Making A Simple London Fog

I have always been a coffee kind of girl.  But as I've gotten older hot coffee agrees with me less and less. Last year, at the peak of my stomach problems, I abandoned my morning coffee in favor of a cup of hot tea. 

Most days begin with a cup of Irish Breakfast Tea with milk and honey.  But some days, I feel like doing something a little bit fancier. That's when I will prepare a London Fog for myself.

A London Fog (or tea latte) is typically Earl Grey tea, steamed milk, and vanilla syrup.  I make mine a little different, but with the same delicious result. 

I start by brewing a cup of Earl Grey tea.  I usually use a decaf Earl Grey because sometimes caffeine can aggravate my reflux. 

I sweeten the tea with some honey.

For the milk and the vanilla flavor, I add unsweetened vanilla almond milk.  

If you're wanting to give it a little something extra (or a caffeine boost) - try making it a Dirty London Fog by adding a shot of espresso!

The London Fog latte is a tasty way to start my morning. Or a delicious treat on a chilly or rainy afternoon.

Have you tried a London Fog?

Enjoy a Cuppa

After a week of roller coaster weather here in western North Carolina (70 degrees one day, 39 the next), winter has again taken control.  It's cold, with an expected wintry mix of rain, ice and snow.  The perfect day to stay inside and sip a lovely cup of hot tea.  

The timing couldn't be better, since today is National Hot Tea Day!

Legend has it that Shennong, an ancient Chinese leader, was drinking a bowl of boiled water when a few leaves blew into his bowl.  This colored the water and gave it a flavor he greatly enjoyed.  Another legend is that while testing various herbs on himself for medicinal properties, he discovered that tea worked as an antidote when he consumed a poisonous plant.   

There is written evidence that emperor's of the Han Dynasty were drinking tea as early as 59 B.C.  At the time, tea was considered a luxury beverage - today it is the 2nd most consumed beverage in the world, second only to water. 

Whether you prefer black, green, white or oolong tea (all which come from the same plant  Camellia Sinensis), there are many benefits to drinking tea:

• Tea is high in antioxidants
• It's an all natural, calorie free, sugar free drink (until you start adding embellishments to it)
• Research shows it may reduce your risk of heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases
• It may aid in digestion and assist with weight loss 
• A cup of black tea each day may reduce your risk of cavities and gum disease
• Green tea may help increase bone density
  

Heart coasters available at Queen B's Busy Work

Just over a year ago, I had the pleasure of visiting the only working tea plantation in North America - the Charleston Tea Plantation on Wadmalaw Island a few miles south of Charleston, South Carolina. I found the tour entertaining and educational.  Even the Man of the House enjoyed it!  If you are ever in the area - I encourage you to visit.

Until then, brew yourself a cup - or an entire pot - to enjoy today.  

Wisdom from Oma

An English muffin with strawberry preserves accompanied by a cup of hot tea may not be a healthy lunch - but it sure is yummy!

Seven Days Without Coffee: Gets Some Help

Over the weekend the male offspring was congested and miserable.  I thought it was allergies. Until the grand baby woke up this morning stuffy, sneezy, and coughing.  He won't let his mommy out of his sight.  As the day has progressed, the congestion and sneezing have moved into my head.

The bright side of this is that when I am not feeling well, I prefer tea to coffee.  This makes it pretty easy to go without coffee today.   A nice cup of peppermint or chamomile tea is very comforting when you don't feel well.  Which makes the cold/allergy/whatever thing I have going on work in my favor when it comes to making it through the last two days of the Seven Days Without Coffee.

I'd rather have a pumpkin latte than a head full of snot.  Just saying...

Read more of "Seven Days Without Coffee" Here:

The Challenge

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Day Four

Day Five

Day Six

Day Seven

The Wrap-up

Seven Days Without Coffee: Is Ironic

I had to chuckle at the irony.  Day Two of the "Seven Days Without Coffee" challenge began with me sipping tea out of a cup clearly labelled to be used for coffee.

It was my own way to trying to mentally trick myself.  I see the cup sitting there and think "Mmmm... coffee!" Pick up the cup, take a  big sip.  Not coffee.  

Read more of "Seven Days Without Coffee" Here:

The Challenge

Day One

Day Three

Day Four

Day Five

Day Six

Day Seven

The Wrap-up

Thankful Thursday: September 20

This week I am thankful for:


The Gathering:  Wednesday I had the honor of working with some lovely women to help do some prep work for the event.  Today I am grateful for the opportunity to join other women in an evening of worshipping and learning about our Lord!  And that the female offspring agreed to go with me!

Sleeping In:  I gave myself permission to sleep in a little this morning.  I slept until almost 8:00 and it was wonderful!  Even if I feel a little guilty sleeping in while the Man of the House went about his morning and got the male offspring off to school.

Tea: It's the only thing keeping me sane and functioning during the Seven Days Without Coffee

Seven Days Without Coffee: Is Off To A Rough Start

In case you were wondering, lack of coffee has not killed me (yet). And on an even more positive note: I have not yet killed anyone else either.   I had a lovely pot of English Breakfast tea this morning, while the siren song of the coffee brewing for the Man of the House called out to me.   As I left the house, my travel mug was full of chamomile.  It wasn't bad.  It also wasn't coffee.

However, I'm only this far into day one, and I have learned a couple of important lessons.
Lesson One: Never, ever... seriously I mean NEVER... start a coffee detox on the morning you have to get up extra early to go do mind-numbing volunteer work.  Seriously, if there was ever a task that needed a caffeine jolt it is stuffing info/goodie bags and rolling forks into napkins before 9am. 

Lesson Two: On the first day of your coffee detox, do not under any circumstances make a run into the grocery store with the Starbucks counter right at the entrance. 

Right now I have a nagging thumping behind my left eyebrow.  I'm starting to feel extremely run down and tired.  And my shoulders are getting tight. I believe this is a signal to sit down and have another cup of tea.  Something caffeinated. 

Read more of "Seven Days Without Coffee" Here:

The Challenge

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Day Four

Day Five

Day Six

Day Seven

The Wrap-up

Seven Days Without Coffee: The Challenge

After viewing The Belle of the Carnival's video blog about her week without coffee, the question kept running through my mind: Could you go a week without coffee?

Now, of course my first response was:  Nope... No... No way... Not a chance! 

Which made me start wondering about other things.  Such as: Is it really bad that I had a strong reaction to the idea of a week without coffee?  Is that actually a sign that I need to go a week without coffee to detox myself from it's rich delicious caffeiney goodness?  (yes, caffeiney is a word.  If it's not - well, I just invented it)

After much mental wrestling over these questions (and a few others, most of which are not related to this story), I decided to give it the ol' college try. 

I checked the tea stash.  (What?  I'm not crazy.  I have no intention of facing caffiene detox headaches without some sort of backup!) A nice collection of Earl Gray, English Breakfast, Chamomile, Peppermint, and various herbals?  Check.  Local sourwood honey and sugar?  Check. It seemed as if all the pieces were already in place; as if the universe were saying: Go ahead.  You can do this.  Go for it.

So, tomorrow begins my challenge: Seven Days Without Coffee.  Which yes, I fully intend to document right here for your reading pleasure.

Will I survive?  Will those around me? 

You can read more of the Seven Days Without Coffee Series here:

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Day Four

Day Five

Day Six

Day Seven

The Wrap-up

Rain On My Parade

Out my living room window the rain is coming down. 

Pouring rain. 

Raining cats and dogs. 

Raining pitchforks and hammer handles.

Monsoon-esque rain.

The type of rain that calls for curling up on the couch with a cup of tea and a book for the afternoon.  Or do some crochet and watch some shows I've had on the DVR for a while.

The kind of rain that makes me not want to leave the house for any reason.

Of course, just as the heavens open up and the bottom falls out - this is the time that the dog starts whining to go out.  Now.  In the midst of the downpour.  And apparently he needs to go right now! 

It also happens to be a day when I need to run to the store and the post office.  And take the male offspring to his guitar lesson.

So, I set the book aside.  Give the crochet hooks a longing look.  And forget the tea.

I resign myself to the fact that my hair is going to be a mess today, no matter what I do. 

I put away the cute shoes; because I know my feet are going to get soaked.

I take a deep breath, pull up the hood on my rain jacket, and brave the rain...

A Cold Day

It's a cold day. 

One of those first cold days of autumn to remind me that winter isn't far behind. 

The kind of day when gray clouds drift across the blue background of the sky.  The wind whistles past the windows, and sends the autumn leaves dancing through the air. 

A good day to have a mug of soup for lunch.

Or curl up with a cup of hot tea and a good book.   

Or maybe some coffee and something on the Netflix. 

Or some warm mulled cider and a crochet project.

The type of day that leaves me looking forward to the cold evening to come.  Some warm pj's, my favorite fluffy robe, and snuggling up to The Man of the House.