Tea for two

I'm not usually into too-cutesy kitchen stuff, but I might have to make an exception for these Tea for Two sets, from Japan-based Shinzi Katoh Design.

I love the cheery feel and how little cupboard space they take up - perfect for city apartments! (Like the tiiiiny one we had in Central London:)).

(All images and products via Shinzi Katoh Design.)

Teapigs

I'm a big tea-drinker and love how it's getting easier to find more socially-conscious tea. UK-based Teapigs offers organic tea and incorporates an ethical scheme at the Pfunda Tea Estate, Rwanda.

The whole leaf selections are both classic (Earl Grey etc) and adventurous - care for chocolate flake tea (left) or popcorn tea? :)

They also have the funkiest tea accessories - the curvy and award-winning Eva teamaker looks like it's wearing a wetsuit! (I like it in red:)).

P.S. I used to think I couldn't afford organic food all the time, but then I experimented 1 month buying only organic - it lowered my food bill! Go figure!

(Images via Imporient Tea (#1) and Teapigs.)

Tea estates

Tea estates are so beautifully mesmerizing, somehow. Maybe it's about seeing the source, or those curving fields, or thinking of the pleasure of brewing tea...

P.S. It's getting easier to find high-quality "fair-trade" tea. Click here for just one example at Rishi Tea (delicious stuff).

(Images via The Envelope, Marmot, Lolitha, and Rishi Tea.)

Objets d'art in London

(1860-1870, porcelein, Kyoto, Japan, via)

The V&A (Victoria & Albert) Museum is a dreamy place to indulge every fetish (I mean, penchant) for design. As a big tea drinker, I love their teapots -- utilitarian objects made beautiful.

(1691-1724, earthenware, Delft, Netherlands, via)

This blue and white Delft teapot could be from a Vermeer painting.

(1930, stoneware, Poole, England, via)

A sweet, sweet 1930 teapot and water jug set.

(1879, silver and ebony, Sheffield, England, via)

Made when women wore bustles & rode carriages. Isn't it modern?

(1700-1720, stoneware, Yixing, China, via)

For something 300 years old, this is pretty funky.

(1876, earthenware, London, England, via)

Points for wacky! Try this one out at a dinner party.

(1984, porcelein, Porsgrund, Norway, via)

Dreamy Norwegian blues, like a starry night. (A friend from Porsgrund, Norway once said porcelein was a local tradition).

Decadent munchies

Sometimes, when my schedule gets crazy, I get by with decadent munchies inspired by a M.F.K. Fisher book: Sherry-laced tea...

With caviar (doesn't have to be luxe)...

And then a chocolate cream roll, or the closest baked good I find. I highly recommend it! (The tea is easily laced with vodka too :)

Note:
If you are new to M.F.K Fisher's work, How to Cook a Wolf is perhaps her most popular book, but any of her works include a gem or dozen. There's a particularly marvelous chapter, "17 Rue Cardinale," from Two Towns in Provence and a heart-breaking one, "The Standing and the Waiting," from Serve it Forth. Critic Joan Acocella also wrote a wonderful essay on M.F.K. Fisher, "Feasting on Life," included in Acocella's Twenty-Eight Artists and Two Saints. A very few pages of this essay are online.

(Images, top to bottom, via NIAHD Journals, Travels with Two, Gourmet - article on sustainable caviar included, and Scharffen Berger - chocolate roll recipe included).