we love
TEA Creating
Moments with Tea
Tea Parties
ART DIRECTION & DESIGN BY: COVER PHOTO
Janice Stenglein
EDITOR Rebecca E. Parsons, cre8tiva@gmail.com PUBLISHER Collective Bias
contents INSIDE When you see this symbol... click it for more delightful ideas, delicious recipes and beautiful tablescapes from the bloggers.
4
5
Bigelow Tea
Bigelow Tea and Moravian Tea Cookies Kristy Still
T
his past week was eventful, to say the
available for guests as they stopped by. These
least, around our house! We went to the
cookies paired perfectly to make a great tea
doctor on Wednesday morning and just before
time, plus a great way to get acquainted with our
midnight that evening we welcomed our baby
baby girl.
girl! She ended up being born on what seems to be a popular date of 12/12/12; she made it just 23 minutes before the end of the day.
My mom was first up to enjoy the tea and cookies. She was beyond impressed with both; she also thought the cookies paired well with the
So, what does this have to do with Bigelow
tea. My husband also decided to test out the tea
Tea? We knew that this weekend would be full
and cookies, which he loved too! After all that
of family members coming and going to visit our
tea and cookies it was time to snuggle up with
baby girl. So, we decided to make Moravian Tea
our new bundle of joy and share some precious
Cookies and have them along with Bigelow Tea
moments as a family!
6
7
Christmas Tea Party!
Rachel Rockwell
F
or as long as I can remember my
We all really enjoyed the Christmas Tea
mom has brewed Bigelow Constant
Party with Bigelow Tea! I feel great knowing
Comment Tea for her guests around
that the Bigelow brand is family owned and
Christmas time. To keep up with tradition I
operated. They really take pride in what they
had a Christmas Tea Party this year! Along
do and it shows in every tea bag. This is a
with the Constant Comment, I had Bigelow
tradition that I want to pass down to my kids.
Cinnamon Stick Tea and Vanilla Chai Tea.
I think traditions like this are great because
I love this tea hot, cold, sweet or unsweetened. It’s simply divine any way that you choose to make it!
it helps us stay connected as a family and make great memories together.
8
9
Peppermint
Tea Mug Gift Crystal Owens
W
e are starting to have some cold weather
I also recently invited my best friend to come over
here in California. I’m sure it’s not nearly as
to enjoy a cup of tea and to make a few ornaments.
cold as other places around the US but highs in the 50’s are considered pretty cold around here. I often find myself drinking a big cup of tea with a good book or catching up on my favorite blogs. Last night I watched an old favorite Christmas movie with a warm blanket, comfy socks, and a big cup of tea. It was the perfect evening!
What’s better than great friends, tea, and crafting? Have you tried peppermint tea? This was my first time trying it but I have a feeling it’s going to replace my lemon flavored tea during the winter months. It has a nice smooth minty taste and reminds me of the wonderful smells that the holiday season has to offer.
10
11
Rebecca E. Parsons
O
ne of my favorite things to do is
welcome friends and neighbors into my home over the holidays. This holiday season I transformed my great room into a sparkling tea house. It is a cozy and casual space that beckons my guests to relax and unwind with their favorite beverage ~ tea. This year I am starting a new tradition, a St. Nicholas Tea in honor of Father Christmas. Tea is the perfect beverage for the holidays. It is a warm, comforting and soothing hot or cold beverage. It is great as a drink, but it is also an awesome ingredient in many of my holiday goodies. I choose to serve Bigelow Tea {Americas Tea} because they make two of my favorite teas and they offer a wide variety of flavors…something for everyone. Most of all, I love Bigelow Tea because of their story and the deep family history of the brand. We had a party, and guests gathered and mingled throughout the late afternoon. Each enjoyed their favorite tea as they chatted and ate. I invited some new neighbors and some old friends to the tea. I surprised each of my guests with a beautifully wrapped box of Bigelow tea as a take-home gift. Hopefully, they will enjoy the moments we shared as they sip their tea at home.
12
Taking a Tea Break at Work Daniel Anderson
Y
ears ago, I found that a cup of tea
But a cup of tea offers something more than
was the best cure for writer’s block.
just a hot beverage. Making a cup of tea
I had just landed my first desk job and was
forces you to slow down while you wait for
stymied by the blank, white screen when I
the leaves to steep. And while I am an avid
should have been writing a speech for the
coffee drinker, there is something about the
president of the company. After staring at
smell of tea leaves that coffee grounds will
the screen for an hour, I made myself a
never match.
cup of tea, took a moment to clear my head, and suddenly the words began to flow. I continue to write a lot in my line of work and the deadlines are even more demanding. Sometimes, a good cup of Bigelow’s Earl Grey is the only thing that gets me through the day. There is something special about brewing a cup of tea that makes me pause and calms my nerves. A warm drink is always comforting, especially on a cold Portland day.
Whenever I am having a tough moment at work, a cup of tea always seems to help. The ritual of stepping away from my desk and spending a few moments brewing a cup of tea always clears my head and helps me stay focused during the rest of my day.
13
14
Heirloom IceBox Oatmeal Cookie Recipe
Creating Moments with Tea! Shelley R. Zurek
15
W
hen I was little, my mom and dad bought me my first “Big Girl” teacup. It was pink, white
and cream–so girly! My mom saved it for me over the years, and she finally gave it to me about 10 years ago! I shared with Walt, my darling husband, the stories about drinking tea in my special teacup, dunking the special cookies with my grandparents, and the wonderful oatmeal cookie recipe. Bigelow Tea, with its variety of flavors, let us both enjoy the kind of tea that we wanted with our cookies. Bigelow Tea just warms you up and as you sit and enjoy, you seem to just open up. Bigelow Tea is 100% family owned third generation, and the #1 tea company in the USA. The company was started by Cindi Bigelow’s grandmother in her kitchen in 1945. Cindi Bigelow is the current CEO of the company and a lovely Blonde Woman over 45– you know that matters on this blog! Bigelow understands the need to create special moments with your family and believes tea is an excellent vehicle to create special moments. Walt and I agree.
16
17
Making Memories
With Bigelow Tea Theresa Gould
T
ea parties have always been a delightful pastime in our family. I grew up having
tea with my grandmother. That’s where my love of tea started. This past weekend we created a Bigelow Tea moment by hosting a family tea party. We served homemade bread sticks, shortbread, lemon cake and of course Bigelow Tea. It was so nice to sit around the table together on a cold winter day to warm not only our bellies but our spirit of togetherness. Most of all everyone enjoyed making memories with Bigelow Tea!
18
A Special Moment
With Bigelow Tea Colleen Kessler
I
was thrilled to open my email a few days ago to read of an opportunity to “create a moment” with Bigelow Tea. Bigelow is my favorite brand of tea – and I love
their history. Bigelow has always been a family-owned company, and they focus on quality. Each tea bag is individually wrapped in a foil packet so the tea leaves don’t absorb any odors or flavors from other foods. It was fun to have the chance to give my kiddos the tea party Molly wanted and a chance to play with sweet friends and enjoy new flavors and recipes. I was ready to tell them about our tea moment! They were excited, and we immediately got to work on our planning. We invited my dear friend Laura and her girls over – my goddaughter Faith and her big sister Allie. And then we checked out Bigelow’s website. I have to say that I was blown away by the number of recipes found on the site. It had never occurred to me that you could cook with tea, infusing the flavors and spices into your food. We took forever deciding on the recipes we’d use. In the end, we chose a fruit dip, orange spice pound cake {recipe below} and a delicious raspberry gelatin. When we moved into the kitchen, the kids were all excited to try the tea and treats. The overwhelming favorite was the pound cake and Red Raspberry Tea! I liked the Pomegranate Tea and thought the gelatin was light and yummy.
19
20
21
Oscar Night: My Viewing Party Janelle Benjamin-Simms
A
s movie lovers, watching the Academy Awards
I knew we needed Oscar Ballots for everyone to
is especially exciting for my boyfriend and I.
guess who would win! I placed them on the table for
We love to make a night of it–complete with loads
everyone to grab, along with green tea lemonade as
of snacks, games and drinks to enjoy the show.
they walked in. I was so excited that Life of Pi was
Thanks to Bigelow Tea, this year’s festivities were a
nominated in 11 categories, and I guessed it would
bit larger, and definitely more fun! We invited some
win Best Picture or Best Director for sure.
of our family members over, and started the night by watching a few of the films that were nominated this year. We tend to pick a theme for our viewing parties, and this year our theme was Life of Pi (our favorite!), so I knew I wanted to pick snacks and drinks that were on the lighter side. Life of Pi is such an incredible story with beautiful visuals, and I highly recommend it if you haven’t seen it.
After the red carpet, we headed upstairs to watch the show. Most of my predictions were correct, and I was so excited to see Life of Pi take home 4 awards (the most of any movie that night!) The show was pretty long, but I’m so glad we had the chance to see our favorites win. We’ll definitely have to continue the tradition next year!
22
23
Bedtime Story
With Bigelow Tea Sean Weber
L
ast night my son and I had a nice evening. I enjoyed a warm cup of Bigelow Peppermint Tea while reading him The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. Delighted with the
illustrations, he would point at each of the different characters and objects on the page and ask, “Waz zat?” Then he pointed at my cup and said, “Waz zat?” I answered, “it’s daddy’s peppermint tea.” Throughout the year I enjoy three or four of Bigelow’s 120 carefully blended teas. Each comes in a convenient foil pouch that helps preserve their freshness. This family owned company has been around for three generations, and I have seen the Bigelow box of tea in homes of family and friends my entire life. So it was only natural that one of Bigelow’s soothing teas might have a home in my kitchen cabinet. And chances are my little boy will be sipping on the same peppermint tea when Bigelow is a run by a fourth generation. Ha… last night he was taking little sips from my cup. He would then open his mouth and make a satisfying “ahhhhh” sound afterwards.
24
25
I
fell in love with ‘high teas’ while living in Virginia. We regularly
attended formal teas and hosted a weekly tea in our home. After we settled into our house in rural Nevada, we held a tea for our new friends. I had tea pots filled with some of our favorite Bigelow Teas: Cinnamon Stick, Raspberry Royale, and Plantation Mint. When I asked each of our guests what tea they would like I was met with the same answer: “No thank you, I don’t like tea.” I began to panic, but then I realized that our guests had probably only had plain black tea and had never tried flavored teas before. So I added French Vanilla Creamer to the Cinnamon Stick Tea and offered samples. Many of our guests decided that they liked tea after all!
Cinnamon Almond & Oat
Scones Alea Milham
26
G
rowing up, my mom had this little china tea set
from my grandmother that we were only allowed to use when we were not feeling well. It was the only time those cups came out. For some reason drinking tea from those little cups always made me feel so much better. So when I was asked to try Bigelow Tea, immediately I knew I wanted to surprise my kids with another tea party. I think our last one was this past summer, so I knew they would love to come home from school and enjoy treats and tea. When my kids got home from school and realized they were having donuts and a tea party, they were so excited to invite all their ‘friends’. I love the excitement and happiness that these little tea parties give them.
27
Jocelyn Brubaker
28
The Boston (Mountain) Tea Party Bethany Stephens
I
love reading references to the Boston Tea Party of 1773 as one of, if not the pivotal event that paved the way for the American Revolution. Nearly two
hundred and fifty years later, tea is still singed into our collective consciousness as a distinctly British affectation. This past weekend, I escaped to a private retreat in the Ozark Mountains for a girls’ weekend at my parents’ lake house. We typically have four to six women from Missouri and Arkansas who gather to unwind, prop our feet up and indulge in good food, company and conversation for a few days. I was given the opportunity to sample some of America’s tea, and brought it with me for the weekend to share since our entire getaway revolved around creating special moments together. I bought five flavors: Perfect Peach, Orange & Spice, Sweet Dreams (thinking of my friend who often has trouble sleeping), Cozy Chamomile (my husband has been drinking quite a bit of chamomile tea and avoiding coffee) and a variety pack or herbal teas. While we probably didn’t go home to become insurgents and plan our own equivalents of the Boston Tea Party, we took home some inspiration, some camaraderie, some sage words from good friends, some quiet moments and the reminder that we have to work hard in life for the things we hold dear (which is why we recover with girls’ weekend).
29
30
How to Host an Academy Awards (AKA Oscars) Party with Bigelow Tea Shannon Gosney
W
hen I was a young girl, I remember
I invited several of our friends over for an
the excitement there was around
Academy Awards Viewing Party featuring
watching the Academy Awards as a family!
Bigelow Tea and Life of Pi, and let me tell
We’d usually order pizza, eat popcorn
you, we had so much fun!!! We had Tropical
and snack on goodies while watching the
Fruit Mix, Cajun Nut Mix, a Fruit Platter,
stars walk up the stage in their beautiful
Lasagna, Cheesecake, Cupcakes, and
gowns and well-pressed tuxes to receive
Bigelow Tea. For the Bigelow Tea, we didn’t
their award. These were experiences
make warm tea (like I typically drink), but we
that stuck in my head for a long time,
made Berry Peach Mar-TEA-nis! I had no
even now as an adult. Plus, one of my
idea there were so many cocktail recipes on
favorite teas is Bigelow Tea, so I thought;
Bigelow’s site.
why not incorporate two things I love into one awesome party! Thus was born the Academy Awards Viewing Party with Bigelow Tea! I was starting a new tradition for our family and this year, we were routing for one of my favorite movies – Life of Pi!
If you love Bigelow Tea and Life of Pi as much as I do you’ll definitely want to check out a sweepstakes they’re running through March 20th. There are some great prizes to be won, so check it out!
31
32
33
Valentine’s Breakfast
Carolina Moore
W
ith my husband often working late, it
The breakfast was simple - Constant Comment
didn’t make sense to do a Valentine’s
Tea with the tags cut into heart shapes, bacon,
dinner. Instead I decided it would be fun to
and heart pancakes with “Love” written into
do a Valentine’s breakfast! Of course I picked
them.
up Bigelow Tea to go with our meal. Constant
Sitting with my cup of tea and sharing
Comment Tea is the perfect complement to
breakfast and conversation with my boys was
this meal - the recipe is as old as the company,
great. And capturing the moment when my son
and has lasted because it is so delicious!
said to his dad, “Come closer... closer...” and
I think the hits of orange make it ideal for
then “Dad... I love you very, very much.”
breakfast.
34
Creating Memories
Tea Time with Bigelow Tea Summer Davis
S
ince we started spending more time together, The Muffin has been begging me for tea parties. We picked out our
tea flavors and made tea together, then set up shop on the rug that my Mamom made in our living room. The Muffin wanted peanut butter instead of King Cake Cupcakes and I wanted some pomelo. She thought the orange spice tea was a little strong, but she loved my “I Love Lemon” tea. Next time, I’m giving her Vanilla Chai and telling her it’s hot chocolate. We had a wonderful tea party with Lily the frog, a ladybug, and an alligator. I laughed and laughed, we made toasts over our tea, and we talked about girlie things. I haven’t had such fun in a really long time, and I’m getting all weepy thinking about it. Next time you want to feel closer to your daughter, consider grabbing some Bigelow Tea and making a date of it. You won’t regret doing it; you’ll only regret not doing it.
35
36
37
An Oscar Viewing Party Starring Bigelow Tea with Life of Pi Shari von Holten
W
hat could be better than an Oscar viewing party to root for Best Picture nominee, Life of Pi. An Oscar viewing party with Bigelow Tea to cheer on Best Picture nominee, Life of Pi! When
we were asked to have a party starring Bigelow Tea and to root for Life of Pi to win Best Picture – how could we say no? Watching the Oscars with friends along with Bigelow Tea and Life of Pi – sounded like a perfect evening. We decorated for the party using a Hollywood Theme and Life of Pi decorations while also incorporating Bigelow Tea. Did you know that Bigelow Tea is more than a drink? Finding recipes on their website is super easy. We made several recipes including a Pomegranate Yogurt Dip to be served with fruit. This recipe was a huge hit, leaving the guests thinking I was a pro in the kitchen. And what’s an Oscar party without a celebratory drink. Bigelow’s I Love Lemon Gin Fizz, was also delicious. There are numerous recipes that can all be found on the Bigelow website. I am a huge fan of Bigelow tea. Why Bigelow tea? One of the reasons is the company that began in 1945, by Ruth Bigelow, is family owned. Another reason I am a fan of the Bigelow brand are the numerous choices of teas. They include black tea, green tea, herbal tea, herb plus, decaffeinated tea, seasonal tea, American classic tea, iced tea, organic tea, loose tea and many more. Bigelow tea also focuses on quality. All of the tea is individually wrapped in a foil pouch making it so that you always get a fresh cup of tea.
38
39
Tea Time
T
o those who do not drink tea, this may simply look like a basket
full of tea. But a tea drinker knows that this is a basket full of love, relaxation, health, joy, friendship, and tradition. Bigelow Tea is still owned by the Bigelow family and is operated by Ruth’s son and granddaughters today. Aside from the family tradition, I love Bigelow Tea because it is both delicious and affordable. Another reason I buy Bigelow Tea is the fact that every tea bag comes sealed up in a foil wrapper ensuring that the tea is always fresh. Tea is more than a drink in our family – it is a tradition. I hope that my friend finds a tea or two in this gift basket that she can add to her family traditions. I also encourage you to head to Walmart and pick up some Bigelow Tea. There is a variety for everyone.
Special Moments
cover story - Janice Stenglein
40
41
Socialize with Us! Bigelow Tea Website
Bigelow Tea on Twitter
Bigelow Tea on Facebook Bigelow Tea Community Bigelow Tea Blog