Tea & Sweets

I'm just settling down for my evening cup of tea. My little monkey is in bed after a busy weekend day with the first glimpse of spring weather we've had so far. I am accumulating quite a collection of tea both self purchased and some from swap-bot. ( the Nordqvist and Yogi Sweet Chili Tea were from swaps) I'm trying to organize my cupboards since their current state is somewhat cluttered to the point of open at your own risk. But it's to be expected, I suppose, to anyone who knows me and my difficulties with throwing things out. I wonder if I get it from my maternal grama?? Grama K never threw ANYTHING out. Waste not want not, I guess. I remember finding a jar of Kraft Koogle in her fridge almost a decade beyond it's expiration date. When I brought it to her attention, she said it still looked OK and she put it back.............If it wasn't 'broken', she never threw it out! Koogle flavoured peanut butter....now that's a blast from the past isn't it. Or maybe it's not because to this day I don't believe I've run into a single soul who admits knowing what it is. Click on the words 'Kraft Koogle' above to see what it was.......It was goooood!........... To this day I think of grama every time I change a needle on my sewing machine. For years I thought my sewing machine was junk because I'd get this tangled mess of thread on the underside of my sewing. Then one day I read somewhere that it could be due to a dull needle, and that you should put in a new needle with each sewing project. Well, at that point I don't think I'd ever changed the needle in my machine, but when I did it sure made a huge difference. All at once my machine wasn't really that bad. I remember mentioning to my mom that I was changing a machine needle one day and her comment was "grama would think you were crazy. She would only have changed one if it broke!" She was right on the money and I smile when I think of it. Honestly, I don't know if grama actually liked to sew.......She never really made any sewing projects that I can think of.....But she would do practical sewing and if she saw pants that needed a patch or hemming, she would make you take them right off so she could fix 'em. In that respect I think she liked sewing in that she could be helpful to family. Her real 'craft' love I'd have to say was crochet. It's the one thing she did the very most. Mind you, I only knew grama for 30 years. Who know what other craftiness she may have created before I came along.

Anyone who knew my grama, knew that she loved tea. She loved a good 8 cups a day, to my recollection. I used to visit grama and have a cup with her as did most of the family. Grama always drank orange pekoe. It would have been Red Rose too. Only in Canada...What a pity. She would never have tried all the kinds that I have in my cupboard, and quite frankly, I don't think she'd have been interested. Well I'm having a Nordqvist tea tonight grama, and I'm sorry but I'm only using the bag once. Another thing grama liked, as many of us do, with her tea was some sweets. I'm sharing a recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine that I've made many times that I think grama would have really liked. They are donut muffins that taste similar to the little mini donuts you can get at the fair. (Cinnamon & Sugar Cake donuts) When I make them, I use the mini muffin pans so they turn out the size of donut holes. (Tim Bits or Robin's Eggs for those who know what I mean) My mom has made this recipe also, using the donut pans so they actually look like donuts too! Click on the recipe card below to enlarge. Enjoy:)