What’s in My Cup: Chocolate Chai

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#whatsinmycup, chocolate, food, food photography, food. chocolate, tea, what's in my cup

Dear Monday, I want to break up. It’s not you – it’s me. I ‘m seeing Tuesday and dreaming about Friday. xoxo

It’s been a day and it’s not over yet! I did something to my back last night, and while it’s better today, it’s not great! I had hoped to stay quiet but with impending bad weather, I decided to grit my teeth and make my weekly pilgrimage to the grocery store. I took my friend…which means a 1 hour job takes much…much longer. But I also appreciated the help.

I got home to find out my David’s Tea order is a mess, even after spending 40 minutes on hold on Saturday to fix said mess. Multiple emails say it wasn’t completed but my cart is empty. The wrong amount was still charged to my credit card, and after 3 hours of waiting online and on the phone, I’m losing hope it will be resolved!

Time to put the kettle on!

Not all good teas come from fancy stores. Admittedly, you get what you pay for and those fancy stores sell quality teas. But I raised to be a thrifty girl. Treats are treats because I don’t have them all the time! So I’m pleased with my President’s Choice Chocolatey Chai tea!

Chocolate Fixes everything…

This was an impulse buy on a drizzly day, just like today. Not only can I taste the chocolate, the undertone of spices enhance it. It contains roasted chicory root, carob pod, spices, cocoa shells, natural flavour, ginger root, licorice root, and cocoa. I find many of the chai blends have such a strong pepper taste, or such a potent ginger heat, that they are unpleasant (or I have to really be in the mood for pepper and heat). I’ve also found that many chocolate teas don’t taste like chocolate, or it’s so watered down, it’s limp! This was similar to S’more Chocolate Chai from David’s Tea, but this was creamier (and it doesn’t contain any cream). It’s also herbal, whereas David’s is definately caffeinated! Not bad for box of 20 satchets under $5.

Wanna know a secret! I’ve actually started opening a tea bag into a bowl, and I add a skimpy 1/4 tsp. to an infuser and drop it in my teapot in the mornings, with a regular black tea bag. The whole pot is infused with a note of chocolate and spice, and that, my friends, is balm for the soul.

Even on a crappy Monday! Cheers!

Dear Quarantine Diary #16

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chocolate, covid-19 humour, dear diary, driving, summer

Dear Diary – I went shopping with Mom at Wal-Mart. It mostly went well, but at least twice, a very nice employee noticed my dazed eyes and confused stance, as I stood on my toes, peeking around boxes and swiveling from side-to-side. “Can I help you find something?” they politely asked. Embarrassed, I replied, “Sorry, no. I’m actually looking for my mother”. Perhaps I didn’t lose her in the first place. Perhaps she lost me. Seeing an opportunity to ditch the kid, she ran away when I stopped to peruse the shelf or dash down a different lane to grab an item. Whatever the reason, I’m thankful she didn’t leave me there. It would have been a hot walk home.

Dear Diary – We packed up after “online” church to head back to the city. We had to make one quick stop to deliver a large mask order. We were to meet in the Denny’s parking lot. Leave it to me to end up in the wrong spot. After 10 minutes of driving around, and multiple telephone calls, I finally made the connection. Even though we’d be on the road less than an hour, I needed to pee. I texted Hubby to let him know where we were and he texted that I might want to go back to my parents. A large thunderstorm had just come through the city and knocked out the hydro.  I don’t need a good excuse to “hang” at my folks for another day.

Thunder started to rumble in the distance less than 2 hours later. The sky grew very black. It tried hard to rain…and then it cleared, the sun came out. Disappointingly anticlimactic!

The trip home on Monday was strange. I had been on the road less than 10 minutes when my father called. A friend from the city had called to try to warn me that the highway near the city was closed…due to a shooting investigation! Yikes! I decided that I would head north before the shutdown area, which would add about 20-30 minutes to our drive.

Well, it would have only added 20-30 minutes to our drive had I not completely missed our exit! In my defence, the exit was not marked. Hubby and I exchanged several phone calls and text messages (Little Guy mans the phone since I’m driving), and I spent a significant portion of the trip completely unsure of where I was. We went quite a bit father north than I had realized, before we headed west. At one point, I no longer knew what direction I was facing. With only the sun to guide me, and Hubby’s thinning patience, we finally got our bearings and arrived home. My “detour” added closer to 1.5 hours!

Boy, did I need to pee!

Next time, I will bring the hated GPS, Gloria.

Dear Diary – Hubby picked up treats to celebrate my homecoming: Covid-19 Kit-Kat Chunky bars…now 20% chunkier. Just like me!

What’s In My Cup: Peanut Butter Cup

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#whatsinmycup, beach, chocolate, food, holiday, peanut butter, summer, tea, what's in my cup

Man cannot live by bread alone; he must have peanut butter. – James A. Garfield

Peanut butter cup tea is inspired by the sweet, rich (and might I add), deeply satisfying delight. Whether as a sweet after a meal, an afternoon snack, or just because, this tasty tea infusion hits the spot. It is a blend of apple, cocoa bits, almonds, chocolate chips, and safflower.

What? No peanuts? That’s right.

As you can see, the colour is a pale yellow, which surprised me a bit. I was expecting a darker colour. The flavour, however, had the toasted nut flavour I was expecting. I would have liked the chocolate to be more prominent (being a natural choc-o-holic), and like chocolate pb cups from the store, I thought it was missing some salt.

Still, with only 5 calories per cup, it’s a guilt-free treat so I can wear my bikini without anyone calling Greenpeace to roll me back in the water…when it’s warm enough to wear a bikini, that is!

Now, if someone would just make an O Henry tea!

Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language. – Henry James

Happy Monday!

Baking with English Breakfast Tea

Tags

birthday, chocolate, cupcake, food, humour, tea

Last Monday I celebrated my birthday, and what better way than to bake a cake, with tea!!

There are tons of recipes on the internet that use tea, loose leaf or steeped, as an ingredient. But since chocolate is a family favourite, I picked a recipe from lifeisbetterwithtea.com. This cake called for 1 cup of strong steeped English Breakfast tea, which if you tuned in last week, you will recall that Assam tea is predominant in the blend of tea leaves, so it’s bold. I used 2 tea bags in my 1 cup of boiling water, and it was decadently dark!

This cake was simple to make and absolutely delish! I can’t say that using tea instead of water, milk, or cream had any influence on its texture or flavour, but it was certainly moist and very chocolatey…which is everything you want in a chocolate cake.  It didn’t last long!

My decorations were severely lacking, and candles, non-existent…but there would have been too many of them even if I had remembered to purchase some. Besides, what good is it to buy candles when the cost of the candles is more than the cake?

Baking with tea may be little more than a novelty, but who cares! If it means combining two great loves, I’m all for it!

Let’s face it, a good creamy chocolate cake does a lot for a lot of people.
– Audrey Hepburn

Here’s the link to the recipe! |Tried any great recipes lately – please dish below.

Bon appetit!

What’s In My Cup: White Chocolate Mousse

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#whatsinmycup, chocolate, food, tea, teacup, what's in my cup

Light. Creamy. Sweet. All words you want to use to describe the taste and texture of a perfect chocolate mousse.

I made one once for my mother’s birthday. She said it was the most delicious white chocolate soup she had ever eaten. Aw, Mom! 😉

So what if I told you, you could get all that – a light, sweet, pillow-y dessert – without the disappointment or the calories?

Steeped Tea, a Canadian “home party based” company released White Chocolate Mousse in 2015. It is a Rooibos tea that includes white chocolate, cacao bean, hazelnut pieces, and calendula petals.

The only ingredient I didn’t recognize was calendula petals so I did a little digging. Calendula flowers are in same family as marigolds, sunflowers, chrysanthemums and daisies, and are often mistaken for marigolds. They are an edible flower (fresh or dried) and easy to grow. They’ve been used for centuries to heal wounds, burns and rashes, to support the immune system, and to relieve constipation. It is not recommended for pregnant or nursing women.

Did you know….milk and dark chocolate are made from the non-fat part of a cocoa bean, but white chocolate  is made from cocoa butter, a pale yellow edible vegetable fat with cocoa smell and taste.

This creamy, nutty tea is sweet, with hints of vanilla and anise, but… just like a dessert should be… it wasn’t too sweet, just enough to satisfy your sweet tooth.  You might even say – it was as light as a feather!

Soft feathers cannot make a cruel bird kind. – Munia Khan

Happy Monday!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

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chocolate, food, peanut butter, photography

I may not be having as many “wow” moments in my mid-life crisis lately, but that doesn’t mean I’m not still having fun. A few weeks ago, I made homemade pumpkin & ricotta ravioli in a walnut & sage brown butter sauce. And this weekend, Chocolate PB pie for Big Guy’s birthday. It was yum!

Ever since peanut butter hooked up with chocolate, peanut butter still talks to jelly but the relationship is strained. – Reese’s

Happy Wednesday!

 

What’s In My Cup: Chocolate Rocket

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#whatsinmycup, chocolate, family, tea, what's in my cup

It’s been a lovely weekend! My parents and Big Guy tucked into our tiny home to celebrate Big Guy’s birthday! The party included Axe Throwing, Chinese food and my homemade chocolate peanut butter pie!

The last of the party goers just hopped in their car to head home earlier than planned since our local radio announcer’s are throwing around words like “15-20cm” and “snow-maggedon”. The last time they did that, it was more like “snow-ma-nuthin'” but why take the chance?

But at least Mom and I squeezed in a shop Saturday afternoon, and one of my purchases included Chocolate Rocket tea from David’s Tea. My boss made himself a cup earlier in the week and the aroma of rich chocolate and tart raspberry was too tempting.

Chocolate Rocket tea is a Yerba mate, and includes cocoa nibs, almonds, roasted chicory root and raspberries. It is kosher and low in caffeine. The colour of the tea itself is quite dark and the roasted chicory is the dominant aroma, until it is steeped. This velvety tea is reminiscent of hot chocolate and I was extremely pleased that it didn’t taste watered down. In fact, it offered a rich and complex flavour of slightly bitter dark chocolate, tart raspberry, and tones of roasted nuts. Chocolate and raspberry are one of my favourite flavour combinations, and this decadent tea blend is like Mom and I, perfect pairing!

The party may be over but not the memories. Once I get groceries and pick Little Guy up from school, I plan to tuck in for the evening, and savour another cup. Hot chocolate and snowstorms pair well. I can also savour my sweet victory!

(Now I’m a 2-time champion)!

Cheers!

Creamy Confections

Tags

chocolate, fashion, humour, shopping

After being poked, prodded, squished, squeezed, “felt up”, greased up, and finally drugged and stuffed into an MRI machine, I can report that I get to keep my “girls” (though they’ll have to go through a similar rigmarole again next year). They deserved some TLC, so I went for my annual bra fitting.

It seems decadent, I know, to shop in a specialty store, but I honestly cannot buy any more bras “off the rack”. They don’t make my size. My rib cage is tiny and the rest of me, is not! Which explains all the years of tears and chocolate and self-loathing,  then more chocolate, every time I went bra shopping! It’s was a vicious cycle!

I developed early – Grade 5 to be exact (head of the class as usual) – and I was tormented because of it. The girls hated me because I had curves, and the boys just thought it was fun to snap my straps. I wasted spent years standing hunched up to make myself stand out less. And like any young woman, I wanted something lacy and pretty like the other girls – not Grandma’s “over the shoulder boulder holders”! In the 1980’s such things did not exist (or the 90s when I got my Education in Lingerie)…

They exist now, and with prudent shopping, one is not required to sell your kidney on the black market to afford it. I wandered around the tiny store like a kid in a candy shop. There were lacy petite-four confections everywhere in rich jewel tones and sweet pastels. I hardly knew where to begin!

Photo courtesy of http://www.1-800-bakery.com/Desserts/Petits_Fours

The sales lady solved that problem when she asked the frightful question – what size are you?

Bra Size Fitting Chart

A = Almost Boobs
B = Barely Boobs
C = Can’t Complain
D = Dang
DD = Double Dang
E = Enormous
F = Fake
G = Get a Reduction
H = Help! I’ve fallen and can’t get up!

***

What I wanted was creamy Chantilly lace and dainty ribbon roses, but being ever practical (and having purchased racy red last year that required too much thought first thing in the morning when I was getting dressed), I had to stick to boring basics. As for options in my size, there were only 5…ranging in price from $60-to $200! Frankly, for $200, I expect there to be a lot to it! I wrangled my way into most of them before deciding on 2 that were on sale. Both have pretty lace, and one is even pink, my favourite colour! And they are very supportive! … Happy Weekend!

Chocolate Bunny Psychology

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chocolate, chocolate bunnies, chocolate bunny psychology, Easter, food. chocolate, humour

Every year, I have written short and silly posts about Chocolate Bunny Psychology, and it continues to be one of my most popular posts…all year long. What is it about cannibalizing chocolate bunnies that attract so many people worldwide?!? Maybe the Beatles got it wrong. It’s not “all we need is love” – it’s all we need is chocolate bunnies. Could bunnies be the next weapon of mass destruction? Or even better, if we could harness the power of the bunny, could we have full and lasting world peace? Something to ponder while I demolish this pink foiled confection.

How do you eat your chocolate bunny and just what does it say about you? Where do you start – ears first? Toes? Tummy? I usually start with the candy eye (maybe I can’t bear for it to see what’s coming next), but according to a new Bunny Test (link at the bottom), I am an expressive and sensitive person (hope so). Connections are important to me (true). I am adventurous and make friends easily (well, they can’t all be accurate).

The majority of chocolate bunny consumers admit they start with the ears…I’d venture to guess that if you start to feel guilty, you can stop eating the bunny and the bunny will still “be alive”…or that with no ears, the bunny can no longer hear you sneaking up behind it, or lying that you weren’t the one to eat it! Some sites say that those who nibble from the ears down are logical, determined, not overly sentimental and complete things quickly. Ear nibblers make no apologies. But if you eat your bunny feet first, then you hold things dear, wear your heart on your sleeve, as well as possess a wonderful, child-like sense of curiosity. Tail-eaters are either competitive and seek power, or are kind-hearted and unrestricted.

If you can’t bear to watch as you slowly cannibalize your chocolate bunny, what about melting it, or freezing it and whacking it with a heavy object. I’m just saying – you could avoid a lot of unpleasantness that way.

To take your own Easter bunny test, check here!  Otherwise, please enjoy a nibble with me!

Happy Easter

The Perfect Guy?

Tags

chocolate, food, holiday, humour

I may have found the perfect guy. He was “sweet and decadently rich just like a man should be”. The strong and silent type, and absolutely no good for me!  I saw him one afternoon while dashing into the drug store to buy stamps for the office, and I nearly stopped dead in my tracks. He was shirtless – you should have seen his abs! I really wanted to check him out, take him home and do naughty things with him, but I have done so well being faithful to Hubby lately, so instead I dashed from the store (with my stamps) as quickly as possible. I haven’t met with Henry (O Henry) in months!

But I confess…I did snap a quick shot as I ran by…in my defence, it’s not every day you see “the perfect guy”.

Happy Valentine’s Day!