Teacup Tuesday

Teacup Tuesday is hosted each week by Martha and Teri.

Be sure you visit to see all the teacups on parade!

I'm going to do something a little different this week.

I have quite a collection of books, including cook books and books on tea.

Culinary history is an interest of mine and developed while I was a docent at the museum.

I did a food and feasting tour for a local community college once a year and I loved it.

Of course, I needed books to do my own research!

Today I'd like to share a lovely little book on green tea: The Green Tea User's Manual by Helen Gustafson.

Helen Gustafson is the tea sommelier for Chez Panisse so she knows her stuff.

This delightful little book covers sixteen of the most popular types of green tea.

She includes interesting anecdotes, quotations, and bits of tea lore and recipes.

COMMON EXPRESSIONS DERIVED FROM TEA

A nice old cup of tea (British): A sweet person.

Chali (Chinese): A tea gift given to a woman upon her engagement.

He has no tea in him (Japanese): Said of a person with little life in him.

Hock nit kein Chainik (Yiddish): Literally means, "Don't bang a teakettle." Don't make such a big fuss. Don't bother me.

Let the tea steep (German): Forget about it.

Na Chai (Russian): Literally, "For the tea." The tip one leaves in a restaurant.

Not for all the tea in China: Not at any price.

Not my cup of tea: It isn't anything I like.

Teetotal: To abstain from intoxicating drinks.

Tempest in a teapot: Much ado about nothing.

That's another cup of tea (British): Another angle on a story.

What's that got to do with the price of tea?: Why is that important?

Gustafson is also the author of The Agony of the Leaves: The Ecstasy of My Life with Tea.

I haven't read it yet, but I will!

(Image from Art and Tea by Karen Park Buddha's Palm Oolong Tea)

Lastly, I'd like to share a blog with you that I've been following since I first started in the blogging world: Art and Tea. Karen Park knits, makes jewelry, enjoys mixed media, and works for the Upton Tea Company, one of the tea companies that Gustafson recommends. Karen shares a cup of tea with her readers on Saturday. She describes the tea, tells how the tea is brewed, shares the history of the tea. Please drop by and visit with Karen and learn more about the world of tea.

Happy Tea Tuesday!

Wishing all of you well.