Greetings! ...from Kimberly Shaw

Featured in "The Tea Daily"!

"News Flash! Read all about it! Sneak peak at Kimberly Shaw's November HospitaliTea Club!"  I confess, it's a wonderful feeling to be mentioned, especially on the front page.  In the massive "www" it's a wonder I even get noticed.  But today "The Tea Daily" chose to feature news about my November HospitaliTea Club! Wahoooo!

Second confession, I had not heard of "The Tea Daily" until today, but I'm glad I know now. Filled with fascinating information and links, I had to share it with you. In it you'll find articles on the history and legends of tea, cooking with tea, the health benefits of tea, and a video of how tea flowers are made (a must see!). Patti Niehoff has done a wonderful job putting "The Tea Daily" together.  You can also follow her updates on Twitter.  I'll add a link in the Tea Section of my sidebar so you can easily pop over for the latest tea news.

Info on my November's HospitaliTea Club is in the previous post and on my website. If you want all the goodies in it, the last day to sign up is Monday Oct. 25  - in just 2 days.

September's HospitaliTea Winner!

Each HospitaliTea Club member is automatically entered to win in a drawing for that month's Give Away.  September's HospitaliTea Club Give Away winner won four of these silver teapot napkin rings with an antique finish and  four napkins I made trimmed with Phillip Jacobs Lilac Rose fabric.  September's packages are being sent tomorrow, so I'm not going to give away who the winner is, it's a surprise.

There is one more HospitaliTea Club package this year being sent out mid November if serving others is your cup of tea. November's package will come with some extra goodies with the goal of having enough to share for the holidays as we are hospitable to others. Jam spoons are included in the package, and a set of Jam Bowls with silver lids on a silver tray are November's give away. I will also be including a little jar of my homemade Strawberry Fig jam, which is delicious on scones and it looks like Christmas.

September HospitaliTea Club Package

Here's a sneak peak . . .

The pink tea in my teacup is a delightful Raspberry Vanilla from Harrisons & Crosfield teas. This month's HospitaliTea Club package includes an assortment of 24 delicious Harrisons & Crosfield teas in 12 flavors for you to try and share. 

 

Each club member will also receive a pretty pair of silver salad tongs, 4 clover honey sticks, one of my "Things to do After I Have Tea" notepads,...

 

an assorted set of my Teacup Greeting cards and Recipe cards in Autumn inspired colors, plus pretty paper doilies for your teapot, teacups and food service.  Also included is a Yorkshire Recipe book with recipes for Apple & Oat Betty, Lemon Tarts, Teacakes, and York Chocolate Pudding.  There will be other goodies included, too, but I'd like to leave some things as a surprise.

 

If serving others is your cup of tea, and you are looking for delicious teas, food service accessories, a cookbook, recipe cards, honey sticks and tea themed stationery to send or share with guests all wrapped up in one package, sent to your door without additional postage fees, you can find general info about my HospitaliTea Club on my website with additional information about the upcoming September's HospitaliTea Club.

Last day to sign up is Monday, August 23rd.

July HospitaliTea Time

I was so excited to receive my order of Sprinerle cookies from Ivy Hill for July's HospitaliTea Club packages.  Each one is carefully hand-painted and wonderfully flavored with lemon, which is delicious with the Blue Lady tea.

Then I also tucked in a set of my "Blueberries & Cream" Recipe Cards to make sharing tea time recipes easy.

I also made each HostitaliTea participant a Tea Towel to make clean up more fun. Each tea towel is trimmed with a ruffle of Jennifer Paganelli's Sis Boom fabric "Katie Eliza" from her Modgirls collection, a blue and white toile over an aqua field. "Gorgeous!"  Then I finished each one with a row of large rick-rack trim.

The packages have all been sent out, and I'm looking forward to hearing about each persons tea party as we kindle lasting and cherished relationships over tea.

July HospitaliTea Club Package

Today is the last day to sign up for July's HospitaliTea Club package. Sorry for the last minute post, I was off a week. 

Everyone who orders the July's package is entered to win this beautiful Silver Cake Server.

Whether you win the Cake server or not, you will not be disappointed with all the lovely things you will be receiving to serve a delightful table:

• Blue Lady Tea (4 oz. loose tea). This organic black tea flavored with a blend of grapefruit and citrus is absolutely amazing!It's even delicious iced.
  
• Two Silver cake forks. A lovely addition to any tea table.
  
• Silver cake tongs, perfect for serving all kinds of treats and scones.
  
• Tea Time recipe book for caravanners, campers, and Holiday (as in "vacation") cooks with easy Summer time recipes like Sponge Delight, Peach Conde', and Layered Berries and Yogurt. You'll find recipes for Vegetable Pie, Salmon & Rocket Salad, and Ratatouille. 

Isn't this book sweet, with the perfect images of Summer?

• Paper doilies for serving plates.
  
• Teapot drip catchers to keep the tablecloth spot free.
  
• Honey sticks to sweeten the tea.
  
• Bundle of my Tea Themed Stationery all in a lovely blue theme.
• I'm also tucking in these adorable hand painted teapot and teacup Springerle cookies made by my friend Sandy simply because they are irresistible.

 

• Plus a few extra goodies, but we want to leave some things for a surprise.

This package has a Summer Holiday theme in classic blues and white. So whether you plan to treat someone to tea while traveling to some far away destination, or gather around your kitchen table, it's never a chore to serve someone tea and visit while the breezes of the season fill your rooms. I may decide to take my tea tray outdoors near the garden. Where is your favorite place to serve tea in the Summer?

Breakfast Tea

In my cup this  morning is the most satisfying Irish Breakfast tea, delicious with milk and honey. It comes from my favorite local tea and coffee hangout, Pannikin Coffee & Tea.  The coffee cakes, pies and blueberry muffins are irresistible.  When I'm there in the morning I always order their Greek breakfast of scrambled eggs, feta cheese and basil with a mug of fresh brewed coffee, Ethiopian being my favorite.

When the origonal supplier for the tea I was planning to provide with my HospitaliTea Club packages wasn't available, I looked to my local shop and have been pleasently surprised at the variety and quality of teas. My March HostitaliTea Club packages came with this wonderful Irish Breakfast tea which I will never tire of.  The May Club packs I just sent out on Saturday have Queen's blend tea, and the next Club packages for July will come with Blue Lady tea.

The Pannican is family owned, cozy and welcoming with a line out the door that's worth waiting in. It's located in the charming historic Santa Fe Railroad Station built in 1888. Pannikin means a small pan or cup usually of tin. If you are unable to visit personally, you can order their fresh roasted coffees & teas online.

Queen's Blend tea and Roses

The theme for May's HospitaliTea Club package is "Tea in the Garden" with Queen's Blend tea in honor of Queen Catherine who introduced tea to the English royal court. Fit for royalty, this tea blend of black, green and oolong teas creates a brisk cup with a light finish, delicious with lemon.

 
May is the perfect month for inviting a friend, a neighbors or your mum to tea set in a garden of roses while relaxing under a flowering tree listening to the birds sing.

Aren't these paper doilies, teacup doilies and drip catchers adorable? They'll be included.

The May HospitaliTea Club package includes:

• Package of Queen's Blend Tea (4 oz. loose tea). "Fit for royalty, this blend of black, green and oolong teas creates a brisk cup with a light finish."
• Silver tea scoop
• Silver sugar tongs
• Tea Time recipe book
• Paper doilies
• Teapot drip catchers
• Honey sticks
• Crown pin
  
• Bundle of Kimberly Shaw Graphics stationery (including some lovely garden themed items)

Each participant in May's HospitaliTea Club will also be entered to win a cute silver cream and sugar set to go with the sugar cube tongs in the package.

Last day to sign up is tommorow, Monday April 19th!!! Hope you can join us!

May's Hospitality Club Package

March HospitaiTea Club Goodies

The March HospitaliTea Club packages have all been sent.  Each member received a delicious blend of Irish Breakfast tea from our local tea shop, which I am preferring over my typical morning coffee. As St Patrick was from Somerset, England, a recipe book of that region, with delightful country artwork inside, was included of dishes Patrick's mom might have served him as a boy, like Apple, Raisin and Cider Teabread, Baked Apples with Creamy Custard Sauce, or Poached Pears with Butterscotch Sauce. Plus I added a few Irish recipes on individual cards as well to enjoy.

There were two demi silver teaspoons, perfect for delicate teacups, a silver tea strainer similar to the one shown, paper doilies, teacup doilies (very cute!), Irish poems and blessings to share with guests, clover honey sticks,

assorted Teacup Greeting cards, sticker sheets, special edition pins so as to not get pinched on Saint Patrick's Day, and a note pad for tea party planning.

Congratulations to Joan of New York who won this adorable aqua teapot. She wrote to thank me saying, "I had such fun unpacking my HospitaliTea Club package. It was better than Christmas or my birthday. I love how each item was wrapped. I can't decide if I have a favorite. My aqua tea pot looks great with all my St Patrick's Day dishes and decorations. I volunteer at our law library on Tuesday mornings so I took most of the items in to show them...oh what fun we had."

Can you see the cleaver drip catcher on the pot's spout? A perfect accesory for preventing tea stains on vintage tablecloths.

When I discovered this lovely Jennifer Paganelli fabric in fern green and white (perfect with this month's theme) I decided last minute to sew a tea towel for each package to help make clean up fun.  May's packages will include a tea towel with a rose print, July's will have a blue toile ruffle "Katie Eliza" also by Jennifer Paganelli.

I'm already having so much fun planning May's HospitaliTea Club packages with a "Tea in the Garden" theme with a Queen's Blend tea inspired by Queen Catherine who first introduced tea to Britain in the 1660s and 1670s.

Tea, a drink with jam & bread

Traditional Irish Soda Bread with pomegranate jelly and a cup of Irish Breakfast tea with milk and honey.  I'm trying Irish recipes to serving at my tea later this month with my March HospitaliTea Club goodies. I was pleasantly surprised how easy this bread was to make, which was especially delicious with soup on a cold night. 

White Irish Soda Bread

4 cups (16 oz) of all purpose flour.
1 Teaspoon baking soda
1 Teaspoon salt
14 oz of buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 425 F. degrees.  Lightly crease and flour a cake pan. (I used a glass baking sheet with a lid and it turned out fine)

In a large bowl sift and combine all the dry ingredients.

Add the buttermilk to form a sticky dough. 

Place on floured surface and lightly knead (too much allows the gas to escape)

Shape into a round flat shape in a round cake pan and cut a cross in the top of the dough. Cover the pan with another pan and bake for 30 minutes (this simulates the bastible pot).  Remove cover and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

The bottom of the bread will have a hollow sound when tapped so show it is done.

To keep the bread moist cover the bread in a tea towel and lightly sprinkle water on the cloth, but trust me, you can keep your tea towel dry as you watch this bread disappear.

Recipe from the Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread.

Thank You!

A quick "Thank You" to all who signed up for my Hospitalitea Club! When I created it I really wasn't sure if anyone would even be interested, now my heart is overjoyed. I'm busy putting together a generous amount of my stationery for packages going out for March.  Besides Teacup Greeting cards each pack will include a Notepad, Tea Party Stickers, and... (I'll let the rest be a surprise).

I need to get back to work, but want to see if anyone knew the Irish flag was green, white, and orange? I was surprised to see orange. Does anyone know what the orange represents?

A Wish for a Friend

Wishing you a rainbow
For sunlight after showers—
Miles and miles of Irish smiles
For golden happy hours—
Shamrocks at your doorway
For luck and laughter too,
And a host of friends that never ends
Each day your whole life through!

Poem found posted on the Island Ireland webpage.

Top o' the Mornin' to Ya!

The Irish...

Be they kings, or poets, or farmers,
They're a people of great worth,
They keep company with the angels,
And bring a bit of heaven here to earth.

Did you know the Irish have tea three times a day? I've been busy putting together my March Hospitalitea packages and having a bit o' fun discovering Irish blessings and tea traditions. I've also found Irish Soda Bread, Cake and Scone recipes which will be included in addition to a recipe book. And what would be better in Irish Breakfast tea than Clover honey? A selection of my Stationery will also added to the package including my Good Luck Teacup card. Now I'm on the hunt for some pretty Irish music which I'll be playing in the back ground while my guests are enjoying the afternoon. Any suggestions? 

Irish Men... There are only three kinds of Irish men who can't understand women: young men, old men, and men of middle age.

HospitaliTea Club - March

Here's a peek at some the goodies included in the March Hospitalitea Club Package: 

 

Includes extra surprises tucked in, too, and an entry to win this cute aqua 6-cup teapot.

I'm hosting five HospitaliTea Club Packages this year: March, May, July, September, and November with new teas, tea accessories, plenty of my Tea Stationery, and tea related treats in each package, with the goal of spending more time kindling closer relationships with others through our hospitality while building a tea table setting for two by then end of the year.  

Each month will include a Give Away, and for those who participate in all five HospitaliTea Club Packages you'll also be entered in a drawing to win this gorgeous Silver Teapot. Full details here.  

I'm also creating opportunities for you to share your Hospitalitea Club stories and photos here on my blog  and through a new Flickr group!  While we creatively reach out to those around us, let's also encourage one another in ways to be hospitable.  Are you serving others at the kitchen table with the kids, or taking tea time in a basket to a neighbor?  Do you prefer an elegant table in the dining room, a formal setting in the living room, or a casual setting on the lawn under a tree?  The goal of this club is to have fun by creating opportunities to serve others while building lasting relationships in a busy world. 
 

Hostitalty Club is HERE!!!

All the details are finally here! I am so excited about this! What could be better than women pausing for a moment from their busy schedules to get together and reconnect over tea? I don't want another year to go by wishing I had made plans, so I made some already, starting with March.

In March a tin of Harney & Sons delicious Irish Breakfast tea will with a new silver tea strainer, two demitasse tea spoons, a new tea time recipe book, pretty paper doilies and teapot drip catchers will arrive! Want to join me?  If so, I'll include in your box of  items from my stationery line, some Irish treats, and you'll be set.  Plus, with each month's purchase you'll also be entered to win a Free GIVE AWAY Prize. For March the Prize is a sweet 6 cup Aqua Tea Pot.

The purpose of the club is first and foremost, to create an opportunity where relationships are kindled with friends and family, old and new.  Sign ups are also for two months at a time or for the full year, 5 total events, at a discount with new tea and pretty accessories coming each time.  By joining for all 5 months, you also will be entered to win a gorgeous silver teapot at the end of the year!  

Plus, right here on my blog you'll be able to encourage others by sharing about your events and submitting photos for me to post, or linked to your blog.

All the details are in my STORE.

 

HospitaliTea Club

So this is what I've been thinking about...

It occurred to me that I don't spend enough time kindling relationships with friends and neighbors. I get so busy, drawn in by the business of each day, I forget to set time aside for what's really important: the people around me.  I want to do something about it; I want to force myself to set time aside to be hospitable. To invite someone into my home, to serve them a cup of tea, a little snack, and to reconnect. 

What do you think? Want to join me? Want to extend an invitation to an elderly neighbor you haven't talked to in awhile? Would the new neighbor who just moved in appreciate an invitation to visit?  Have you been wanting to get together with a new friend you met at church, or the gal you see every time you go to the store. I know I do, but I get too busy.

So, this is what I decided to do about it. I created an atmosphere that would force me to be accountable to my convictions.  I started a HospitaliTea Club with goodies arriving every other month, only 5 times a year, and see where that takes me in my quest to kindle old and new relationships.  I know what you're thinking, just 5 times? Hey, baby steps, you know, once you take the plunge there's no stopping you from going off the high dive.

HospitaliTea Clubs first event will occur mid March where we will be inviting someone over to savor Harney & Sons Irish Breakfast tea, use a new silver Tea Strainer, a couple of demitasse Teaspoons, a Tea Time Recipe book for ideas on what to serve, cute paper doilies and Drip catchers, with some of my Teacup Stationery included to use as correspondence.

For fun, I’m also having a Give Away drawing for everyone who signs up. For March, the Give Away will be a very sweet, six cup Aqua Teapot.

In May, we will invite someone over for a pot of Harney & Sons Queen Catherine tea to taste, and serve with a new silver tea scoop, two new jam spoons, and more goodies fit for a Queen. I’m thinking an elegant set of jam bowls would be a good Give Away for May to go with the jam spoons we will be receiving.

For July, I have planned a French theme, because I think everyone would love a little trip, even if it’s just to our kitchen tables for a reprieve from the busy day. September would be an excellent time to discover assorted teas, maybe inviting a larger group over, and Cranberry Autumn tea would be perfect to serve in November.

Some of the Tea accessories which will accompany these HospitaliTeas include silver salad tongs, scone tongs, place card holders, and hard to find sugar tongs. By the time the year is up, our tea tables will be more equip to serve tea, but even better, we will have become better friends to those around us.  So, what do you think?  Want to join me?