My very generous Husband decided to share his cold with me, so today I am stuck in the house, again.  In this condition there is no way I would subject anyone (except my generous Husband, of course) to my grossness, so I have been perusing and I found something helpful for you frantic gift buyers:

Williams Sonoma can still guarantee standard shipping in time for Christmas if you order by 9am on Tuesday.

They even have some good deals still like this:

I know so many people who could use a decent knife in their kitchen.  So many people have knives that just don’t cut it, literally.  Wusthof knives are classics that stand the test of time.  And a sanotoku knife is really a handy knife.  I prefer chopping a lot of my veggies with a sanatoku over a chef’s knife.

Or EVEN better: Cutlery and More has FREE delivery until midnight on many wonderful items, like these:

I love Chef’s Choice, it is the knife sharpener that I have and use for everything, but my Shun and Global knives.  It keeps your knives nice and sharp.  This one not only comes FREE, but it comes with a free 7″ sanaktoku knife, as well.  That is 2 gifts with free delivery for $150, not bad.

Or not one, but two Calaphalon skillets for $50.  I have this skillet in a smaller size and can attest that it works very well.

Last, but not least the mini-keg dispenser.  My husband would have really liked this, and at $100 it is a real steal, since it originally listed for $400, but alas Honey, sorry I already ordered your gifts.  I don’t know many men that would be disappointed to open this gift.  Again with FREE shipping guaranteed by Christmas from Cutlery and More.  They have lots of other great gifts like an electric water kettle, or stove top smoker, so if you are still looking for that great gift and like me hate paying for shipping, give this place a browse.  I have always found their prices to be the most competitive for really great products.

So have I told you how much I absolutely love the fact that my in laws live in Charlottesville?  And they have totally embraced my passion for wonderful food and wine.  Really readers, in so many ways, I am a spoiled woman.

On a past fall weekend to my delight the Hubby and I ventured down for a fun packed weekend in Charlottesville.  Saturday started with a trip to Bread Works Bakery and Deli where we picked up some tasty sandwiches on really good bread and some excellent molasses cookies (previously endorsed by hungry Bachelorettes after a good amount of wine). I highly recommend both the veggie and chicken salad sandwich.

We then ventured across the street to Mona Lisa Pasta to pick up some cheese and crackers, it is so nice in the back refrigerated section they have small pieces of cheese that are just the right size to pack for a day trip to the wineries and really nice gourmet crackers.  Now be forewarned the pizza here smells really good and is pretty darn tempting.  And to make it even worse they have a variety of homemade pastas that are fresh.  You can get their pasta in many different cuts and flavors so they really have a nice selection.  I picked up some garlic rosemary angel hair for dinner in the coming nights.

We then went out to Carter Mountain Orchard to pick apples.  With all the fall festivities this place was packed.  There were wagon rides, live music, crafts and so on.  We picked up some great apple cake doughnuts, apples and cider.

As the place was a little packed for their fall festival and we had other fruits to sample we moved on to Barboursville Vineyards who by chance were having their twice annual bottle tastings, which allows you to have tastings of different vintages of many of their best wines and their normal tastings, plus tours and special tastings of Octagon. Before tasting the wines we ate our sandwiches and cookies and people watched as urbanites, families and couples enjoyed the day. My favorites of the wines offered for tasting were Octagon 1999, 2004 and 2005, Cabernet Franc from 2001, Barbera Reserve 2006 which had hints of honey with a good balance of tannins, and the Rose 2007 which really surprised me.  I normally don’t care for many of the sweeter varieties of wine, but this Rose had great flavor and balance. There was so much wine to sample that if you tasted everything you would have drank a whole bottle of wine, and believe me did the cheese and crackers we picked up earlier hit the spot. They had shady trees at the bottom of the hill that were a perfect place to relax and listen to the live music.  The sheer amount of wine offered at this event and discounts on rare vintages made it a really great destination for a wine lover.

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After drinking our fill and purchasing a few bottles of Octagon 2005 and 2006 we took a stroll up to the Barbour Manor designed by Thomas Jefferson himself. It was fun to watch the kids and dogs play in the grass as people picnicked and enjoyed what was an absolutely beautiful day in Jefferson’s eden.

That night we had a great dinner at Zocalo.  Located right downtown on the mall Zocalo has Latin American inspired food.  I appreciated the balance on their menu between meat, fish, chicken and vegetarian entrees.  There was something for everyone and all our entrees were satisfying.  I had Grouper with a pea risotto that was homey, but fresh at the same time.  There was a nice acidic balances to the fish, which a nice fresh pea flavor in the risotto.  Hubby had a really tasty strip steak with chipotle demi-glace that I stole multiple bites of.

And to bring this long night to a close we stopped by Splendora’s for gelato.  This time of year I really crave pumpkin flavored anything and especially pumpkin gelato.  I had a small half maple half pumpkin that I really enjoyed.  They feature seasonal flavors along with your old standbys in a cozy, but fun atmosphere.  They also have espresso and cappuccino for those who prefer to have a toasty refreshment. It was a wonderful day to check out all the fall flavored goodness in the area and enjoy some down time with family.

I am lucky enough to have in laws who live in Charlottesville.  I am even luckier that my in laws who live in Charlottesville love food and wine, especially that grown from the earth in Virginia.

So I have spent the past few years exploring the wineries in Charlottesville and other parts of Virginia. So here is my advice of what is worth a stop and sip.

Flying Fox-

A quaint little country store front located in Afton, Virginia.  With Veritas and Pollack wineries nearby you might pass right by this little shop and think it isn’t worth a stop, but you would be wrong.  The red and whites presented here offer a good variety of tastes and very well blended wines.  The Petit Verdot is the perfect porch sipping red, while the 2006 Cab Franc presents an excellent crisp red, that will only get better with a little age.  The chardonnay wasn’t too oaky or fruity, but a nice balance.  The staff are also personable and knowledgable about their wines.  I went here with a group of ladies and we all expressed the opinion that Flying Fox was much better than Pollack and Veritas, which are pretty wineries, but not the best in terms of taste.

White Hall Vineyards and the Greenwood Gourmet Grocery

I was at White Hall quite recently and was really impressed.  The location is really beautiful.  Located on the slopes of Break Heart Mountain it is nestled into its location, not overbearing the landscape.  It is nicely landscaped with grassy areas and picnic tables, a beautiful arbor in front and nicely manicured gardens.

It would be a lovely place to pack a picnic for, they don’t sell any food on sight, but you could certainly pick up something in Crozet, in fact if you take the Crozet exit off 64 there is a little grocery called the Greenwood Gourmet and Grocery, pictured above, that stocks local products and produce including fresh bread.  They also have sandwiches and prepared items.

White Hall had whites and reds that were really good.  The highlights were the 2006 Chardonnay Reserve which was crisp, refreshing and fruity with a nice rounded flavor of oak, the Break Heart Red is a steal at $10, it can be sipped like a white, but has the rounded flavor of a red we bought extra bottles to take as presents to people, the Touriga is also very good another lighter red wine, but if you like a full bodied rich red wine the Cuvee de Champs is your wine.  This is the answer from White Hall to Barboursville’s Octagon, but at $10-15 dollars less without the discount.  Even the 2006 Soliterre a sweet dessert wine shows refinement, it is not overly sweet and sappy, but has a crispness that makes it lovely and delicate.  It would be great drizzled over some peaches and fresh ice cream.  All in all this is perhaps one of the best wineries to visit as they really have a nice varied selection.

Barboursville Vineyards-

I haven’t gotten to go to this winery yet, but it is high on my list after having a few bottles of their lovely Octagon and their chardonnay.  Octagon is very full bodied, yet it has a crispness to it that makes it refreshing, as well.  This wine was served at a Inaguration Conservation Gala.  They have Palladio restaurant, which I am eager to check out, as well.

The last winery I am going to feature in this post is the King Family Vineyards-

This winery is in a lovely location overlooking their vines and fields.  They have polo matches and outdoor seating.  Inside not only do they have wine they also offer a variety of meats, cheeses, crackers and other accompaniments so you could have a nice meal outside.  Their wines are not as good as Barboursville or White Hall, but they are still much better than Veritas and Pollack and some other wineries in the area.  And they really are nice wonderful people.  My favorites were the Meritage 2006 a nice blend to make this a full bodied red with a smooth finish it can also be aged until 2012 to let the flavors age.  The Pedit Verdot was another nice sipping red, but it is a little spicier than your typical Petit Verdot.  They also have a nice Chardonney and Brut sparkling wine.  They have sold out of the Cab Franc so I won’t tell you about it as they should have a new vintage out this fall.

So go explore!  And after all that wine go to Three Notch’d Grill in Crozet.  It has a nice variety of entrees and each come with a salad.  After our last visit I highly recommend the shrimp penne with cream sauce, sundried tomato, pancetta and spinach.  Both the shrimp and spinach were very fresh and had great flavor.  The dish was so rich you won’t want dessert, but the entree is good enough to not care.  The lasagna was also particularly good made with fresh pasta.

So after the scare that Breadline was closing, we happily learned it will reopen later this week it closed to make improvements to the ceiling for the health of patrons.  Washingtonian Twittered it is closed for good and set me all a tizzy as  I would miss the chicken and goat cheese sandwich and the sausage sandwich.  In honor of Breadline I am going to post my top OTHER sandwich selections in our area… so you can deal for a couple days.

1. The Italian Store- known to make a mean Italian sub, less known as a place in our area you can get a muffaletta.  Their best seller is the Milano, but my favorite is the Napoli as it has spicy pepperoni.  Hubby likes the Capri.  I have heard rumors that A. Litteri in NE makes similar goodness, but can’t report back yet.  I get it with everything- lettuce, oil, oregano, sweet and hot peppers.  This place is a legend.

2. PS7- The Primanti Brothers Sandwich is a Pittsburgh legend.  They make one at liberty that has ingredients closer to the real deal, but this one for some reason tastes closer.  For $7.50 you get sopresetta, pepper slaw, gouda, fried egg and french fries.  Washingtonian has a video and recipe on how to make it, but for $7.50 I am going to PS7 and ordering mine with a happy hour $4 glass of wine.

3. Earl’s Sandwiches- situated in an unassuming building in Clarendon this place makes some serious goodness.  The sandwiches and soups are homemade and don’t skimp on the meat.  My favorite is the Roasted Earl.  Juicy, tender slices of pork loin with roasted green peppers and homemade garlic mayonnaise.  It has just the right amount of pork au jus and hint of garlic to create a balanced, but enjoyable fullness in your mouth, and the green pepper gave it good crunch and sweetness.

4. Lost Dog Cafe- There are so many good choices here.  The sandwich list is a couple pages here.  I think they have a good cheesesteak- nice crunch, thin authentic cut of meat, nice cheese, good carmelization on the peppers and onions.  I also like the Republican sandwich.    And they deliver!  I like the warm sandwiches a bit better than the cold, but both are good.  Make sure you get their on tap root beer.  It isn’t over carbonated which makes it smooth and refreshing without being over sweet or tangy.  I don’t drink root beer often, I don’t care for it all that much, but when it is real deal root beer, that I can get into.

5. Heidi’s Brooklyn Deli- located on 17th and H is an often overlooked place.  It was about a block and a half away from Breadline, so the competition was fierce.  But there is something that Heidi’s does better than Breadline- the meatball sub.  I think many of their sandwiches are pretty good. They bake their own bread, slice fresh a lot of the meat.  They clearly warm the meatballs up in the microwave, but they are still awesome.  They are oozey and gooey with lots of sauce and cheese, but the meatballs are very large and meaty more like a homemade meatball than a subway/sheetz meatball.  I love these.  They remind me of the Mom and Pop Americanized Italian places you love.

6. Dicky’s Frozen Custard- I go here for one reason and one reason only: The Cuban Panini.  They will use cuban bread if you ask.  The pork is real roast pork with ham.  The pickles are sliced thin, the mustard isn’t overwhelming.  It tastes crispy and juicy, tangy and spicy and uni all at the same time.  An overwhelmingly good panini.  I don’t know how Ceiba’s will stack up, I need to try theirs as I have serious love for the cuban sandwich, but I think the pressed grilled panini part of the sandwich really does something for me.  And at $7.25 on Monday with chips and a drink, I will take it.  Their frozen yogurt with fresh strawberries is really good this time of year too.

But no one can replace my roast chicken and goat cheese or sausage sandwich.  Good thing it was only a test.  I don’t know if the emergency broadcast system is ready yet for the real deal.

I would say a little birdie told me this, but then I would really seem to talk to birds a lot, so let’s just say I heard by word of mouth that a lot of you really adored the snacks sets.  Really what isn’t to love about them?  They are adorable.  But then I heard another truth, many of you are cabinet challenged.

Trust me I may not seem like I understand this, what with my love of anything for entertaining, but until mid-June when I have my counter-top extended slightly so new cabinets can be installed in the unused space where they put an area for a bar (we don’t use a bar we eat at a table like civilized people), I do have only moderate cabinet space.

I don’t want to give up chic for function, it really isn’t my thing but a girl can only have so much china that will fit in her small apartment.  So I have brought you a compromise.  I found this when I was strolling through a wonderful little kitchen shop in Sonoma called Sign of the Bear.  It is a lot like a William Sonoma or Sur La Table, but in cute country general store format.  Anyway if you are in Sonoma it is a must stop little place.  Conveniently enough they ship too, so I have a nice little box of goodies that they shipped home to me being held hostage in the package room downstairs.  Anyway without further ado:

The Wine Glass Plate Clip.

So these really aren’t as cute, but with my China pattern that is white and silver they wouldn’t look THAT bad, nor would they on plain white plates or black plates.  They are small enough to throw in a drawer with your wine tags, bottle stopper and cork screw (which I know you have a drawer for).  And really their functionality is so great, I think the fact that they aren’t as cute as the snack set may be able to be overlooked until you get more cabinets.  See girls, there are always solutions.  Always.

Now they can’t be used with flimsy plastic plates, which in all honesty you shouldn’t use unless you have a very large group size and in that case you shouldn’t have enough of these to go around so it should all work out.  You can get these in multiple places, The Container Store has a pack of six stainless steel ones for $14.99 which seems to be a pretty good deal.

These from WineOpeners.com are a bit cheaper, but are not as nice in quality.  I mention them because you can buy in bulk and get them printed with a logo or picture.  I know many of you in the DC/Arlington area throw big corporate functions so I thought I would mention them as a reference.  How nice would it be to receive this at a big function?  I promise I would take mine and hubbies home to use.  You could also get them printed with a cool picture to make them a nice present.  Even better might be a wedding favor if you are having a reception that doesn’t have a sit down dinner.  (Sorry I love weddings, I could spend my whole life planning weddings if only it paid as well as my current profession)

So Readers you are multiplying.  I am very excited, today will be a good day now that I looked that up on Google Analytics.  Although I am a little disappointed in myself for saying the phrase “whatevs” to my office assistant.

For the record my office assistants often come into my office and say. “O.M.G.” not “Oh my gosh” but the letters O-M-G.  And other such non-sense so I blame them for my corruption.

All this, plus you know a wedding in 16 days makes for a lot of stress, and stress means eating things I shouldn’t.  But those things are often tasty.

For example after a bad bad day where I was perusing www.scanwich.com, I made myself a steak, goat cheese and sun dried tomato sandwich with a little hot sauce and red pepper flakes and lettuce all on sourdough bread from Boudin Bakery that Fiance brought me from San Fransisco.  Soo good.

BTW do not look at their online catalog of seasonal breads that I linked to above, unless you want to buy sourdough online and ship it across the country to serve at your next dinner party.  Seriously if you open it up your chances of not buying bread is slim.  I mean look at them:

So adorable… MIL gave me the big turkey gobbler to take to Thanksgiving with my little cousins, oh they loved that Turkey, we all liked how good it tasted too.  Two yummy turkeys that day.

After my sandwich though then I needed something sweet.  You know how it goes.  Now I might have already partially blown a good bit of calories on the sandwich, but when you need chocolate you need chocolate.

So I reached into my not so secret “secret” stash for a small piece of Chocolove with carmelized ginger.

I love this chocolate.  I am not a huge milk chocolate person, but I also don’t love really dark chocolate, I put my chocolate number in the 60% dark range.

Add in the crystalized  ginger for texture and a little spice, and this chocolate bar really does it for me.  It keeps my awful snacking cravings at bay.

They make other flavors I am going to try next like these:

I will let you know how it goes.  The cherry and almonds sound really promising.

So thank you Chocolove.  I love you.  If you ever want to advertise your Crystalized Ginger chocolate bars here, you can pay me with a big box of them.  But really I have pretty much completely set you up right here, so now I won’t get my big box of crystalized ginger chocolate bars, NOOOOOOOoooooooooooo.

Anyway you can buy them in many place including Wegman’s, Whole Foods, World Market and Target  just in case a big box doesn’t arrive on your door care of Chocolove.  And if they don’t carry it, here is a handy link on their website where you can tell them what store near you that you wish to carry it, and they will work on that.

Love is a cruel thing…

Vermilion & The Neighborhood Restaurant Group Present
The Virginia Farmland Solstice Supper
An Outdoor Fork to Farm Feast | Saturday, June 20

Join us for an unforgettable celebration of food and wine outdoors on the farm on Saturday, June 20 featuring a multi-course feast by Chef Tony Chittum and the wines of Horton Vineyards. Visit www.vermilionrestaurant.com for more information.

Looks pretty cool huh?

Zola Wine is now offering complimentary wine tastings on Friday evenings from 5:00 – 7:00 pm.

Better known for his blockbuster, collectible reds bottled under the Larkin and Jack Larkin labels, winemaker Sean Larkin began making this radiant Sauvignon Blanc so that he’d have something to drink around the house once the weather hit 100. He decided to call it Tin Knocker, a slang term for a sheet metal worker – which is what he was doing before he began making wine in the late 90’s. What began as a somewhat irreverent side project has taken off into, well, an irreverent side project – that the rest of us can now enjoy too. Far from a serious wine, Sean’s Tin Knocker Sauvignon Blanc is clearly designed with pure fun in mind.

Planet Wine & Tallula are the only outlets in all of Virginia featuring this shiny star – so be sure to stop by one or both to sample one of this season’s freshest sippers. You’ll be glad you did.

Exclusive Pricing (While Supplies Last)

Regular Price | $20.00/btl
Planet Wine Price | $18.00/btl
BottleRocket Members Price | $17.00/btl

Note: Also available by the glass and by the bottle at Tallula restaurant in Arlington.

And to make it even better:

Taste of Italy This Sunday
Featuring Tuscan Count Ferdinando Guicciardini
Pouring His Wines From 1-3 | Complimentary

Join us in the shop this Sunday from 1 until 3 to taste wines with a bona fide Count. Joining us all the way from the rolling Tuscan hills of Italy, Il Conte Ferdinando Guicciardini will be in the house pouring his Chianti Classico, Chianti Riserva, Syrah and a Vin Santo, and all for free – grazie very much. He’s also promised to bring a tasting of olive oil grown on his estate. Bellissimo!Time To Drink Pink
A Toast To Summertime Rose Wines
Thursday, May 7 | $15 Per Person

We’re drinking nothing but pink on Thursday evening, May 7 – and would love to have you along for the ride. Sign up now for a fascinating tasting of roses from all over featuring pink-wine-know-it-all Tony McClung from Rosenthal Wine Merchants. Reservations required and may be made by calling the shop at (703) 549.5051.
Planet Wine Shop

2004 Mt. Vernon Avenue
Alexandria, Virginia 22301
703-549-3444
www.planetwineshop.com

Sometimes being a good hostess is about feeding people quick!

Dominoes and Papa John’s might keep a younger crowd happy, but most of us want something a little more sophisticated.  For the more discriminating pizza connoisseur try Z Pizza, pick your own toppings from a long long list or take one of their creations.  It is all organic and they have gluten free pizzas and wheat pizzas, they even have soy cheeses.  (And actually they have good salads too, darn wedding diet.)

As I live in Arlington I wanted to share with you all some great places to feed people fast with excellent food good enough that you won’t feel bad about not cooking.

One of the best places with a quick to-go pickup in Arlington is Liberty Tavern.  Call ahead and convientently pick-up great food, like the Vermont pizza or the frisee salad.  They offer homemade breads and locally sourced foods.  On this wedding diet it is nice to have a good salad to go, or roast chicken with veggies.

Another great option for take-out is The Italian Store.  They do catering of warm Italian food or their fabulous subs.  And close-by is the Lebanese Market Taverna which has a full host of great Middle-Eastern treats to-go.

If you don’t have any time to go pick something up, get someone to deliver to you!

Dr. Delivery is a favorite for us.  You can order from over 100 restaurants including Guajillo for great Mexican mole, El Pollo Rico for addictive chicken, Kabob Palace for great Kabobs, Mexicali Blues for good burritos and Minh’s for great Vietnamese and they will deliver it to hungry you or your guests!  You can even save your credit card info online, or your Fiance’s for quick ordering.

Another similar service is Take-Out Taxi.  They have some similar restaurants and some different, like California Pizza Kitchen to impress any little one with pizza far better than Papa John’s.  You could also get fried chicken from Flavor’s Soul Food, Levante’s for good Portugese food, Paya Thai and Raaga for great Indian, along with so many more.

So next time you need food fast, remember these great places, and your guests will be super happy.  Hungry Fiance’s will also be happy to have good delivery, and so do their enfianced who are too tired to cook sometimes.  So hopefully you enjoy all the great good food that you can get delivered right to your door or car.

So as a good kind-of-boss and friend, I am always in search of cool, but not too expensive gifts.  Often I will bring flowers in a nice arrangement, or a nice bottle of wine for friends who enjoy that kind of thing, but often I like something a little more girly or personal.  For girly girls, often times I pick up stuff at antique stores or during sales.  I always have a bag of small nice gifts, and can normally find something in there for anyone.  A great place to find those things is the Eastern Market.

I love the market, I love the interaction with local artisans, I love the fresh fruit and I love the selection of meats and cheeses.

I really love the card stand at the Eastern Market.  It is in the flea market section.  You can get all sorts of cards from $1.00 to $3.00 and even the $1.00 cards are nice.  I always flip through them and get a bunch of birthday cards, a few wedding cards, a couple baby cards and a couple get well cards.  I use blank cards for thanks you and other occasions, so I get those as well.

Another artist I really like is Amy Marx, her sea glass jewelery is really pretty.  I really like the connectors she has made that you can use to turn her bracelets into necklaces, that makes them very versatile.  Here is a sample:

Chris Water’s has very cool chopsticks and Asian ceramics.

Had Matter Art makes the coolest keyholders.  I really like the ones with funny prints like cows or hula girls.  I also like the collage ones like the one below.

You hook you keys below, and put little things like your extra garage pass on the shelf.

I also absolutely love the arrangements by Blue Iris.  They are modern and chic.  I think anyone would be supremely happy to get one of their arrangements, and they would instantly make a room look put together.

Man Made Design’s which makes very modern earrings, cufflinks and pendant’s has an etsy shop!  Find their beautiful and modern gifts like the aqua cufflinks below… they are super cool and a favorite color of mine.

But my very favorite is Turtle’s Webb.  A humanities major like me who took jewelry classes in college and fell in love with it, unlike me she makes more of a living out of it… someday.  I love her metal flower earrings.  I have ones similar to these below that are cooper and silver, I get compliments on them almost everytime I wear them.  I once saw gold ones that were phenomenal that I would love to have.  I really think this jewelry is so distinctive and creative.  My grandmother used to grow these flowers in hanging pots that look a lot like the flowers in her design so that is one reason they really hit home to me.  I can’t think of the name of the flower now, but maybe it will come to me.

You could also get some lovely cheese, fruit, bread in the Market itself.  The flea market has so many lovely gifts.  There are so many vendors I can’t even remember the name of like the box guy who has small boxes with cartoons and pictures on them.  The vendor who has super cute linens which look very April Cornell.  I love a day at the market I find things for me, and I find things for others.  All in all it is a great time.

And bonus if you get there early you can get bluebucks at Market Lunch, they are yummy blueberry buckwheat pancakes.  They are worth the wait.  If not then get a crabcake, they are one of the best in the city.

So I  know earlier this week I posted a tea cup, so I may seem a little tea obsessed.  I should clear the record that I am only minimally tea obsessed.  I am actually going to a tea this weekend, and it had me thinking about tea, that may be the reason for all the  tea thoughts.  If your only experience with tea is Lipton or the normal Bigelow, you have not experienced tea.  I like using loose leaves that you can get bags to use it in or get a tea-maker.

We have an older version of this Teavana tea-maker.  Quite frankly, I don’t know if this one looks better or not, it only makes 4 cups.  Ours says it makes 8, but really in a mug makes 4, but a tea-maker is nice and handy.  You can add sugar or honey to the carafe and then put over ice to make iced tea.

I think a tea-maker of some type that you can put loose leaf into is essential for good tea, even if it isn’t this super duper fancy expensive one, that has a timer like a coffee pot.

I think one of the reasons I am minimally tea obsessed is that tea is a gesture of love:  iced tea in a nice pitcher for family, hot tea when you aren’t feeling well, and if you are English the tradition of tea in the afternoon with friends.

So if you don’t have the moola for that one think about this one, the bonus is it is beautiful and much cheaper so this is my pick, if I broke my tea-maker tomorrow.  You don’t even have to have a pretty teapot or carafe, because it is pretty.  Imagine it with the flowering bloom teas (the ones that when put in steeping water unfold into a pretty flower).

Next up is the tea itself.  I like the looseleaf variety Wegman’s has, I think it gets good turnover, Teavana of course is really good and then there is also Teaism, as well as, a host of small places and online stores.  I highly recommend the Peach White Tea at Wegmans for the best iced tea when added with a little honey when it’s warm to dissolve the honey . Jasmine pearls are also another favorite for hot tea.

So remember coffee is coffee, but tea is versatile, flavorful and something all enjoy, or even pretend to enjoy with stuffed friends at a table,  from the time we are little girls till now when we are still little girls at heart.  Enjoy.

P.S. If you want to really give a special little someone in your life a good experience the high tea at the Four Season’s in Georgetown or the Mayflower is really nice, a truly Madeline-esqe experience.  I want to take my two little cousins when they come and visit over the summer.