What does this have to do with tea?

Nothing.

Coffee?

Nope.

I know alot of you who read Kettle and Cup are homeschoolers.  Fellow homeschoolers.  With the jumpers and mini vans to prove it, right? So as  long as you can give me the secret handshake I will share this cool link with you. Read more

 

O.k..we have a great sunny day and alot of window shopping to do.

One of my favorite things about the Internet is the ability to window shop with out spending a dime, any time I want night or day.  There are antique stores, auctions sites, and craft malls all available at my fingertips. YAY!  No driving, no parking, no crowds!

I was at the thrift store yesterday.  This has to be my favorite place to pick up props for my blog images. Read more

O.k..now that I have my work out of the way, I want to head out for some serious shopping. You guys know that I am not getting any commission off of this, and not recommending anything, right?  It is just window shopping.

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Nearly everyone I talk to knows what a brown betty teapot is but not many know about the Yixing teapot, and that is sad.

The Yixing teapot is a beautiful pot, made of a special clay that comes from the area around Lake Taihu, in China. The clay, because it is made up of Read more

 

I have been using gold filters in my coffee and tea things for years. I like them alot because, well, I am cheap. They last for a really long time, and I hate paying money for coffee filters all the time. Plus, with as much coffee as we drink we probably would cause the deforestation of the entire pine forest in East Texas. In a week. Read more

Thierry Mugler, creator of the fragrance,Angel, is scheduled to release a new cologne for men in mid-April.  I think I am looking forward to this one….

AngelMEN Pure Coffee will use a new CO2 technology, what-ever the heck that is,  to extract “natural notes” directly from Columbian coffee beans. The scent includes  musk, patchouli, cedar, and vetiver. The company says that they formulated it to give a sense of “caffeinated energy”. Read more

So, here we are, what, 9 days away from the big day? If you have given absolutely no thought to what you want to get for the love of your life you could end up getting something that is unimaginative, boring, and uninspired. Do you really want to do that?

Nope, you don’t. Why? Because you want to be known as the most romantic person ever. You want your Love to write about you on the walls of every public restroom in the state…you want them to gaze at you adoringly, you want them to … Read more

I spent the entire day yesterday, with the exception of putting dinner on the table, sitting next the fire, coffee in hand and my Christmas present, Home to Holly Springs by Jan Karon, in my lap. I have two chapters to go as of this morning and when I get done here I plan to wave to my family and head back to the fire and the chair. Christmas, to me, is best with a new book and a cup of hot coffee…My husband, being the insightful man of God that he is, also saw fit to make sure I had sustenance by including several packages of chocolates in my Christmas stocking.He was happy. I gave him gifts sure to please him- a pound of fair trade Ethiopian coffee that we had not tried before…a Department 56 building to add to his growing collection. This one was the New England Patriots Souvenir Shop…a game, called Finish Lines that he will certainly beat us all at regularly…and an online membership to a historic reenactment board because he is going to be becoming a Frontier Gunsmith this year. We have simple. although eclectic, tastes at my house.

I struggled greatly the last couple of days before Christmas with missing my parents, and my childhood…reliving too many Christmas’s past. I remembered so many things about Christmas at my childhood home with mixed fondness and regret. Always the picture of my dad sprawled out on the floor playing with my toys with me, and my mom sitting with her coffee cup…

And I realized with a laugh that coffee cups are part of so many of my own Christmas memories, and definitely part of my children’s Christmas memories. Even this Christmas the smell of coffee enticed me out of my warm bed and down the long stairs…

My granddaughter wanted to make sure that we left cookies and milk for Santa. I tried to tell her Santa preferred hot coffee but she would not be dissuaded. It must be cookies and milk. My youngest daughter, whom we fondly refer to as Chef Kyrie or Little Chef, was all for leaving some thing more substantial..she thought Santa might tire of cookies and lukewarm milk…but cookies and milk it was..and Santa did not complain, although I suspect he washed the cookies and milk down with a large mug of Bourbon Pecan Coffee.

I hope that your Christmas was full of fond memories, past and present and hope for the future. And I hope that it was infused with gallons of really good coffee.

Teapots are an art form. I think they always have been to one extent or another but with a renewed interest in tea and tea things I think they are better than ever. Here are some of my favorites from around the web…

From The Krinkle Collection

All Teapots 

Christmas Lodge by Fitz and Floyd

 Table At Home

Candy Cane Tea Pot

The English Tea Store 

Merry Christmas Teapot by Sandy Clough

Amazon 

O.k..Chef Kyrie and i had to stay home from church because she has..can you believe it? POISON IVY, so we are going to catch up on our Christmas baking.

 

If you want a really good cup of coffee you have to have fresh, whole beans, filtered water, a gold filter, and a really good grinder.

In fact, a really good grinder is nearly as important as all the rest put together. There are two kinds of grinders; blade grinders and burr grinders.

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