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Celebrate International Tea Day with me
I’ve got the kettle on becaues today is International Tea Day, celebrated by many tea-producing countries. Etymology and linguistics have always intrigued me. I like knowing where words come from, how they transformed into words in my language, and why some words are almost identical across many languages and cultures. I was fascinated, when I started learning about tea that around the world, what we call it can be traced back almost entirely to one thing – how it arrived in different countries, starting over 2,000 years ago. There are really only two variations. Both originate from Chinese, but one is more coastal,… Read more…
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What do you mean, a glass of tea?
In Turkey, tea is served in these little thin-waisted – ince belli, they call it – clear glasses. You grasp them by the very top rim, so as not to burn your fingers, and you sip the piping hot black liquid. The glasses sit in little saucers to catch any spillage. In my own kitchen, I have a stack of them, with designs of ladybugs, flowers and hearts, but the ones that seem to be universally available at tea gardens have red stripes. You might drink several glasses at one sitting – with sugar if you prefer, but never with milk. Tea seems… Read more…
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A Christmas gift: A taste of “the” book
What is there to say? Another Christmas marred by a global pandemic. I feel very fortunate to have managed to get away earlier this year to keep my book-writing dreams alive. There should be a real book to hold in my hands before summer (maybe even in the spring. In the meantime, here’s a small Christmas gift – a little excerpt from the still tentatively-titled Another Glass of Tea, of a different Christmas, in make-believe land. I hope you enjoy. The house was in chaos. Well-oiled chaos, but chaos nonetheless. Fiona’s whole family had joined them at the lake, including… Read more…
