Tea Ceremony & My Girl's Grape Juice Recipe

It started out rather innocuously. From an inconvenience I felt once when making several cups of tea one at a time in the microwave. Making it the old fashioned way on the stove was just too slow for that day. I thought if I could get a teapot small enough to get in the microwave and large enough for a few cups of tea I could just pour it all out in one stretch. As with all such things, the idea stayed just that for a long time. Then something brought it back to the top and I made an impulsive buy of a teapot  only to find it too tall for the microwave! That got returned and the whole plan got discarded. At least for the time being. Last week we drove to an outlet mall that we hadn't visited in the longest time and I spent some time in a favorite store of mine. The Corelle Outlet. You can find all sorts of cute kitchen stuff there. Many Indian parents shop there before their return trip to get some unbreakable everyday stuff for a good price. I bought some stuff that I liked and then I remembered the teapot. My son spotted this cutesy little guy and the decision to buy was immediate.

As luck would have it I spotted something else on the shelf. The glasses that reminded me of those roadside teashops where tea was always served hot with a flourish or thud in one of these!  My dad depended on them to quench his thirst when going on long trips. So we came home, washed teapot and glasses with soapy warm water and our tea ceremony got started. It will last at least for the duration of the holidays when time and temperament seems inviting for such an act. I had planned on using my lovely teacups but once I got the glasses, they were the natural pick:-)

Here is how we do it. Around 4 to 5 in the evening, kids and Mom gather in the kitchen. Mom gets the teapot and kids get the glasses, help with pouring 2.5 glasses of milk plus 1.5 glasses of water. Add in 5 tea bags and 4 tbsp of sugar, close the lid and microwave for 4.30 or more. Now you can let it sit in there and steep or take out depending on your needs. Remove the teabags, stir the sugar and pour out carefully into glasses. Make sure eager hands touching their glasses "for the same amount of tea as parents" don't get spilled over. Call Dad and gather round the table to sit and sip the tea. All of us are enjoying this very much. Who would have thought? Bring on the holidays anytime I say.

 

My Girl's Grape Juice Recipe

She is always busy if she gets the board and the marker. This time when she was done this is what we saw.  A recipe for grape juice. Thought I'll post it here. 

 

Above picture is an illustration of the method. Recipe follows:

I did ask her what to do once you have all the listed ingredients to get the grape juice. She gave me a look that said, why ask about something so basic!! I'd say remove skin from the grapes and put all in the blender is what she meant:-)