In a previous blog I told you about the great finds I had this year at the church and library book sales. I was thumbing through Williams-Sonoma “Entertaining” that I purchased for 1/7th the original cost – and helped give to charity – when I cam upon their idea of a table favor or gift for the guest. They suggest that you might gift them with samples of teas that were served at your event, enough for a pot of tea tea for each guest – assuming you use loose leaf teas. You will need enough extra tea to give each guest enough for a pot of each tea, small glassine envelopes (the ones that look like wax paper), ribbon, decorative self-stick labels, a hole punch and a pen – or if your penmanship is as bad as mine, a computer and printer and sheets of printer acceptable labels. Prepare the labels with the type of tea clearly printed on them. If you can do calligraphy, even better. You may want to make a second set of labels with brewing instructions for the back of the bag. Scoop the tea into each envelope, keeping track of the types of tea in each. Stand the pouches up to move the tea to the bottom of the bag. Fold the top down 1/2 inch and seal with the correct label. Punch two small holes at the top of the envelope and thread a length of decorative ribbon through the holes and tie into a bow. Arrange the sachets on a tray or in a basket. Or you could place them in a small gift bag that you have decorated with rubber stamps, stickers and or ribbons and place at each place setting. Use ribbons, labels and bags to match your decorations. The glassine will preserve the tea a little better than placing them in tea sacs. Use your imagination. I am sure that your guests will appreciate the extra efforts you took to send them home with a momento of the event.
Tea For a Crowd
I love books. I miss my Borders store greatly. So I was thrilled that one of the local churches and the county library had book sales on the same day. Because I love bargains, too. Old cookbooks are a favorite. So, I now have “The Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Cook Book” from 1959. I must have been a popular book because I saw three that day. While there are some recipes that make me cringe. One is for “Hurry-up Hot Tea” which, believe it or not, recommends that you keep a jar of instant tea handy for a bracing cup of hot tea. Measure the tea into each cup according to the label directions; fill with boiling water; stir. Oh, come now. Really? Instant tea must have been new then. However, there was one recipe that I think will come in handy for the holidays. It’s “Tea for a Crowd”. It’s a recipe for tea concentrate. And I quote. “Planning a tea? A tea concentrate make serving large groups easy. At teatime, all you have to do is pour a little concentrate into each cup and fill with ho, hot water. The tea can be strong or weak — its’s the amount of concentrate that makes the difference. Or just before serving you can combine the concentrate with the hot water in a large teapot — 1 cup concentrate to 6 cups boiling water.
“Tea concentrate for 40 to 45 servings: Bring to a high bubbling boil 6 cups freshly drawn cold water. Remove from heat and promptly add 1/4 pound loose tea, stirring in leaves. Cover; steep 5 minutes. Strain into teapot.
“Concentrate cloudy? Add the hot water at teatime will make it sparkle again.”
That’s a pretty good start. I have a couple of suggestions. You can strain or you can put the tea leaves in large tea filters – paper or mesh. Four ounces equals 113.36 grams (for those of you metric folk) or 1/4 pound. For the purposes of this recipe and the time period it is from, I can safely assume this is black tea used int he recipe. As the size of the tea leaf varies with the quality of the tea, weighing is recommended. And as black tea weighs more than others, for green tea you would use about 2/3 the weight and for white only about half. And, I would suggest that while you may chill the concentrate and add to hot water a cooler tea will result. Perhaps a tea too cool. Another idea is to place the concentrate in a thermos or airpot. And finally, I would suggest that instead of a “high bubbling boil” that the water just come to the boil to conserve as much oxygen as possible. By making the tea ahead – I would not suggest it be more than 2 or 3 hours – you do save a bit of last minute grief and it is easier to carry. Enjoy.
Tea at the Unicorn Wine Guild 