Monday, January 10, 2011

Tea for four, twice a day

Morning and afternoon tea are such a big part of each day here that I think tea deserves its very own little post. I knew this from a few visits to England and it quickly became apparent living here in New Zealand as well.


The kids stop everything at 10.30 every day for morning tea while the teachers gather in their lounge for 15 minutes to enjoy theirs en masse. Not everyone drinks tea, but from what I've gathered, most do. Remember the Waitomo Caves photos? The guide brought tea and biscuits (always with biscuits which are actually cookies) out in thermoses into the middle of nowhere! And you'll see in a few more posts that even our kayaking guide had tea, coffee, AND cappuccino provisions packed into his little kayak for all 9 of us. And biscuits of course.



It's such a regular part of the day that every single time we checked into our accommodations while we've been here, we were handed a pint of milk or told that there was already milk in the fridge. The first few times, I just nodded and smiled politely and thought, OK sure, but why? And then I'd carry the little container to our cottage and forget about it. Then I realized -- of course it's for the tea!! And it became my mission to have enough tea at each stop to use a substantial amount of the milk so as not to waste either the milk itself or the host's efforts. I'm really thoughtful like that. Just ask anyone... :o)

5 comments:

  1. So do you like milk in your tea now? I like the biscuits :) My sister and I found that we like scones in England, but who has the calories to spare here everyday? Not me! I should drink green tea daily but never get around to it. Maybe after school time, when I'm not driving carpool--that would be 3 days a week! I would have just drunk the milk with the biscuits and skipped the tea. I try to be considerate too ;)

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  2. So, what have you found to be your favorite tea? Do they use different teas, flavored, or the same kind everyday . . . twice? Or is it a personal preference kind of thing.

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  3. I've always liked milk in my tea and sugar. It's how my grandmother always made it. I like the biscuits more than anything too... :O) I remember you (Shawn) and your sister liking scones. My favourite is just the regular black tea, but also there's this one that's American actually called Harney&Sons and I LOVE their Paris tea. It's dreamy... :o) I think usually they just drink regular old black tea here.

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  4. Just another quick comment -- I was shooting in the factory today, where Dennis works, and at 10am a bell sounded and everyone left their welding, their grinding, their trimming, and went outside for morning tea.

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  5. So, a friend of mine gave me this White Christmas (white tea) from Harney & Sons not too long ago..I opened it up and too my horror all sorts of little fluffs started emerging from the tin..in complete distress I called the company and asked them what to do about this and moreover what was it??? The woman on the other end was very kind and even though she wanted to call me an idiot she simply told me it was part of the tea mixture and no, I won't gag on it ...I'm brewing some right now and wondering who will be having the first "Tea" when Karin returns in a few short weeks?

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