Music and Tea

This is an example of scherenschnitte, or scissor cutting, which is a craft indigenous to Switzerland and Germany. Beautiful, no?

Last night we had a real treat. One of my cousins was in town to participate in the 1st Ithaca College Alumni Band Reunion Concert - 187 musicians. IC is highly regarded for its music programs and this concert was proof of it. 7 conductors, 8 pieces and it was spectacular. I especially love to watch conductors and this was such a treat to compare their different styles, from almost flamboyant to barely moving. Just wonderful, wonderful music and only 3 rehearsals. His sister and I were thrilled to be able to be a part of it.


With the hot weather, I have been making pitcher after pitcher of ice tea. I generally use Lipton's Cold Brew as I am really unfussy about my ice tea. I think it makes perfectly good ice tea, especially if I add a bit of lime or lemon juice. However, I have also been making pitchers with my loose leaf teas, also using a cold brew method.

The most recent loose leaf was Adagio's Apricot Green Tea, which was a gift from them, and I have to say I was really pleased. I used ¼ cup of tea in a pitcher that holds almost 2 quarts and “brewed” it for about 4 hours. The resulting tea was a lovely lime green and tasted wonderful. It had a very full apricot taste with a pleasant green under pinning that was very satisfying. We had it with a Chinese stir-fry with an orange/kumquat sauce and it was all delicious. I want to try some Lapsang Souchong and see how it works. That would really be good with Chinese food.

For those of you who care about using Fair Trade tea or coffee, especially if you are part of a church, group or small business, I just found this website you might want to check out http://interfaith.equalexchange.com . There may be something there you can use. I have only had the coffee and it is quite good.