DAVIDsTEA Bleeker Street, NYC

We stumbled across DAVIDsTEA at 275 Bleecker Street while waiting for our Afternoon Tea Reservations at Bosie's Tea Parlor. The bold white letters on the contrasting bright teal background pulled us across the street. On the sidewalk was a hotpot filled with a tea to sample, perfect for the cold Saturday afternoon! Once we entered the shop, we were immediately greeted with a high spirited 'hello' and the offer of another tea to sample. The clerks were all quite cheerful and attentive, willing to answer any questions, and happy to welcome you to their world of tea. 

The bright colors of the exterior were repeated inside the shop. Tins full of tea lined the wall, and the staff was ever so eager to pull down a tin to let you see and smell the tea. The top of the tin had a small compartment where they put a sample of the tea thus keeping the majority of the tea separate from the sniffing and smelling of the tea.

With the limited time that we had, it was fun to explore this happy place. With such an extensive array of teas, plain and flavored, we each made a few purchases in an attempt to bring the sunshine to Pennsylvania.

McNulty's Rare Teas & Choice Coffees, NYC

McNulty's Tea and Coffee Company is located at 109 Christopher Street between Bleeker & Hudson Streets in Greenwich Village. They have been in business since 1895 and provide a little mecca for both coffee and tea lovers. The shop bustled with business the day we arrived. Fragrance of freshly ground coffee hung in the air and several shopkeepers hustled to fill order after order as customers came in and quickly requested their favorite coffee ground to their individual specifications.



Exterior Window Display

A wide assortment of imported boxed teas lined the shelves all the way around the small shop and the center table was laden with well labeled jars of loose leaf tea. Such a beautiful display of quite an amazing assortment of teas including black teas from Africa, China, India, Russia, and Sri Lanka, oolongs from Taiwan and China, and green teas and herbal blends as well.

This was the coffee station, the real hub of the business, which was in continuous motion. Old scales no longer in service but definitely a part of the history of this fun shop sat proudly on the counter.

We suggest you add this little gem to your 'must visit' when in New York City!

Tea & Sympathy, NYC

Located in Greenwich Village is the charmingly delightful and typically British tea room Tea & Sympathy and the neighboring gift shop, Carry On Tea & Sympathy. The tiny tea room offers traditional English comfort food such as cottage pie, bangers and mash, Marmite on toast, and of course traditional afternoon tea with dainty tea sandwiches and scones and hearty English tea where the leaves remain in the pot and water is simply added to top it off producing a very bitter pot of tea!





The gift shop carries an amazing array of British teas, tea pots, candies, chocolates, groceries and accessories. The entrance to the shop creates the illusion that you are walking into one of the infamous red telephone booths.

It was fun to poke around the shop and to peek into the window of the tea room. Tea & Sympathy does not take advance reservations, and it was filled to capacity on a cold Saturday afternoon in January.

The New Leaf Tea Room

A journey East took us around Philadelphia, across the Delaware River, and into Riverton, NJ where we had reservations for Afternoon Tea at The New Leaf Tea Room. A brisk January day provided the perfect afternoon to enjoy The Queen's Tea.

The Queen's Tea includes the selection of soup du jour or salad. Most in our group opted for the potato leek bisque which was very tasty and served in a tea cup.










After the soup, we were each served our own individual clam shell tray that held the sandwiches, scones with fruit, and the top tier of little desserts that practically screamed 'eat me first'.








One happy family photo before we began sampling the tea time goodies on our trays.

The vegetarian sandwich plate included an egg salad triangle, a cucumber sandwich with cream cheese, and a pimiento cheese spread with sliced pepper and tomato and a slice of spiced tea bread topped with cream cheese and pecans.

The cranberry scone was lightly dusted with confectioner's sugar and served alongside a fresh fruit medley.

And the dessert trio was a chocolate lover's delight that featured a chocolate dipped strawberry, a chocolate brownie with whipped cream topping, and delicious frosted cupcake all drizzled with chocolate and dusted with confectioner's sugar. Oh yum!

After tea, there was an opportunity to do a little shopping in the gift shop. Two holly designed  Christmas tea cups came home to be added to the holiday collection.

Turning Twelve!

Happy Birthday, Cedar!

 Hugs to you on your special day!

New Book: Through the Seasons

Oh my Goodness, the newest book by The Essential Herbal is amazing. It is 450 large 8 1/2 by 11 pages chock full of herbal information. Incredibly well indexed by topic, authors name, herb, recipe or craft. It is clear this book was a labor of love. Tina Sams, editor of The Essential Herbal Magazine, (and Molly's mom), has pulled together a fabulous compendium of the second five years worth of favorite articles. This is the cream of the crop from 2008-2012, and cream it is! The Essential Herbal draws an interesting array of authors all with unique and first hand experience with herbs. And it shows. It is clear these folks are not just writing about herbs, they are actually working with these amazing plants. If you only have room on your bookshelves or in your budget for just one new herbal this year, I would strongly suggest you consider this book. It has a huge variety of topics from growing herbs, medicinal herbs, culinary herbs, history of herbs, and crafting with herbs. It features basic herbs and unusual (but not obscure) herbs as well. Since it is a compendium of articles, I appreciate the fact that I can pick it up and read an article or two and then easily put it down until the next time.  

Meet Molly

Since The Rosemary House opened its doors in 1968 we have been teaching about herbs. Whether it is through our classes or workshops or in our Apprentice Gardener Nights or through our internship programs we consider sharing about herbs and their uses an important part of our work here. We are lucky to welcome Molly Sams from the Essential Herbal this year to The Rosemary House. She is fun, enthusiastic, talented and a joy to be around. We consider ourselves lucky that the Essential Herbal shares her with us! Below is what Molly has written about us!

I have been interning for The Rosemary House for the past few months. Every day is something fun and different. Being able to learn about others’ perspectives and uses of herbs has helped me become a better herbal novice.
Susanna is always encouraging me to learn many aspects of herbs. Whether it is something as detailed and complex as folk medicine or potpourri, Susanna continues to be a phenomenal source of information and encouragement. She is also an endless amount of fun.

High School Intern: Destiny

My coworkers have been an unexpected wealth of information. Last month I had the opportunity to work with Lori. She was able to answer more questions about Hex craft and PA German magic with such detail I could not write my notes down fast enough. Another wonderful person I often work with is a young woman named Destiny. If she and I aren’t singing show tunes or discussing the latest episode of American Horror Story her ideas about herbalism in cooking can always lead to an interesting conversation.
The customers often have interesting ideas about herbalism as well. While some are just beginning to learn about herbs, others are able to offer ideas and advice as they look around or check out.
Her children are always a blast to be around. Cedar can crack me up with his wit and timing and Angelica and I can often be found howling with laughter in the backroom after she gets home from school.
The delicious food is a great perk, too!

Celebrating Hot Tea Month

Here's a sneak peek at the display window for The Rosemary House for the month of January. Celebrating Hot Tea Month with sparkly little white lights and sharing an assortment of all things tea, it's the perfect time to celebrate tea!

Staying warm with hot tea nestled under a tea cozy, sipping and delighting in the warmth of a colorful pot of tea, January is the perfect month for tea.

Veggie Broth

 

I save my ends of celery or bits of wilted celery, onion parts, carrot shavings or ends, stems of herbs, mushroom pieces,  pieces of left over green and red pepper. Mostly pieces that would have gone to the compost. I throw them all together in a zip lock bag in the freezer and when the bag is full, I put them in a large stock pot with filtered water. To that I add 2 small potatoes cut up, some garlic, a bay leaf, 8 whole peppercorns, a tablespoon of white miso, and some oregano. 

Let it all simmer together for a minimum of an hour but usually closer to 2 hours.  Cool it down in the pan and then strain it out. (Now the stewed veggie scraps are ready for the compost!)  I just strain it through cheesecloth. If I strained through a coffee filter it would be a very clear broth but I don't have the patience for that. I then freeze the broth in 2 cup or 4 cup measurements. This is simply perfect as a base for soups or to simmer lentils. It's easy and yummy, and you know exactly what the ingredients are and where they came from. 

New Book: So Easy to Preserve

It isn't a good Christmas if there isn't a new book under the tree.   This book by the Cooperative Extension of the University of Georgia is an excellent book, with all the current information on preserving foods.  It covers canning (of meat, veggies, fruits and jams), freezing, dehydrating, making vinegars, pickling and so much more.  In its revised 6th edition, this comprehensive 387 page book, features hundreds of recipes as well.  While there is a lot of information here.  I am finding it very easy to read and to comprehend and am enjoying this treasure quite a bit.

www.soeasytopreserve.com

Smile!

Hope your day is sunny and bright!

Earrings!

And a gift from the eldest sister, for no particular reason except that she saw these at a Garden Club fundraising event and thought of me!

                                                             and aren't they just adorable!