There’s so much more to tea and tisanes than just tasty beverages. We’ve all heard about how drinking tea is great for your blood pressure, heart health, and more, and certainly a nice cuppa can be a great stress-reliever. But did you know that many teas and tisanes – and not just funky-tasting herbal concoctions […]
Winter Slowdown
Winter has finally, officially struck Southern Vermont. In yesterday’s snowstorm, we got about 9 inches in town, and a bit over a foot just north into the mountains. There was hardly anyone out on the roads or at the shops, and it seemed like this “little dusting” by Vermont standards scared the heck out of […]
Cookiefest Day 14: Sesame Cookies and Juicy
Cookies don’t always have to be overly sweet. In fact, sometimes, a balance between sweet and savoury/salty is the best – it feels like you can eat more cookies that way! And maybe sneak some in as a snack, or with breakfast, or…yeah, you get the picture. These sesame cookies are an offbeat Italian tradition, […]
Cookiefest Day 13: Shortbread and Ultraviolet
It’s hard to pair up certain teas with foods, simply because their flavours are so delicate. You don’t want to overwhelm the brew, which is often more of an aroma than a flavour, per se – the bouquet or nose of the tea is 75% of the sipping experience, just like we all learned with […]
Cookiefest Day 12: Orange Cream Cookies with Rio Getaway
Normally, I’m all about making simple cookies – the faster I can churn ’em out, the better. None of this fancy rolling and cutting and shaping, oh no. But sometimes, you want something a little special, and these orange cream-filled sandwich cookies are just the thing when you’re looking for an impressive little morsel. They […]
Cookiefest Day 11: Nutella Banana Cookies and Let’s Split
Instead of leading off with the cookies this time, we’ve decided to take a tea and find the perfect baked good to pair with it. One of our weirder concoctions is, without a doubt, Let’s Split. I mean, yerba maté with banana? Wild! But it’s a really good match, honestly – yerba maté is earthy […]
Cookiefest Day 10: Malted Fudge Brownies and Mocha Maté
Everyone loves a good brownie. And there are a million variations on the classic – chewy versus , walnuts or no nuts, extra chocolate chips, peanut butter swirl, the works. I love the idea of this particular variation: crushed malted milk balls. I may have to get malted milk balls next Hallowe’en just for an […]
Cookiefest Day 9: Rosemary & Thyme Shortbread with Victoriana
People tend to overlook herbs for some reason. Yes, they’re used extensively in cooking, but rarely do herbal flavours make it away from savoury and into sweet – or into the cup, for that matter. We talk about herbal teas, but culinary herbs rarely factor into that, unless you’re making a medicinal drink. Where’s the […]
Cookiefest Day 8: Peanut Brittle and Lady in Red
All right, so it’s not really a cookie. But it’s easy, it’s sweet, and it makes a great gift! So cut me some slack, here, people. You know you’ll eat it anyway. Today’s pairing seems a little odd on the surface. I mean, what do you do with peanuts? It’s not a flavour you get much of […]
Cookiefest Day 7: Maple-Walnut Bars with Backwoods
You know, I don’t even have to explain this one. Maple-walnut bars with maple-walnut tea. Duh. Our work here is done. And deliciously maple-y. Maple-Walnut Bars from Real Simple Ingredients: For the crust 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for the baking pan 1 1/2 cups cups all-purpose flour, […]