Make me happy... BEDiM Day 19

So, this was actually yesterday's prompt... Ten things that make me happy

1.  Top Gear - I hate that this makes me happy, but it does.  Top Gear (the real one, not the Australian one) makes me happy.  Despite the fact that I hate it the homophobia, racism and sexism of Clarkson, in particular.

2.  Pro cycling.  See previous posts.  An additional love is #trolldj on SBS - the people who choose the music for when you come back from the ad breaks. They're snarky and awesome and I love that we get even more #trolldj with extra Giro coverage.

3.  KikkiK - the Swedish design stationary store. It's a very good thing there isn't a KikkiK store up here or I'd be entirely broke and swimming in stationery.

4.  Project Life - even though I'm so far behind.

5. Tea2 - as I write this I'm guzzling down my umpteenth cup of T2's Lemongrass and Ginger tea, made in the Teamaker, which is also awesome.

6. Our new house. It's awesome, and I love it and it's ours. So much love.

7. Cooking. The kitchen of our new place makes me want to cook, which is fabulous, because I love cooking, and the kitchen in the old place didn't encourage cooking.  I may even get around to baking one of these days.

8.  Good coffee. When I have the chance, I go to the Deli Bean for a morning coffee, but I also have the joy of a wonderful coffee machine at home.

9. Flowers. In particular daffodils and tulips. My GF puts up with me planting flowers because she knows it makes me happy, and at the moment we have a bunch of tulips on the kitchen bench for the same reason. Yay!

10.  First and foremost, my girl. She makes me laugh when I'm down; she buys me presents even when she shouldn't; she buys me purple tulips and cooks and cleans the house, and she hugs me and tells me that everything will be okay when I'm being neurotic, which is too much of the time. She puts up with all my faults and foibles, and on top of all these things, she loves me. I don't entirely know why. But I love her too. Lots and lots.

Tea blending: Assam with T2 Spi Chai

I was poking around the T2 website in past days and found the suggestion of blending Assam with T2's Spi Chai.

Now, I happen to have been drinking more Assam of late, because over Christmas Twinings was selling 100 Assam Bold tea bags in a really nice tin, and Chez Stutters being Chez Stutters, naturally we bought it for the tin.  But I've been enjoying the tea, as well, and will probably keep getting it, perhaps in loose leaf form, once I've finished the tea bags.

Having read the suggestion of blending, however, I decided to give it a try - particularly because our Spi Chai has essentially gone unused since it got too hot for Chai.

The website says it's best without milk, but I don't believe that any tea is best without milk, not really.

That said, it's a beautiful blend, and I recently bought more Spi Chai so I could keep making my wonderful Assam/SpiChai blend.

Tea blogging again - Lemongrass and Ginger

I bet you thought I'd forgotten about the tea-blogging.  After all, I only did it once.

But thanks to someone randomly leaving a T2 sample of Lemongrass and Ginger in our tearoom at work, I'm back again.

Description from the T2 website:

Bright lemongrass joined by ginger's spice creates a harmonious blend of freshness and warmth in a deliciously well-balanced fashion. Cool lemongrass brings a zesty zing which is followed by the warming spice of ginger.

No milk - because there wasn't any at work (plus ginger and milk just doesn't seem to work. Oddly, because ginger and milk are part of the basis of pumpkin pie, which is awesome.) On the other hand, lemongrass mitigates against milk.

There are very few teas that I'm happy to drink hot, without milk.  This is one of them, and it's magnificent.

T2 reviews: Vanilla Slice (iced)

2012 was the year my taste in drinks expanded.  2012 was the year I discovered T2, and chai, and iced tea.  All of a sudden, there was a whole new world to explore.

So I'm taking a break from writing up Australian Women Writers book reviews to review the glass of iced tea I am currently drinking.

It's called Vanilla Slice, which admittedly sounds a little odd for a tea.  But the smell is heavenly (and very vanilla).  The description on T2's website (link above) says:

 Velvety vanilla with summer fruit is a heavenly indulgence. Crisp apple and elderberry combined with the sweetness of vanilla spice and a squeeze of citrus to provide a crisp, tangy finish. A medium-bodied, gorgeously pink infusion that is a sweet treat and a decadent delight.

We made it up for New Year's Eve with fresh blueberries and strawberries in the jug, but I made a jug previously without the berries and it was just as nice - with the berries added it tends to mute the vanilla scent a little, which is worth keeping in mind if you find the scent a little strong.  I'm not sure I can taste the citrus that the description mentions, but as I don't exactly like some citruses, that's not a bad thing.

I'm not sure our current stock will last us until it gets cold enough to try it as a hot tea, but if it does run out I may have to buy some more so that I can try it.