I love spicy chai tea. I don't drink coffee at all, but in the winter, I usually have a cup of hot tea every day to warm me, as well as my hands, up. We were in Ireland in the fall and the tea was so delicious every where. I loved how it came served in a teapot every where we went. Toward the end of our trip, I found this gorgeous teapot at a small pottery shop. At that point, I'd already bought quite a few wool sweaters, an expensive painting, and a few other things at a different pottery shop. I didn't have room left in my bags, and I didn't want to spend the money on shipping this one small thing. I didn't get it. After we got home, I told dh I regretted it - this artist's style was quite unique, very colorful and abstract. He actually called and ordered me one for Christmas - that was quite a surprise! While I normally drink either Tazo, Stash or Trader Joe's tea, I decided I wanted to try using loose tea leaves like I had in Ireland. Finally, just last week, I stopped at a tea and spice shop and bought a bag of Chai and a bag of green tea leaves. I made my first cup on Friday and it was delicious! It was fun serving myself out of my new little teapot. I also really like iced tea but never make it at home. I've been meaning to, but just haven't bothered. It is my drink of choice though if I'm out at a restaurant in the summer. While I do like some sweet tea, I prefer my iced tea unsweetened, with just a touch of sugar and lemon. Daisy, I"ll have to try the Tazo zen tea. I'm still going to use bags for when I'm in a hurry, but my loose tea when I'm relaxing!

Cardamom is white, green, or black; each has differences in flavor intensity and nuance, like different cinnamons, etc. This info is paraphrased from Penzy's website: In India where both green and black cardamom are used, it is an important ingredient in meat and vegetable dishes. In parts of the Middle East the seeds are mixed with green coffee beans before brewing. In Northern Europe (especially Scandinavia) white cardamom is used to season baked goods such as Christmas stollen, cakes, cookies, muffins and buns. Cardamom is a pod consisting of an outer shell with little flavor, and tiny inner seeds with intense flavor. Fancy white and green pods have no splits or cracks in the shell, so the flavor keeps well. Stored in a glass jar, cardamom pods will stay fresh indefinitely. Shelled or decorticated cardamom seeds are inexpensive and flavorful, but sometimes need to be crushed or ground before use. Ground cardamom has an intensely strong flavor and is easy to use (especially in baking, where the fine powder is desirable). Black cardamom, long a staple in African cooking, was originally used in India as a cheap substitute for green cardamom pods. Black cardamom has a unique smoky flavor and has developed its own following over the years. I stopped at a local eastern Indian market and picked up 3.5 ounces of whole green cardamom for under $6. The small jar of seeds only and ground each are about $9. Here is a link that might be useful: Penzy's Spices

If it's 7 A.M., the temperature is below 20 degrees, I'm waiting for an outdoor auction to start and the only hot beverage they have for sale is coffee, I'll have a cup of it - black. Otherwise, I drink tea, hot or iced. My favorite of many decades is from a tea/coffee shop in our town. It's a full-bodied loose black tea called Russian Fancy, not to be confused with that smoky Russian Caravan. Another workhorse tea at our house is Twining's English Breakfast, which is great for making iced tea by the pitcher. For flavored teas, I like Black Currant and DH likes peach but we both enjoy Bigelow Constant Comment, which I think is a good value. Herbal tea is usually mint. Growing up, we never had dessert right after dinner except on holidays but every night after we finished the dinner dishes and cleaned up the kitchen, we'd have a cup of tea and a treat like cookies or nut bread. I revived that custom and we look forward to it. Most of you know that my best friend and I love to visit tea rooms and they have certainly enjoyed a revival throughout the eastern states in the last few years. I also have a lot of tea paraphernalia and entertain friends with tea parties. On Black Friday, I will be hosting a "Shop until you need teatime" open house like I did last year. Can you tell that I love tea?

Well I went to the store today to pick up some stuff for the party. I forgot the peanut butter! So, I'll be running back to the store. Buckeyes are a definite. I'm also planning on making a cashew macadamia crunch (Hershey's recipe). I'm also going to be bringing gingerbread and sugar cookies already baked to decorate at the party. I still love the idea of the spoons. I emailed a link to this thread to my sister-in-law that's hosting the party and she loves it. I think she passed it on to the others. I know another niece & sister-in-law will be making barks, chocolate covered pretzels, Chex mix white trash and some dry meat rubs. Great ideas! Keep them coming!