Tiger Tea

Dear Friends,
Thank you so much for your patience with me in my absence. Luckily, I have found my way back to my imaginary world and hope to be able to keep Real Life away for a while. I have missed you all so much.

Please join me for tea today.
Here is an equation for you . . .






. . .inspired by the playful, fruit-and-flower-forward flavor of Opus Oil's Tiger Tea.:


The fruits and flowers collide in one cup to remind of summer days quickly slipping past us...

For my friends who have had their first frost (like we have), I invite you to try this tea hot. For my friends who are lucky enough to still have some warm weather in their world, it is equally delicious iced! Just a squooge of lime juice and sweetener of your choice (blue agave would be lovely!) will make it complete!



I am a bit sad to tell you that this is my final tea review for Opus Oils' Jitterbug Tea Parlour. Thank you again to Lili and Kedra for providing me with the inspiration and opportunity to share my thoughts about their wonderful, fragrant teas!

Please continue to follow Kedra's fascinating blog Scents of Imagination!

And please come back later tonight for a very important announcement of an upcoming event!

Burlesque Tea Review + Real Paris Adventure

Found backstage at Paris' famous Moulin Rouge:


next to one of the dressing room doors...


...a heart-shaped box of chocolates filled with luscious rose cream,


roses of a very rare chocolate and cream variety,
grown in only one greenhouse
by one especially eccentric count,


and a note:
When you are on stage, you belong to everyone.
When you are not, please say you will belong to me.....



(Inspired by the luxurious, decadent and romantic combination of roses and chocolate in Opus Oils' luxurious Burlesque Tea from their Jitterbug Perfume Parlour Tea Collection! With its combination of Congou Tea, Rose Oolong Tea, Rose Absolute Infused Premium Grade Organic Edible Rose Petals and Cocoa Nibs, it is a singularly sensuous experience. I could not have imagined that the flavors of two of the most highly recognized symbols of love and sensuality could combine in such a perfect way! This really is a brilliant combination!)



And for all Friends of The Tearoom who reside in Paris (and those who might be visiting), I have a treat for you! I have an invitation for you all from Adam of Paris Patisseries. Adam has organized an event at the patisserie Jacques Genin, in the 3rd Arrondissment. You will get to meet him and other people who will gather to buy treats and then walk to the parc de la rue Perrée to enjoy them! You can learn all about it here! We so wish we were going to be there with you, but I promised Adam I would let you all know so you could join him instead!

The Sunshine That Was Needed...

Dearest Friends of the Tearoom,

Two nights ago, on the final night of March, my Mr. V and I were ensconced here alone in The Tearoom, waiting for our very late season snow storm to begin (which we hope is our last.) I was craving warmth and the sunshine of spring so much when I brewed one of Opus Oils’ Jitterbug Perfume Parlour Teas, Island Girl. And at 10 pm, under a cold sky of white, I found the sunshine I was looking for in this tea! My first sniff brought the stored sunlight from the mango tea, but my first sip was nothing but luscious, buttery, tropical tea cake! The mango is still there, but the coconut tea, the exotic richness of vanilla tea and vanilla bean pieces (so luscious), punctuated with the floral notes of the osmanthus and marigold flowers and pieces of rock crystal sugar bring such a deeply golden flavor to the mix! Warm and yummy, it was just perfect for watching for the first snowflakes to fall (Did I mention we hope it’s the last? I am so missing my DC weather!). And two days later, with blue skies overhead and sun streaming in every window in the house, I drank it again, but this time iced. Equally luscious, refreshing and so, so clear! Perfection. Really.

My thanks again to Lili and Kedra of Opus Oils for giving me the chance to sample another of their beautiful teas! Don't forget to check out Kedra's fascinating blog Scents of Imagination.


Keep checking back as I share with My Dear Friends of The Tearoom our experiences as we sample more of their very creative and deicious teas!

Thank you also to Mr. Jerry of Shadowhouse Creations for the black background I used in my collage from his Black Magick Texture Set.

Apparently, Dreaming Is Essential

Dearest Friends of The Tearoom,
Everyone who attends my virtual tea parties here at The Tearoom knows that a great deal of dreaming goes into their planning. I find pastries and teas online, imagine how their combinations of flavors would taste and match them together for our virtual Salons de Thé. But most of the teas I write about are on my wishlist to be tried.

What a great opportunity is is for me to bring to you today a review of a very special tea from Opus Oils of Los Angeles and Paris. I was sent a sample of their Absinthe Tea, along with my order of perfume samples, which I was testing for my use in a top secret art project. And, of course, being the creature of curiosity that I am, I had to explore their entire website, which is really fun and glamourous!

Opus Oils creates highly creative and original scents and “Perfumed Teas, Hand Infused with Floral Absolutes”. I was very honored to have the chance to sample one of their Jitterbug Perfume Parlour Teas for myself.

This is what they had to say about their Absinthe Tea:
“Sweet & nostalgic, this unique black tea blend is delicious, enchanting, and extremely addictive…  
Made with Green Pear Black Tea ~ Violet Black Tea ~ Vanilla Black Tea ~ Violet Leaf Absolute Infused Blue Malva flowers ~ Anise Seeds”


They have added just a few crystals of rock sugar to this tea when they blended it, so try it just as it is before adding anything else. (As one should always do when tasting either a tea or a coffee for the first time. Even if you dislike drinking your tea or coffee black, you will better appreciate the more subtle flavors and learn to identify them easier. As a fellow dreamer told me when he taught me to taste coffee, “Just close your eyes and listen...” And if you appreciate wine, you already know how to “listen”!).

This tea starts out with strong tannic notes, but the next note is a divine, complex combination of herbal, flowery and creamy notes, with just a touch of anise flavor. At this point, I added a bit of sugar to bring out these notes even more. (Of course you may add whatever sweetening you prefer, but I find white sugar is more neutral in flavor.) The black tea adds the rich, resinous base, followed up with the green herbal notes from the pear and violet leaf absolute, the deeply floral violet, the creamy, but exotic note of the vanilla and anise seeds for a final note of absinthe; a unique and luxurious experience. This is a tea to be savored, sipped slowly and as they say it is “extremely addictive”! This tea was delicious hot and they do suggest serving it iced as well. I’m certain that sipping it iced on a hot summer night would be a decadent experience!

Thank you to Lili of Opus Oils for letting me experience your beautiful and creative tea!


(And by the way, two nights after drinking this, I tasted it again, in a dream I had, so apparently, dreaming is essential to tea-tasting!)

An Evening at The Tearoom. . .

My Very Dear Friends,

Won't you please join me on this sultry summer evening
for a treat?

I have made a fruit salad from yellow nectarines, white nectarines, white peaches, black velvet apricots, saturn peaches and plums, just for us!!

And won't you please join me in a glass of iced tea? My favorite tonight is another from Tazo called Om. It is a mix of black and green teas, haunted by essences of peach and cucumber. It is the perfect match with our salad.

For a night when you can bear only the lightest of meals...

As the velvet of night grows deeper, the fireflies are gathering on the lawn behind The Tearoom for their evening dance. . .

If you walk through the French doors, you will find that I have spread blankets on which you may sit. . .

I will leave you with a poem that I wrote several years ago, which I believe is in keeping with the mood of the evening. . .

the nectarine

on this warm and cloudy night,
at 11:37,
i want to give thanks for nectarines.
i was feeling somewhat gloomy
until i remembered him, small, happy thing he was,
waiting for me in the chill of the fridge.
in the dark, i padded into the kitchen in my favorite pair of bare feet.
as i removed him from the white plastic sack, the kitchen was filled with cool, white refridgerator light.
i held him in my hand.
he was cold but his skin was smooth
and
he glowed burnished yellow and dark orange.
he even blushed dark red on one side where the sun had kissed him.
he submitted himself to my bite.
and his juice, like stored sunshine
dribbled itself down my chin and my throat before i could catch it,
trickling all his sticky coolness,
making me happier than i’d been all day.
what a miracle that such a small thing could make me so happy!
so,
on this warm and cloudy night,
at 11:37,
thank you, little nectarine!

5 Degrees of Inspiration House Party

Welcome Friends and Friends-I-Do-Not-Yet-Know,
Happy Blog Party to you! As a member of the Inspiration Avenue Team, I welcome you!

What inspires me? Anyone who knows me or reads my blog probably has a pretty good idea of a lot of the topics that inspire me, as my artwork or blog give life to most of them. Here are some images of inspiration for me. I hope they do the same for you.

Welcome to the House of My Imagination. All the rooms are decorated with extra glitter and sparkly bits in anticipation of your visit . . .

. . . and so we begin in Room One,
the Dining Hall,
so that you might sample food that inspires me. . .

. . .by taste. . .
(These pastries from Ladurée make me dream! Your first experience with the scentflavors of rose and lily-of-the-valley are something you will never forget!)

. . . by sight . . .
(Madame Joconde Eclairs from Fauchon)
Read my previous post about them here.
What is this lovely-looking item? You might think it was a dessert, but you would not be correct! It is Saint-Honoré Printanier de Légumes from Dalloyau, a tart made of tiny spring vegetables, fresh cheese and fresh flower petals!

. . .by anticipation . . .
I will definitely want to try this Wasabi Macaron the next time I visit the House of Pierre Hermé!

. . . by scent . . .
With which tea may I tempt you? Kusmi's Bourbon Vanilla, redolent of the exotic and beautiful vanilla pod, Caramel, warm and sweet, Spicy Chocolate with warm spicy notes or beautifully floral Violet?


. . . now, on to Room Two,
the Gallery,
so that you might see images that inspire me . . .

(An Ad for the coffee company Lavazza, a large sign with this ad on it was one of the first things I saw when we arrived in Paris at 7 am after not having slept all night!)

(An Ad from Fauchon)

(An Image from the Italian artist Nicoletta Ceccoli)

(An Image from the collection of Les Museés de Strasbourg)


. . . next,
on to Room Three,
the Library,
so that I might share with you
words that inspire me . . .

The Fig Eater, by Jodi Shields
This is a beautiful, dark, hypnotic book, meant to be savored over and over again. To read this book is to live in turn-of-the-century Vienna.

Paris Out of Hand by Karen Elizabeth Gordon, Barbara Hodgson and Nick Bantock (author of the Griffin and Sabine series)
This gorgeous book is a tour guide of Paris, but not Paris as it actually exists. It is a surreal, dadaist tour of the Paris of the Mind. This lovely little jewel box of a book will make you dream of visiting The City of Lights.

. . before we leave the library, I hope you find inspiration in some quotes by my favorite poets and writers . . .

"Poetry is . . . the human soul entire, squeezed like a lemon or a lime, drop by drop, into atomic words" - Langston Hughes

"Very much so. Hopelessly. I just love that time so much. It’s unfragmented and velvety. My mind is very free at night.” - Karen Elizabeth Gordon, when asked if she was a night person.

"And the day came when the risk (it took) to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." - Anais Nin

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage" - Anais Nin

(For further inspiration, please consider reading anything by Colette or Edward Gorey)


. . .and in Room Four,
The Listening Room . . .
. . . I hope you find yourself inspired by the music that currently inspires me . . .

a strange, joyful mix of the following:

almost anything from Joy Division (always "Love Will Tear Us Apart".
Consider this a shout-out. He knows who he is.)

"Sketch for Summer" by Durrutti Column

"Sunshine and Love" by The Happy Mondays

"Six Bells Chime" by Crime and the City Solution

"Fistfull of Tears" by Maxwell

"Song to the Siren" by This Mortal Coil (this came to me as inspiration from V by way of something posted by J.
You inspire me always. I love you so much.)


. . .Finally. . .
in Room Five. . .
the Observatory. . .
Please gaze with me at the Number One Place that has inspired me:
. . .being watched over by our Dear Friend,
Mademoiselle Moon!

Goodbye Dear Friends and New Friends!
Please have fun visiting the other parties being hosted by the other participants of The Inspiration Avenue Blog Party!
May you be inspired!

Betty

Desserts Delivered to Your Inbox

(Photo above used with very kind permission of Desserts Magazine)

Happiest of Saturday Nights, My Friends,
I know we all deserve a yummy treat tonight! I have one for you and it's free! Click here for the home page of a great online publication called Desserts Magazine. Each edition is full of yummy pictures and recipes! After downloading, you click the corner of each page to turn them. The most recent issue is all about desserts made with tea!!! And don't forget this: you can sign up to get this in your inbox each time a new edition is published! I know it's one of my favorite things to see sitting in my e-mail! I'll just repeat what I said to one of my dessert-loving friends this week: Prepare to Drool!

Spring, As Definined By Laduree

Spring in Paris is beautiful, made even more so by some of the patisserie houses' spring collections of pastries. In particular, Laduree's two spring and summer flavors are definitely some of the most wonderful things about the warm-weather seasons!

Some excerpts from their press release:


"A Romantic Spring at Ladurée:
Ladurée is celebrating spring with a Château de Versailles theme. A romantic decoration made up of interlaced designs, medallions and flower bouquets with antiquated colours houses the new box of macaroons with various spring flavours and a definite boudoir feel."


"Ladurée is particularly fond of the month of May and pays homage to it each year by creating a limited edition of its famous, irresistibly-flavoured Lilly-of-the-valley macaroons.

. . .Fleeting and traditional at Ladurée, on the occasion of the first of May, this macaroon is filled with a light and creamy white cream,flavoured with a touch of Lilly-of-the-Valley.
- A Creation by Philippe Andrieu -"



"It is with the sun and summer in mind that Pastry Chef Philippe Andrieu devised the new Ladurée macaroon. Its radiant sun-yellow shell encloses an unctuous, Bergamot flavoured cream which is both sweet and bitter. Tangy and sun-drenched, this new flavour macaroon will make the perfect summer treat this year."


The lily-of-the-valley macaron was one of our very favorite flavors, one I describe as a "scentflavor", as they taste just like they smell. Indescribably delicious and unusual.

We so wish we were there to get to try the bergamot flavor! One our favorite teas is Earl Grey and it is the oil of bergamot that is used to give the tea its beautiful perfume-like scent and flavor.