ll just have to use in January).  Oh wait, I also got a book on tea as well, The Story of Tea.

 

 and all the tea from Christmas.

I couldn’t begin to describe all the various kinds of tea I received.  They’re all great tea though – which does make a very difficult decision when I want to brew a pot or a cup.  Even with sometimes making multiple large pots of tea a day, I think we’ll be bursting with tea through next summer.

I will mention this though.  Since getting the “Tea of the Month” membership I’ve discovered that I do actually like green tea.  In November I used my membership for a gunpowder green tea which I do enjoy.  However for my December tea I got Houjicha, a green tea that unlike most green tea is actually roasted.  It’s not black like a black tea, but lightly browned.  It gives a hearty roasted quality to the green tea flavor.  While Grand Keemun is still my favorite black tea, Houjicha is now my favorite green.

And lastly (I think this is it anyway) if you’re a chai lover, you haven’t really had a great chai until you’ve had one from TeaSource.  You can get them fresh from their Twin Cities locations, but luckily they also provide the recipe and the ingredients for sale.  From the TeaSource you basically by two things: their chai spice mix and their Breakfast Assam tea.  Mix 1 tablespoon of the spice mix with one can of sweetened condensed milk.  Let this rest in the refrigerator overnight.  Then just brew yourself a cup of the Breakfast Assam tea and add one tablespoon of the chai spice goop (TeaSource even uses that word in their own instructions) to the tea and stir.  Trust me it’s AMAZING.  Blows any other chai out of the water.  In fact you should be buying the chai spice and Breakfast Assam tea right now!  It’s that good people!!!

Mmmm... chai goop...

Recipe: Five Can Chili

Yet again, it’s been far too long between posts.  It was a busy November for Joan and I, but still.  I have some things that I wanted to post floating in the back of my mind and some things half written, but just haven’t gotten them finished and posted.

But anyway… 

 

Since my last post, winter has finally settled into the Twin Cities.  The second weekend of December brought the first major snowfall, 10 – 12 inches of the stuff, and temperatures have been lower because of that cold snowy blanket ever since.  Thus we did plan on making this chili, as well as taking it to the home of some friends who recently had twins.  Unfortunately though, Joan and I both came down with nasty colds and had to cancel those dinner plans because we didn’t want to get their family sick – especially the little ones.  So we sadly enjoyed this chili by ourselves, although it was a nice comfort for runny noses, stuffy sinuses, and scratchy throats.

The recipe:

1 pound ground beef, browned and drained

2 x green peppers, diced

1 cup white onion, diced

2 x 10 oz cans Rotel diced tomatoes and green chilies

1 x 15 oz can black beans and the containing liquid

1 x 15 oz can white beans and the liquid (find in the Hispanic section of the grocery store)

1 x 8 oz can Hunt’s tomato sauce (we’ve found Hunt’s tastes the best for the recipe)

3 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt (can be left out depending on your tastes)

½ tsp pepper (again, can be left out depending on your tastes)

Suggested toppings:  shredded cheddar cheese, Fritos, sour cream, green onion

As this is a slow cooker recipe, basically just dump all of those listed ingredients into your slow cooker and stir.  (Most of the work of this recipe is just ingredient prep.)  Once all of the ingredients are mixed, the chili will seem quite thick, but it will cook down and become more watery.  Set your slow cooker on low and cook for 6-8 hours.  Dress with your choice of toppings.

I guess I should also mention that Joan and I have often assembled the chili the night ahead,  put it in the refrigerator overnight, and then started it the next morning.  I swear this makes the chili even better as it lets the ingredients marinate together in the fridge overnight.  We also have probably let this chili cook on low for 10-12 hours before with no loss of quality.

As you have probably gathered, I call it “Five Can Chili” because of the five cans of ingredients that used. There is however the option of making this into six can chili.  While prepping the ingredients, open a can of your favorite canned microbrew (I would suggest an offering by Oskar Blues or Surly) and enjoy.  I would not go much further though and make this seven or eight can chili – that would be dangerous with the knife work needed to dice the onion and peppers.