Greetings! ...from Kimberly Shaw

Dandelion Flower Tea

 

I experimented by making Dandelion flower tea.

 

I simply steeped a handful of washed flowers for 10 minutes. It’s a very light and delicate tea that more closely resembles green tea without any bitterness. I preferred it cooled down a bit, and it may make a refreshing summer addition to other iced teas.

 

For years I’ve tried to naturally get rid of the Dandelions in my yard without success. I was beginning to wonder if my property was once a Dandelion farm. It was as if they were trying to tell me something. Sure enough, you can reap the health benefits of this unexpected nutritional plant by making tea from its root, stems and flowers.

Dandelion is used for the treatment of joint pain, muscle aches, upset stomach, intestinal gas, loss of appetite, gallstones, eczema and bruises. It’s been used to treat infection, especially viral infections and even cancer. It is also used as a blood tonic, digestive tonic, and skin toner. Dandelion greens can be eaten raw, chopped up and used as a garnish, or cooked to minimize their somewhat bitter flavor and added to a sauce.

The Chinese first used Dandelions to purify the blood and increasing the immune system. Next Arabic cultures used it to treat troubles of the liver and kidneys. Soon all of Europe was storing dried dandelion in their medicine cabinets.

Dandelions are high in vitamins, calcium, potassium and other trace minerals. The diuretic effects of its roots are used by herbalists to help control a patient’s blood pressure, isolate toxins in the body and flush them from the system. It’s been stated that the poisons gardeners use to eradicate dandelions are the same toxins this plant offers to weed from our bodies. Maybe that's why they are so hard to eradicate, they heal themselves. If they are so hardy, I'm willing to try this tenacious plant and hope to reap some of their health benefits.

 

If you decide to try it, I'd love to know what you think of it. Cheers! Here's to your health!

 

 

If you enjoyed this healthy information,

you may also like reading about the benefits of FIG LEAF TEA and  BLACKBERRY LEAF TEA.

Both are highly nutritional and delicious.

Teacup Shelf

Here at Kimberly Shaw Graphics, every guest is offered a cup of tea. Art Studio teacup shelf of previous models, future models, inspirations and personal favorites.

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Sweet Valentines Day Savings

Sending love doesn't need to be expensive. Here are two greeting cards for just $2, tea included! Now that's sweet! You'll find then in the SALE section on my website at kimberlyshawgraphics.com.

💌 "To My Valentine" is illustrated in a rural toile setting and comes with English Breakfast tea. The I inside perfectly says, "I Love You."

💌 "Valentine Hearts" depicts intertwined hearts and comes with Raspberry Herbal tea. The inside is a romantic poem in the card's description on the website.

💌💌 If you just need one or two cards and prefer First Class Mail over the Priority Mail option, select Priority Mail and leave a note with your order requesting First Class Mail. Your shipping will be reduced to $1 for one card, $2 for two cards.

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Sending Warmth

It's cold outside! How are you staying warm? Today I'm keeping the chill away with a refreshing cup of hot Peppermint tea from Harney & Sons. Looking to send a warm cup of tea to cheer a friend or loved one this winter? You'll find a nice selection of teacup greeting cards in a variety of occasions at KimberlyShawGraphics.com, each with its own Harney tea bag.

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When to add Milk to Tea

Is milk added to the teacup first, before the tea is poured, or is milk added after the tea is poured?

If you're like me, Breakfast teas are my favorite, and they are delicious with milk.

The practice of adding milk to the cup before scalding tea is added was to ensure the fragile teacup wouldn't crack from the heat.  Completely understandable, a cracked teacup is heartbreaking. 

Modern, even vintage, china can withstand heat better than antique pieces, so the practice has died down some. I would guess for traditions sake, or as a familiar childhood memory, milk is still added to the cup before the tea. 

Once when I was about ten and my brother nine, we went to a friend's house after school.  His British parents offered to bring us a snack of tea and cookies.  First the tray of teacups arrived with the cookies. In each cup was a splash of milk, and to me this was new. In fact, I thought the teacups were dirty and the milk was left  from previous use.  When the tea arrived my confusion was explained and we enjoyed a wonderful treat.

Adding milk after the tea is poured to to ensure just the right amount is added without overpowering the tea.

So now the big question, and I think you know what I'm going to ask. Yep, you guessed it.

When do you add milk to your tea?

I'll be the first to answer my own question.  I love adding milk last. It's the simple pleasure of watching the white milk swirl in the dark tea making what often looks like weather patterns in my cup.

Pink Raspbery Tea

Raspberry Herbal from Harney & Sons Fine Teas is an exquisite tea.

It comes in several of my Teacup Greeting cards, including a "Girls Only" Tea Party Invitation. It makes a delightful choice for little girls, or girls of all ages who love pink, and warm fruity tea without the caffiene.

Humongous Tea Bell

Isn't this the largest tea bell you've ever seen?

Well, that's what I thought. Finding it at the Women's Club semi-annual sale, I imagined it being used in the commercial kitchen steeping a gigantic pot of tea for large ladies functions, no that doesn't sound right, I mean functions with a large number of ladies. 

Well the jokes on me, because when I got it home I discovered inside the directions for making, can you guess ... a rice ball.  Yep, this is a rice ball cooker.  I haven't used it for rice because it's so fun displaying it with my other tea bells. 

Blackberry Leaf Tea

Today I'm serving Blackberry leaf tea from a vine I purchased at the Farmer's Market. Reading about how to care for it, I discovered you can make Blackberry tea from the leaves.

Most of the information I found suggested using dried leaves, but when I learned the leaves are high in vitamin C and can be chewed for mouth and gum ailments, I chopped up the leaves fresh, steeping for 10  minutes.  If you enjoy a light green tea with a sweet fruity aftertaste then you will like this tea.

I also discover Blackberry leaves are an ingredient in Celestial Seasonings popular Sleepytime tea.. Delicious!

 

 

Sprinerly Cookies

 

Hand made Sprinerle cookies from Ivy Hill for a special event.  Each cookie is carefully hand-painted and wonderfully flavored with lemon.

Working it Out

Tea is a key element in my artwork, and I have plenty to choose from.

These colorful teabags, mostly from Harney & Sons Fine Teas, become a part of each Teacup Greeting card I design. 

My mother's antique pansy teacup was the inspiration for painting for a new card.

First I start with a sketch to plan the design.

The shadows are painted first to avoid smearing the artwork later.

Next I added the gold trim, because honestly, it was an easier choice than conquering the pansies right off.

Once the pansies were finished I incorporated my grandmother's handmade table runner underneath.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Breakfast Tea

Breakfast tea has become my favorite, enjoyed sweetened with a bit of milk.

Japanese Sencha Green Tea

Harney & Sons Japanese Sencha green tea is hand-picked in the Spring, Kosher, and a participating product of the 1% Back to the Planet program. I love it with a twist of fresh mint or lemon. It's a perfect choice for my Healt & Happiness card. The message of "Health & Happiness" continues inside with "...For today and always."

Tea Party Maze Game

Meet Marianne. She's on her way to her first tea party, wearing a hat she borrowed from her mum. She is a bit nervous and would appreciate your help getting ther.

Feel free to copy the image below for yourself to use at your next Tea Party. It can also be used as a coloring page. Let me know if you liked it.

Click on the image below to enlarge, save to your desktop, and have fun!

Permission to copy for personal use only. Not to be sold, distributed, or reproduced for profit.

Tea, a drink with jam & bread

Irish Soda Bread, actually, with pomegranate jelly and a cup of Irish Breakfast tea with milk and honey.

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 dish 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 a floured surface and lightly knead (too much allows the gas to escape)

Shape into a flat round shape, place in your baking dish, 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.

 

Afternoon Tea in Southern California

It was an exciting day when copies of this amazing new book arrived at work, hot off the press!  We sat in a circle each with a copy in hand shouting out all the wonderful things we discovered: delicious tea sandwich, scone & soup recipes, tea rooms close by, and images of my artwork inside. 

Sherry Evans,  pictured above with her mom,  has beautifully produced and written this wonderful book.  Sherry is a delightful woman who trusted in the Lord as He has guided her in producing this book which, as she says, "...my purpose is to encourage you, the tea lover, to discover the many places that serve afternoon tea in Southern California."

 

 

 

Tea Room

                    A little art project to hang in my tea room, where all the Harney & Son's Teas are stored.

copyright Kimberly Shaw 2009

Fig Leaf Tea

I made my first Pot of Fig Leaf Tea just last night after delivering Figs to my neighbor. When you have a Fig tree, the next best thing is a neighbor who love figs.  Anyway, Janet also asked if she could have some leaves to make tea. TEA?  Really? I had no idea. She said tea is usually made from dried leaves, but fresh tastes better.  Once back home I Googled it. It's true, the leaves can be used to make tea. Let me show you...

First wash and finely chop one large Fig Leaf. For a single cup use one heaping teaspoon.

 

I put the chopped leaf directly in the post and added the boiling water.

Then I waited, letting it steep about 8 minutes.

The aroma smelled like Fig blossoms, if Fig trees had blossoms. The taste of the tea is fresh and clean with a slight nutty background, and a little like green tea without any bitterness or earthy flavor. I left the leaves in the bottom of the Pot, and now 30 minutes later I poured a second cup and it hasn't become bitter, still fresh and clean tasting only a bit cooler. In my first cup I added honey which was delicious, but wanting to try it unsweetened I like it better plain.

Curious about the health benefits? According to The World's Healthiest Foods, the leaves of the Fig Tree  have anti-diabetic properties, reducing the amount of insulin needed by diabetics who require insulin injections. Drinking 3-4 cups a day helps against bronchitis and asthma. Bathing in it stimulates circulation and takes away discoloration of bruises, but be careful not to go out into the sun after applying to the skin because the psoralens in the fig leaf will cause serious sun burn. Psoralen is used to treat psoriasis and eczema.

I made my first Pot of Fig Leaf Tea just last night after delivering Figs to my neighbor. When you have a Fig tree, the next best thing is a neighbor who love figs.  Anyway, Janet also asked if she could have some leaves to make tea. TEA?  Really? I had no idea. She said tea is usually made from dried leaves, but fresh tastes better.  Once back home I Googled it. It's true, the leaves can be used to make tea. Let me show you...

First wash and finely chop one large Fig Leaf. For a single cup use one heaping teaspoon.

 

I put the chopped leaf directly in the post and added the boiling water.

Then I waited, letting it steep about 8 minutes.

The aroma smelled like Fig blossoms, if Fig trees had blossoms. The taste of the tea is fresh and clean with a slight nutty background, and a little like green tea without any bitterness or earthy flavor. I left the leaves in the bottom of the Pot, and now 30 minutes later I poured a second cup and it hasn't become bitter, still fresh and clean tasting only a bit cooler. In my first cup I added honey which was delicious, but wanting to try it unsweetened I like it better plain.

Curious about the health benefits? According to The World's Healthiest Foods, the leaves of the Fig Tree  have anti-diabetic properties, reducing the amount of insulin needed by diabetics who require insulin injections. Drinking 3-4 cups a day helps against bronchitis and asthma. Bathing in it stimulates circulation and takes away discoloration of bruises, but be careful not to go out into the sun after applying to the skin because the psoralens in the fig leaf will cause serious sun burn. Psoralen is used to treat psoriasis and eczema.

Silver and Gold Tea Spoons

 Petite Fleur-De-Le silver and gold tea spoons are perfectly sized for your delicate teacups.