If you are looking for a flavored coffee to finish off the Easter meal then you might want to consider some of these.  I haven’t tried them, so I can’t advise, but I have had their coffees and they are always good.  This year, for Easter, they suggest:

• Chocolate Covered Easter Egg- Toasted marshmallow dipped in a pool of rich, dark chocolate
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup- Chocolate and peanut butterand coffee…hmmm
• Vanilla Butter Cream- Tastes like Belgian chocolate with buttercream filling
• White Chocolate Wrascally Rabbit- White chocolate

All of the flavors come in decaf as well.

Honestly, I am not sure about the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup.  That one may be a little wild for my tastes..on the other hand it could be incredible..but the Chocolate Covered Easter Egg?

Now that it tempting.

Kaffe Magnum Opus also has their Spring flavors listed so check them out.  I have always found their quality to be excellent and the prices are very reasonable.  You can order the cofee in wole bean or various grinds.

image:Kaffe Magnum Opus

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He is called Chubby Bunny, for obvious reasons!

Even the grumpiest, most hormonal person could not resist smiling when using this!

Image: English Tea Store

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Now, I have not tried all of these, but they are from companies that I buy from, and trust.  The flavors are those that made me think of spring. Light, floral, fruity…clean and fresh tastes.

If you are going to have a heavy lunch/dinner then keep your brunch on the light side with fresh fruit and an assortment of breads like brioche, muffins, and scones.  Add several jellies and curds, or maybe think about experimenting with different types of honey.  A simple, creative presentation with fresh flowers, and some colored eggs or other whimsical decor should just about make it perfect.

Adagio:

• Melon
• Grapefruit
• Blood Orange Herbal
• White Blueberry
• White Symphony
• Emerald Needle

Teavana:

• Rose -marzipan delight
• Garden Aria
• Pacific Sunrise Rooibus
• Six Summits Oolong

Pleasures of Tea:

• Japanese Cherry Green
• Tranquility White (this is fabulous! )
• Chocolate Rose

Of course there are a ton of other types of teas that you can try.  For a brunch, though, especially if you are going light remember to keep it light.

image: Pleasures of Tea Tranquility White

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Easter weekend is a busy time.  Not only are we getting ready for Easter for ourselves, but there is so much involvement with the church.  Flowers to arrange, productions to do, all kinds of stuff.  This year, Marc has to work after chruch and wo’t get home until late, so Easter dinner will be lower key, maybe even off-key, if you know what I mean.  But the most important thing about it is the celebration of new life.  The reseurrection of Christ gave man a chance at eternity, a  new beginning, a clean slate. Ham, jelly beans, and chocolate bunnies aside, that is worth celebrating.

I hate paper cups.  I can’t drink from styrofoam. And cardboard sleeves make me cringe.  I carry my ceramic cup everywhere, just in case I need coffee, or even water.  I have a touch sensitivity that keeps me from being able to touch some textures.

I always get weird looks when the server at a restaurant watches Marc lean over and remove a paper from my straw (I used to have a glass straw, they used to use them in hospitals in the 1930s).  Anyway…I was thrilled to read that I am not the only weird one!  There has been a study done and you can read it here! Coffee does taste better from ceramic mugs!

Will coffee grounds be the new heating fuel of choice? Check this out!

In this new society of changing social etiquette how does one properly handle the coffee meeting? Great information on how to handle a coffee meeting.

Check this out.  Honor Grounds Coffee  has come out with a new line of coffee that support the troops.  You know, that is near and dear to my heart.  Well these unique coffees come in three varieties.

•  “Five Star Joe”
• “Reveille” dark roast
•  “D-Day” decaffeinated

The program is aimed at helping soldiers and veterans, and Marines too. (If you are a Marine, you understood that, if not, you just need to know that Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children do not consider themselves part of the military, exactly…)  I am going to try to contact the company to see if i can get some detailed information and do a post of what they are doing later on…

Here is a cool blog-a-thon for those of us who enjoy relaxing with a vintage cup, a scone, and  maybe some Emily Dickinson poetry in the afternoon…no time to partake today..but I may next week!

Dinner with Julie looks great as she does a roast chicken  infused with green tea.

On Tea with Friends I came across some beautiful and inspiring Easter vignettes using vintage tea things.  You need to check it out for a dose of beauty today!

Megan had a spring tea party this week. In between handling livestock, the VA and floods I somehow missed the first day of spring..but check out her blog to relive it.  Beautiful pictures! Stephanie  joined her, with tea dyed eggs.Sigh.

But even with missing the tea  party I have been introduced to a new to me blog, The Par Tea Planner  I really am enjoying the back reading I am doing there, and look forward to more posts.!

Have a wonderful Easter,  if I don’t get back here before tomorrow.

Image: Public Domain, by Karen’s Whimsy 

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Choose your coffee for richness.  Try an Ethiopian Yirgacheffe.  I think it is the perfect choice for an Easter brunch.    I would go with the Lipton Caramel Truffle for a flavored tea, and an English Breakfast tea for a black tea.  If you want to add something herbal, what about the blueberry tea from Celestial Seasonings?

I try to serve lots of protein for Easter brunch to offset the amount of sugar that my children take in. If you could harness the energy expended by my kids on an Easter afternoon you could light an entire area the size of Alaska for a month.  Pinkie swear.  Anyway, maybe the extra protein doesn’t help, but I don’t think it hurts.

This Breakfast Casserole is full of yumminess and protein.  You put it together the night before and then slide it into the oven while you are changing out of church clothes.  I use homemade croutons, fresh spinach, fresh button mushrooms, and  half & half (rather than milk).  Everyone loves it.

My favorite  fruit salad is a mixture of fresh fruit macerated in a little sugar, and then served with a dollop of creme fraiche.  Sometimes I use sour cream, lightly sweetened with sugar and with a tablespoon of rose water,  lavender syrup, or even violet syrup (last two by Monin) added.  Good  fruits for this are:

• Strawberries
• Clementines
• Mandarins
• Grapes
• Mango
• Kiwi
• Melon

You gotta have rolls of some sort and I like these bunnies from an old Better Homes and Garden’s cookbook.  The are cute, and delicious, and they are perfectly complimented by the yirgacheffe.

All of these things can be put together the night before and easily finished before serving.

Little Touches 

• Mix in some pink, purple, or yellow sugar crystals to the sugar in your sugar bowl
• Add a vanilla bean to the sugar you plan to serve
• Write names on hard-boiled eggs with crayon before dying.  Use the eggs as place-cards
• Make guests small Easter baskets with chocolate covered espresso beans, Jelly Belly coffee flavored jelly beans, or homemade earl grey truffles
  
• Put whipped, unsweetened cream on the table to add to coffee.
• Make small arrangements in vintage tea cups.  Just use a bit of oasis foam, soaked in water and cut to fit cup.  Push the stems of fresh flowers into the foam to create nosegays.  The flower stems should not show.  Sweetheart roses, baby’s breath, and other small flowers work well for this. Send them home with your guests as a small gift.
• If you can find them at thrift shops floral,vintage handkerchiefs make awesome napkins.
• Instead of a lemon slice next to a teacup skewer a strawberry half, a lime slice, quartered, and a mandarin orange segment.
• Use sugar cubes rather than sugar

Most of all, remember the reason for the day.  Spending time with family and friends is time well spent, creating treasured memories that nothing can erase.

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