Bit Chillier

Brrrr! 

I woke up this morning, went outside to hop in my car ... and instantly regretted choosing a short sleeved shirt and no jacket. 
I think I'm in denial that Summer is over. It means I have to wear layers now. 
Living in Michigan kind of gives you easy acclimation to weather changes though. You have to since the running joke is that the weather changes every five minutes. 
One minute it's snowing.
The next, it's raining.
The next, no one can tell. 

But that's what I love about this state. The unpredictability. Makes the Fall that much better.

Another thing I really like when it gets chilly though ... the tea! I get hot tea lattes and pots of tea to warm things up. Today's choice was a small pot of Hot Cinnamon Spice! 

This loose leaf tea is a black tea, meaning that it is caffeinated. It's basically a type of tea that is more oxidized that oolong, white, or green teas. This means that it generally has a much stronger flavor. Also, unlike the green tea, black teas can hold onto their flavor for several YEARS depending on how well you keep your keep your tea leaves contained. 

Once the tea leaf is plucked, it is then withered by blowing air over it. After this, a process of Crush, Tear, or Curl (CTC) is performed which is commonly done for use in teabags. The CTC process can be done by machine or hand. Machines can do it efficiently, but for high quality tea, many prefer the method done by hand because PEOPLE can sort out the better tea leaves and that tea is highly sought after. 
Next the tea is oxidized under a controlled temperature and humidity. This allows the tea to reach its maximum flavor potential. 
Then the leaves are dried.
Finally, the leaves are sorted into grades, which are whole leaf, fannings, and dust. And the tea is ready for packaging.

And THAT, ladies and gentlemen is how you get that cup of Earl Grey or English Breakfast that you love today. 

Granted, this is a very abbreviated explanation that I snatched from Wikipedia. 

Also, if you have any OTHER questions regarding tea, you can always ask the wonderfully knowledgeable Polly Kragt at Chocola-Tea. She's brilliant. Enough said. 

Anyway, I really like tea. You might have figured that one out. 

Oh! I forgot to mention. I have more Halloween ideas that I really want to try out. Mainly fun snack recipes. What's YOUR favorite Halloween snack? And I don't mean candy (though that is absolutely awesome). I'm talking about something that you can make for, say, a party or get together. 

Ham and Cheese Spiders

My mom and I made these once before. It was when I was in .. high school, I believe. And I deviated from the recipe a bit because I hadn't liked some of the ingredients, but now that I'm older and have more discerning tastes, I'd like to try this again. I remember having so much fun making these. They're for Halloween and aren't they CUTE? 
Click on the link above if you think 'hey, I want to do this for my own Halloween party'. I love finding ideas and posting them. So I hope you enjoy what I discover along the way.

That sounded a little random. I should work on that. *shrugs* Oh well. 

BAM! Now that's random. 

Okay, now that my fun's over, I'll move on. Promise. 

Well, my favorite tea shop in the whole world is closed, so I'll leave you with my random cat (above), a Halloween recipe, and tea lesson. 
My next post will be a Wednesday Writers Workshop so I hope you tune in then, too! 

Until again my faithful readers,
Taryn