Tea Tuesday: Teavana Pumpkin Spice Brulee Oolong Tea

This week I'm featuring a holiday tea. I bit late, I know, but oh well. This one was a Christmas gift to my mother, but she is very picky with tea (basically only drinks white tea) and this one was for her, so into my hands it came.

Here's the info on the package:

Pumpkin Spice Brulee

FLAVOURED OOLONG TEA

Ingredients: Cinnamon, white chocolate pieces (sugar, cocoa, butter, milk powder, dextrose), pumpkin pieces, chocolate flake (sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa powder), carob pieces, oolong tea, natural & artificial flavour, ginger pieces, chicory root, pumpkin seeds, cloves, allspice & nutmeg.

I'm often not a big fan of sweet teas, but I do enjoy this one. It's sweet and cinnamon-y and makes a nice dessert. To be honest, the pumpkin doesn't really come through for me. However, like I said, this tea is tasty and I would definitely recommend this one for anyone who is looking for a sweet, dessert tea with lots of cinnamon.

Tea Tuesday: David's Ceylon Star

I love tea. Like a lot. Whenever conversations turn to hot beverages, I always say "I drink a lot of tea." and my boyfriend follows up with "Seriously, she drinks a LOT of tea." So I want to share my love of tea with my blog! This post is inspired by my friend Ambur from Burning Impossibly Bright. Check out her blog if you like nails, tea or books!

This week I want to feature a new-to-me loose leaf tea: Ceylon Star from David's Tea.

Here's the info from the bag:

Ceylon Star

BLACK TEA

Star anise and Ceylon black tea is a classic combination, but here we sweeten the deal even more with white chocolate, cocoa nibs and coconut. The result is sweet and creamy, with a hint of exotic spice

Ingredients: Ceylon black tea, star anise, cocoa, white chocolate (sugar, milk powder, cocoa butter, soy lectin, natural vanilla), natural and artificial flavouring. Contains coconut, dairy and soy.

This tea is tasty, but I wouldn't classify it as a favourite. The chocolate flavour comes through a bit strong for me. This is 100% personal preference, so if you are a big fan of chocolate-y teas, this one is probably for you. The flavour is also almost smokey.

I prefer this one with milk, as it tamps down the flavour a bit. But be careful not to add too much, as I found it quickly got a watered down taste with too much milk.

This tea is also really pretty to look at. The coconut shavings add a nice contrast to the black tea and the star anise (which I didn't manage to capture in the photo) is such a cool shape!

I believe this one is discontinued, as it's only available in a large quantity at a discount on the website.

Have you tried this tea? Are you a fan of Ceylon tea? Are you a loose leaf tea fangirl like me?

From My Kitchen: Slowcooker BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

I didn't grow up in a cooking kitchen as a child. My dad's specialties as wieners & beans and friend potatoes. My mom has a small repertoire of dishes she can make well (pot roast with potatoes and carrots, cream of cauliflower) for Sunday dinner and special occasions. I took a foods class in grade 9 and faked being sick on the day we were making meatballs because I didn't want to touch raw hamburger.

So how is it that now I'm addicted to cooking blogs? It started with moving out and living on my own for university. I lived off campus from the start and therefore needed to feed myself. As I got older, I had a few realizations:

1. I need to eat. Everybody does, but I get especially hangry when my tummy is empty.
2. Eating out is expensive and often high in calories. I still love going out for dinner, but it's not a feasible everyday option.
3. If I'm going to spend the time to make something at home, I might as well make something delicious!

And now I'm constant perusing blogs and pinterest for recipes to try!  So here's one I made last week that turned out very tasty! And it's ridiculously simply to throw together!

Slowcooker BBQ Chicken Sandwich

 Ingredients:
3 Chicken Breasts - frozen
1 bottle BBQ sauce
1/2 cup Italian dressing
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Directions:
1. Mix BBQ sauce, Italian dressing, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce in a medium bowl and mix well.

2. Place frozen chicken breasts in slowcooker and pour sauce overtop.

3. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

I told you it was easy! And really tasty! It reminds me out my favourite meat sandwiches from Holy Smoke BBQ. Next time I plan to add some heat to the sauce with chili powder and hot sauce.

Recipe adapted from this one.

This Week in My World (1)

I've decided to start doing a weekly wrap-up post to recap my week and share all those cool things that don't quite merit their own post.

On the Blog:

Gamer Monday: Gadabout Games NES cross stitch
Lady Geek Out Recommends: Hancock's House of Happy
A Bit of a Change...
Kickstarter: Dead Pastel
The LEGO movie

New Arrivals:

It was a busy week in my mailbox!

2 new Doctor Who t-shirts from Blue Box Tees

2 more Doctor Who t-shirts from TeeFury

Another Doctor Who t-shirt from Ript Tees

Lotions from Bath & Body Works and some new nail polishes.

David's Tea haul: Tea ball, Stormy Night tea, Ceylon Star tea and Spiced Fig tea.

My wig arrived for my Ursula cosplay. It's a Marty in Pure White from Arda Wigs!

Is my obsession with Doctor Who shirts going a little overboard? Probably not...

What I Was Up To:

Obviously this was a big week on the blog because I changed EVERYTHING (except the background). I'm really excited for the new direction I'm taking the blog (that is, every direction!).

I made my first trip to David's Tea! Now, I'm not completely new to loose leaf tea, but I'd never actually been to this particular store before. I went in for a new tea ball and walked out with 3 new teas! I'm planning to feature them on the blog soon.

For girl's night, a couple friends and I went to see The LEGO Movie! So good!

I've also decided I want to do more photography because I always find it so inspiring. So I'm going to be doing the March Photo-a-Day challenge from fatmumslim. I haven't yet decided how I want to share these, but I'm thinking weekly.

The LEGO Movie

Last night a couple friends and I went out for a girl's night. One thing I love about my friends is that a girl's night does not consist of heading to a dark club filled with loud noises and creepy dudes. Instead, we went to to see The LEGO Movie.

Source

I'm sure this is old news to many of you, but it was so good! I honestly think this is one of those movies that a parent could certainly end up enjoying more than their kids! This movie is really clever and my friends and I were laughing out loud at multiple points in the film. All of the characters were great, but I think my favourite was Will Arnett as Batman. I love Will Arnett and I found his character so hilarious!

Then we proceeded to sing this song for the rest of the night!


Go see this movie!