The first week of tea from my 24 Steeps Advent Calendar

Well it is a week into December and I swear I just blinked and the entire week went by. In addition to trying to read as much as I can, I am working and hosting a 24/7 event on Beyond The Bookmarks this month. One of the things I am taking time to enjoy this month is the tea in my cup each morning from my Steeped Tea Advent Calendar. December first and my tea was their Christmas Chai, a spicy and very sweet black tea.

Day two was my favorite of the week, it is called Maraschino Cherry and it was spectacular. I would not have bought this tea had I not tried it but now it is high on my list to buy next order!

This was day 3 and on December third I had White Chocolate Souffle Rooibos tea, this was a light and tasty treat first thing in the morning!
 

Day 4 was Creamy Milk Oolong, normally I like a fruity Oolong but this was light and refreshing. 

This was day 5 and Peppy Peppermint in my cup! Love this tea, it's one I regularly order from them so I was very pleased.

Day 6 was Earl Grey de La Creme and this is one I know well too so I was pleased to have it on my morning table.

Day 7 is Winter Sangria, which is a fruit tea. I will give it a try and post the photo when I get up in the morning and share it here.

Thank you for joining me here for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery tea advent week in review. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Peach Tea Jelly Attempt #1 and Recipe

So I tried to make Tea Jelly for the first time yesterday and here is the recipe and this is how I did it.

Ingredients:

8 tsp peach black tea ( I used Fuzzy Peaches loose leaf black tea from Steeped)
1 3/4 cup boiling hot water
1/4 cup of peach juice
3 cups of sugar
1 pkg of powdered pectin

8- 125 ml jars with rings and lids

Method:
Prepare your glass jars as per the manufactures recommendation. Set them aside.

Jelly Mixture Method:
Into a glass measuring cup place your loose leaf tea and pour your boiling water over top. Allow the tea leaves to steep for 30 mins in the glass measuring cup.
Into a deep pot add 3 cups of sugar. Add 1/4 cup of juice to your steeped tea.

Using a strainer pour your tea liquid into your sugar and stir. Place the pot over medium heat and bring to a boil. Allow the mixture to boil for two minutes. (this mixture will come to a rolling boil and rise quite high so do not leave un attended.) add your package of pectin stir in and allow to boil for an additional minute.
 Pour equal amounts of jelly into your jars and cap and process them for 20 mins.

At the time of writing this post I have not yet seen the jelly set or opened it to have with scones but in the coming days it will set and if it does I will for sure make a batch of scones to try with it. I did taste it while it was in its liquid form and it was fantastic. I truly hope this recipe sets up. I was disappointed that the original recipe said it would make 4 1/2 pints I was only able to fill 8 125 ml jars (4 cups total liquid 1/2 cup in each jar) so I am hoping I did not do something wrong! My recipe was based on the recipe from food.com see the original recipe by clicking here.

Let me know if you make tea jelly and this is the case for you as well!
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy recipe today! As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Two Tea Of The Month Clubs

There are 2 Tea of the month clubs I am familiar with and have enjoyed. Today I would like to share my experience with you.
Last year I participated in a Tea of The Month Club and I loved it. It was through a home party program with Steeped tea and every month I would get two 50 grm bags of tea in the mail. I loved getting it and I loved trying the different teas. The cost was $20 Canadian a month and if I was currently employed outside of the home I would again sign up for this program. Stepped Tea is not the only tea of the month service but they are one of the best. To find out how you can get your own tea of the month from Steeped Tea please click here.

Tea Sparrow is another great monthly tea service and a unique way of learning about different teas as well. Also $20 a month this service however includes 4 varieties of tea delivered to your door monthly. Click here to learn more about Tea Sparrow. Last year I attended the Tea Sparrow tea festival with my sister in law and I had a wonderful time, we sampled so many different teas that Tea Sparrow brought together from its suppliers both local and from all over the world. I found the teas I sampled through them were for a very sophisticated Tea palate and while delightful I did not find them as much fun as the Steeped Tea ones I received.
I would love to learn about your experience with tea of the months clubs so I invite you to share your experience with me.
Thank you for joining me for A Cup of Tea and a Mystery Monthly Box of Tea review.
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

On My Table And In My Cup May 30th-June 6th

This week on my table and in my cup, I started with a simple Saturday Morning tea. An old standby and one I have mentioned before an Earl Grey de la Creme this one happens to be from Steeped Tea. I have been asked to share about the tea pot I use and the one featured in today's post is the current favorite. I use my Royal Albert Old Country Roses Tea Pot From Time To Time but admittedly I drink several pots of tea per day and my go to for my black teas is a Trusty Dove Grey London Pottery Farmhouse Filter Teapot

My friend Anna gave me the teapot as a gift in November and it very quickly became my favorite pot, as the lid fits over the basket and nests perfectly in place. I would love to get a few more of these pots as they are well made, the filters are fantastic and the tea is kept very hot even with out the cozy. One of my favorite local spots for tea has a few they use in personal size that I would love to get my hands on. You can order them on line, I saw Amazon had them and in specialty tea shops as well. I was reading the Scarlet Wench by M.K. Graff when it arrived which is set in England and it just felt right.

On my table this week I tried something different and hoped you may have found it fun. The days of the week morning tea had me hoping and noticing the need to get a few more tea cups so that you may all not tired or get bored of the ones I use all the time.  I enjoyed doing this and may try it again, I hope to find another set of these little letters so that I could write more words, Wednesday was a challenge for me and thankfully no one took offense. Not enough "D's" in the package!
Did you have a favorite setting or day?

On my table this week and a series I just love arrived The Diva Steals A Chocolate Kiss by Krista Davis, I love love love this series and am enjoying this latest mystery so very much. Krista Davis' writing makes me feel like I am living in the story not just acting like a bystander. It feels like hanging out with your fabulous friends you have not seen for a while. A truly great weekend escape. I am enjoying Neverland Tea Salon's Black Tea called Vanilla Ice Cream, it is a sweet treat and perfect to go with this chocolate kiss diva mystery!

Finally I wish to say thank you to all of you who took the time to vote for me for Vancouvermom.ca's Top Blogger of 2015. While I did not win, I so appreciate your time and your votes.
I hope wherever you find yourself this weekend you find yourself some quiet and peace.
Until next time, thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery.
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

On My Table And In My Cup This Week May 9th-16th

I can not believe it is Saturday again already. This week on my table I have been lucky to host two Advanced Reading Copies, Terrie Farley Moran's Caught Read Handed and Susan Furlong's Peaches and Scream. I am almost done with Caught Read-Handed, it is a really great story from the Fort Myers Beach Florida, situated around what I think would be my dream cozy hang out Read Em' and Eat, a cozy bookstore and gourmet cafe. The tables and the food all have literary names and mouth watering recipes, as a back page reader I can tell you I highly recommend the recipe in the back of the book! The mystery centers around a prominent resident who is found dead in her hot tub and the main suspect War Vet Alan who main characters Sassy and Bridgy must work to clear his name and get him the help he needs....I can not wait to post my review! A great job by Terrie Farley Moran on this second in the series you can pre-order yours now by clicking here. This book is out July 7th.

Also new on my table is a new tea cup, I have had this tea cup before but I broke the saucer a few months back and I was thrilled to find another of this blue bird ceramic teacup and saucer set. I was thrilled to find it at HomeSense, a store here in Canada that is like your Marshalls or TJMaxx in the USA. This is a Grace's Teaware brand cup and saucer which I paid under $8 for. I love the pattern and the style. These make great gifts and look great on any table.

This week Peaches and Scream, a first in a new series by Susan Furlong arrived. This is the first in her new A Georgia Peach Mystery series and I am so excited to read it. I wish that I could read more then one book at a time but it is not my talent sadly. This book centers around a family in Cays Mill Georgia who are trying to keep the family Peach Farm going through some tough times. Returning after a long absence from a small town that only remembers main character Nola Mae as a "wild teenager" suspicions an gossip abound when Nola Mae finds a local businessman murdered among the families Peach trees... I do believe that I am going to have to make and share my Peach Cobbler recipe with you all while I read this...perhaps a tutorial as well. I hope you will check back!
This book is also out July 7th to pre order your own copy please click here.

 

 Sunday was mothers day and I am still so thankful for all the lovely comments and messages of support I received from sharing my story and my own mystery with all of you. I have been having lots of developments in the last week and hope to have updates as information and connections are made with the information I received through 23andMe. If you happened to miss my post and woudl like to know more please click here for my story.

In my cup this week I have enjoyed several pots of Paris tea from the Adorabella Tea room, I am getting low on that so I am going to have to make my way back out there for more.

 I have also enjoyed Steeped Tea's Jazzy Jasmine Tea. With the warmer weather I have been craving the fresh clean taste of this green tea with Jasmine flowers. This tea is great hot or cold and I never add anything to it. I order mine through Steeped Tea's Website you can view it by clicking here.

Thank you for joining me again this week to see what was on my table and in my cup. I would love to hear what you are reading, working on or baking so do leave a comment below or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com.

On My Table And In My Cup This Week May 2nd-May 9th.

What a week it has been! My table has been a very busy place this week and my tea pots all filled with wonderful tastes I can not wait to share.

This past Sunday was my mother in law's birthday and we had a lovely dinner. Even though it was her birthday my brother in sister in law brought me a beautiful teapot for my birthday which they had missed the past week. They are now totally forgiven...

Monday was Starwars Day at my house. I made some Starwars Cookies for the boys for after school, I stole a few for myself too, they went perfectly with my tea.

Monday also brought me Some Like It Witchy, Heather Blake's latest book. I read the entire thing in a few hours, it is one of my most favorite series.

Terrie Farley Moran's Series graced my table this week in celebration of her Agatha Award at the Malice Conference this past weekend. Her book Well Read Then Dead won the award for Best First Novel. Her award was a teapot! I think that was so cool! I wish to offer her my congrats!

One of the teas I have been enjoying this week is one I found out about through my tea of the month club I was in through Steeped Tea. It is called Lemon Drop I swear it tastes like Lemon Lollypops! It contains Rooibos Tea, Calendula petals and lemon grass. This is a great tea to enjoy in the evenings as it is caffeine free, when your sweet tooth hits or even served over ice. You can find out more about ordering this tea by clicking here.

As to what I am reading this week, I am working my way through Lemon Pies and Little White Lies and truly enjoying each word! Look for my review early next week.
Thank you for joining me for A Cup of Tea And A Cozy Mystery, I look forward to sharing more tea moments with you from my table soon. As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

On My Table And In My Cup This Week April 11th-18th

On my table this week I have had Fran Stewart's Orange As Marmalade. I am loving this book, I am half way through and loving it. The relationship between the sisters and the commentary from the cat makes for a lovely paring. Find out how to order this touching cozy by clicking here.

Also on my table this week is Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia, not a cozy mystery but a cozy collection that will transport the reader to Mississippi and make you feel most welcome. Find out more about Patricia Neely-Dorsey's work by clicking here.

 New on my table this morning is Kathi Daley's Matrimony Meltdown A Zoe Donovan Mystery I am looking forward to reading. You can down load it to your mobile reading device by clicking here.

In my cup is my favorite stand by Earl Grey de la creme from Steeped Tea. I have been enjoying this tea now for almost three years daily and it is a warm and wonderful Earl Grey with hints of a creamy  caramel taste that I just love. You can order Steeped Tea on line or at home parties and they have a great tea of the month club. Click here to find out more about this tea.

So what is on your tables and in your cups this week?
Thank you for joining me for A Cup of Tea and A Cozy Mystery.
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave us a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

What Is Better To Get In The Mail Then A Pre-Ordered Book From Your Favorite Cozy Author? How about Once A Month Mystery Tea From Steeped Tea!

Last year I discovered a love of Steeped Tea, it is a home based business based in Canada and new to the USA. I started ordering the tea over the internet from a lady in Calgary named Erin Stabbler and then went to a home party of a friend of mine from the boys school.

My most recent Steeped tea party in January was a huge sucess! Favorite tea of the night was called After Eight, a black tea that tastes like the chocolate mint it is named after.

 There I met Jodie Mochinski who is now my Steeped Tea Consultant. I have had two parties at my home in the past year and one of the bonuses from having that party and having two other's book their own parties is I get Mystery Tea delivered monthly for 6 months to my home for free.

In April my free tea shipments will be up and I already know that I will be requesting and paying for this service, which is a great deal at $20 a month including shipping. I have fallen in love with some of the teas they have sent, flavors I would not normally have ordered or tried.

I can not think of a better way to experience the wonders of flavored tea with out leaving home! You can find me with a pot of Steeped tea and a cozy mystery at least once a day! Some of my most favorite flavors are
Earl Grey de la Creme and Fuzzy Peach Black Tea...I have also come to love Rooibos tea the Lemon Drop, and Razzel Dazzel Rasberry are to die for!

There are so many wonderful flavors you can choose from, I can not wait to try the new flavors the Spring and Summer Catalog has to offer! Click here to view the catalog for yourself!

 

I don't sell Steeped tea myself, nor to I write Mysteries but I do love to review them and how well they go together and I think you will find they do too! 

You Can Find Steeped Tea on Facebook by clicking here

Going to put the kettle on now, I hope you will drop by again soon...

As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com