How 'bout a Spot of Blooming Tea?

I came across this awesome product I have to tell you about! Full Bloom Tea!

To quote the website, "Our hand tied Artisan teas "bloom" before your eyes into amazing drinkable floral bouquets. We use rare Silver Needle White Tea and premium flowers rich in antioxidants."

Each of these unique tea blooms are hand tied and wrapped in protective packaging that helps to keep moisture, light and air out, and locks in freshness, taste and aroma.

When you steep the ‘bloom’ in boiling water, the tea bloom twists, turns, moves and appears to “bloom” right before your eyes into a floral bouquet! Talk about a unique way to make tea!
According to the site they contain the finest rare Silver Needle White Tea leaves rich in antioxidants and are infused with beautiful dehydrated flowers such as Jasmine, Globe Amaranth and Marigold just to name a few which give additional flavors and health benefits.
These are mild teas and each tea bloom can be re-steeped up to 3 times each. And once you are done steeping and drinking, you can put the used bloom in a clear glass bowl with clean water and enjoy it as a centerpiece for an extra day or two.

They offer a really cool unique gift idea as well as a wholesale option for those with retail establishments.

I can hardly wait to order my own bloom!

Adapting Standard Recipe's to a Crock Pot

Here are some suggestions for best results when taking a standard recipe and using it in a crock pot.

• Remember that liquids do not cook away like they would if on the cook top. Use half the amount of liquids called for in the standard recipe. Also, add liquids last, after meat or vegetables have been placed in the cooker.
• It is not necessary to brown larger pieces of meat unless you need to cook off some of the grease before adding the remaining ingredients. For example, browning ground beef, sausage or bacon first and draining the fat is recommended.
• Milk, cream and sour cream should be added during the last hour of cooking to prevent curdling.
• Do not remove the lid except to add ingredients. It takes up to 20 minutes for the heat to build back up to the proper temperature.
• Spices intensify during long cooking times so use half the amount and add during the last hour of cooking.
• To thicken sauces after cooking the meat, you can add quick-cooking tapioca or a paste made of flour or cornstarch and water and cook on HIGH an additional uncovered 10 minutes.
• Most vegetables should be thinly sliced or placed near the sides or bottom of the cooker. They cook slower than meats.
• Cut whole chickens and any meats in half that are over 2 lbs to be sure they cook thoroughly.
• For safety, always cook meat and poultry dishes on HIGH the first hour to speed up the time it gets to get to a safe cooking temperature for meats. Then reduce to LOW for the remainder of the cooking time.

My Favorite BBQ Sauce!

You won't find a much better line of BBQ sauces and spices than Cookies. They have perfected the right blend!

We ordered a case of 4 GALLONS of the original and split it between ourselves and my son. It was his idea! He came over one day and asked me "Mom, where can I buy Cookies bbq sauce around here?". Well we live in PA now and its not out here, so we hit the net and found the website for Cookies. Voila, we placed an order and in less than 5 days we had a huge heavy box of 4 gallons of our favorite bbq sauce on the doorstep!

Give it a try! You'll love it too.