Tea Time

My day was busy today as are many of my days. Surely many of you can relate to that... but what is life if you don't live it ?! 
Stop once in a while and smell the roses....the flowers...get a well deserved break while enjoying your favorite cup of tea; green tea, white tea, black tea, herbal tea... there are so many choices and varieties to choose from.

After all the cooking and baking, we deserve a break, right girls ?   :-)
Here is one of my favorites, SPICE CHAI LATTE - click here.


Following are some information for those that want to read more about the  tea  preparation.

The traditional method of making a cup of tea is to place loose tea leaves, either directly or in a tea infuser, into a tea pot or teacup and pour hot water over the leaves. After a couple of minutes the leaves are usually removed again, either by removing the infuser, or by straining the tea while serving.
Most green teas should be allowed to steep for about two or three minutes, although some types of tea require as much as ten minutes, and others as little as thirty seconds. The strength of the tea should be varied by changing the amount of tea leaves used, not by changing the steeping time. The amount of tea to be used per amount of water differs from tea to tea but one basic recipe may be one slightly heaped teaspoon of tea (about 5 ml) for each teacup of water (200–240 ml) (7–8 oz) prepared as above. Stronger teas, such as Assam, to be drunk with milk are often prepared with more leaves, and more delicate high grown teas such as a Darjeeling are prepared with somewhat fewer leaves.

The best temperature for brewing tea depends on its type. Teas that have little or no oxidation period, such as a green or white tea, are best brewed at lower temperatures, between 65 and 85 °C (149 and 185 °F), while teas with longer oxidation periods should be brewed at higher temperatures around 100 °C (212 °F). The higher temperatures are required to extract the large, complex, flavorful phenolic molecules found in fermented tea, although boiling the water reduces the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water.

TypeWater Temp.Steep TimeInfusions
White Tea65 to 70 °C (149 to 158 °F)1–2 minutes3
Yellow Tea70 to 75 °C (158 to 167 °F)1–2 minutes3
Green Tea75 to 80 °C (167 to 176 °F)1–2 minutes4-6
Oolong Tea80 to 85 °C (176 to 185 °F)2–3 minutes4-6
Black Tea99 °C (210 °F)2–3 minutes2-3
Pu'er Tea95 to 100 °C (203 to 212 °F)LimitlessSeveral
Herbal Tea99 °C (210 °F)3–6 minutesVaried


Well, it was all good but I wanted something to go with my tea...that's when I remembered the Hungarian donuts. Years back, I helped my daughter make them at her school as a fundraiser project... couldn't keep up with making them as they were selling so fast.... I thought they would go nice with my tea, so I made some.

For the recipe of the traditional HUNGARIAN DONUTS. -click here.

Hungarian Donuts





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