Molly's New Habit

It seemed natural to have Molly ending her day with a cup of tea because I often do the same. I have always loved tea, the smell of the leaves, the scent of a freshly brewed cup, the color, and of course, the taste. My father drank tea all through the day. He would make what he called the essence in the morning, which was a strong brew of water and tea leaves he kept in a tea pot. Then he would boil water and add some of the essence when he wanted a cup. I remember having tea with him at night, though mine was a little bit of tea with lots of milk and a spoon of sugar. If I smell that combination it take me right back in time to sitting with him in the kitchen.

In those days we only Lipton’s which was orange pekoe tea. When I had Constant Comment tea at a neighbors, I though it was exotic and wonderful. I still love Constant Comment with its spicy orange scent and taste.

Both Molly’s and my tea tastes are pretty broad now. I have an overflowing basket of different kinds of tea, which oddly enough, Molly has, too. There is Earl Grey, oolong, green, darjeeling, Indian spice tea, English breakfast, and teas flavored with black currant, vanilla and more.

All tea comes from the same plant - camelia sinensis, but the leaves are handled differently which makes some white teas, oolongs, green teas and black teas. There’s something called yellow tea that I’ve never encountered. The plants grow in different places which no doubt affects the taste.

There is a real reason a cup of tea makes me feel so peaceful. Tea contains something called L-theanine which brings on a feeling of calm while at the same time, makes you feel alert and focused. There are tons of other benefits of tea from fighting tooth decay to being a cancer preventative. That’s sure a lot of power in a cup of something so good.

Matcha tea is in a class by itself. It’s a bright green powder made from ground up tea leaves and has a spinachy kind of taste, and is a super powerhouse of good for you things. It is the tea used to flavor green tea ice cream. Personally, I think it tastes best with a lot of milk and a tiny bit of sugar.

Then there are the teas that really aren’t teas. They don’t contain any tea leaves at all. The more correct title for them is tisane or herbal infusion. My favorites are peppermint, hibiscus blends and camomile.

The herbal teas have medicinal qualities, too. It is amazing to think that a ruby red, delicious tasting cup of a hibiscus blend helps regulate blood pressure and cholesterol. Peppermint is good for stomach upset and camomile can help with sleep.

All this talk of tea has made me want a cup. The only problem is what kind to choose. Do you drink tea regularly? What kind?

Coffee, Tea and Murder Takes the Cake

While the collective Evelyn David can readily agree on how to commit murder, there is a deep schism between the Northern and Southern halves on caffeinated brews.

Every morning, Rhonda, the Southern half of the writing team, stops at the Golden Arches on her way to work for a large coffee, which is served in a disposable cardboard cup. To this steamy brew, she adds four packets of Equal, definitely not Sweet & Low, and four little tubs of liquid creamer.

In contrast, Marian, the Northern half, drinks only tea (preferably King Cole from Canada), eschews all artificial sweeteners, and instead, mixes in a teaspoon of sugar (which, she adds defensively, in addition to making the medicine go down, is also only 15 calories), and a splash of skim milk – all preferably brewed in a china teacup.

The great divide between Rhonda and Marian is less the issue of coffee versus tea, and more which kind of container should hold the hot liquid. And that is the reason for this blog. Collecting stuff – different kinds of stuff – is one of our hobbies.

Rhonda collects dolls. She has her original Barbie with signature ponytail and eternally bright blue eyeshadow. Read her Happy Birthday Barbie blog at http://woofersclub.blogspot.com/2009/03/happy-50th-barbie.html

In addition to her Barbie she has most of the dolls from her childhood, well-worn and well-loved. She also has around 20 porcelain dolls. As for her coffee, as long as it’s hot, sweet, and somebody else made it, she doesn’t care what kind of container it’s in. In fact, she prefers not having to wash anything once she finishes that last sip. A high school basketball player, she keeps up her skills by checking if she can still score a three-pointer by heaving the cardboard cup from her desk into the trashcan by her office door. It’s a rim shot, but Score!

Marian, on the other hand, collects bone china teacups. At this point, she has more than 50 different patterns. There’s no rhyme or reason to what she buys – pure whimsy (and price). She rarely pays more than $10 for a cup and saucer – usually less. Her husband, kids, family, and friends have contributed to the collection. It becomes part of every vacation to look for a teacup – whether she buys any or not. The fun is in the hunt! When having a crowd for dinner, Marian puts out a selection of the cups to serve coffee/tea and dessert. Guests enjoy choosing from the “Royal Collection” – souvenir teacups with the faces of various members of the British monarchy. While guests readily opt for the teacup featuring Queen Elizabeth and King George VI (the parents of the current monarch who were happily married for 29 years until his death), there seems to be general agreement that the teacup featuring the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana has bad karma and no amount of sweetener, real or artificial, can change that.

The wonderful, late George Carlin once mocked Americans for all our collections. “That’s all your house is: a place to keep your stuff. If you didn’t have so much stuff, you wouldn’t need a house. A house is just a pile of stuff with a cover on it.” We know it’s foolish, but whether it’s dolls, teacups, bandaids, bouncy balls, or banana box labels (to name a few of the weird collections I’ve seen), we collect stuff because it’s interesting, pretty, or just plain fun.
Sometimes, collecting is a perfect reason to commit murder. Either somebody wants the same stuff you do and is willing to kill for it – or maybe somebody is just plain tired of all your stuff, and is willing to do anything to get rid of it. Sounds like a good plot for a mystery – and we’re collecting those too!

Evelyn David

Evelyn David is the pseudonym for Marian Edelman Borden and Rhonda Dossett. While many fans who attend mystery conventions have chatted with both halves of Evelyn David, Marian and Rhonda have yet to meet in person. For more details on this unusual partnership, visit their website at Evelyn David is the author of several short stories including Riley Come Home in the Missing anthology from Echelon Press.
http://www.echelonpress.com/direct/buy-missing.htm

Murder Off the Books is available at http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Books-Sullivan-Investigations-Mysteries/dp/1590805224/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236894181&sr=8-1

Murder Takes the Cake is available at http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Books-Sullivan-Investigations-Mysteries/dp/1590805224/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236894181&sr=8-1http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Takes-Sullivan-Investigation-Mystery/dp/1590806182/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236894314&sr=1-2