Giving the gift of tea with a tea gift basket

Nothing says I love you like a gift basket – a collection of favorite things assembled in a beautiful package. And for the tea lover, a tea gift basket can be the most wonderful of gifts; a compilation of treasures to encourage relaxation and reflection as you gather around cups of tea.

The tea gift basket can be assembled in a number of ways. First, there are many gift basket companies – both large and small – that will put together your tea gift basket and ship it directly to the person of your choice. In many cases you will be able to choose exactly what you would like included in the basket to make it a unique and personal gift.

Some companies have a standard tea gift basket you can purchase and send. Most include teacups, tea itself, and tea accoutrements such as sugar spoons, loose tea balls, strainers, and sometimes even baked goods.

In many cases, these companies will also allow you to pick the actual basket you would like to be used for your tea gift basket. You can have them include a personal note and your gift is complete.

The Internet is a fantastic resource for finding gift basket companies that will put together your tea gift basket. With the advent and subsequent growth of online commerce, more and more companies of this nature are offering their services through cyberspace. A few clicks of the mouse and you’ve assembled a beautiful gift for the tea lovers among us.

If you really want to personalize your tea gift basket, and you have your share of creativity, go ahead and make your own tea gift basket. With a little bit of ingenuity, you’ll create a one-of-a-kind gift that will be most appreciated.

Assemble some favorite teas – some of your favorites and some favorites of the person to whom you are giving the tea gift basket. Include one or two pieces of some beautiful, reasonably priced china; perhaps you can find one or two antique teacups at a local antique store. Then round out the tea gift basket with personal touches; don’t be afraid to get creative! Throw in some delicate linen napkins, an interesting container for loose tea, and some chocolates. Whatever you think will make the tea gift basket unique is exactly what you should include.

Have fun with your tea gift basket. And anyone who receives it will feel the joy

How to select an ice cream scoop

Remember when an ice cream scoop was—well, an ice cream scoop. An old-fashioned ice cream scoop still gets the job done, especially if it has a nice heft and balance and is long enough to get some leverage. And the traditional spring action, quick-release ice cream scoops are hard to beat if they are sturdy and well-made. (Stay away from the cheap ones and don’t buy plastic mechanical scoops.) They are not the best for leveraging through rock hard ice cream but they form attractive scoops that pop out with a squeeze of the hand.

But today there are alternatives that will let that rock-hard ice cream slip easily from your scoop into the bowl: anti-freeze scoops, microwaveable scoops, and aqua scoops that you fill with warm water. With so many good scoops, choosing a scoop is largely a matter of preference.

But when do you want an ice cream spade instead of a round scoop? An ice cream spade works best in hard ice cream cutting through easily and scooping plenty. It's easier to press the spade through the hard ice cream with force and leverage though anti-freeze, microwave, and warm water scoops help. Round scoops are perfect for softer ice creams and make nice round balls for ice cream cones.

What are your choices?

1. Creamery Anti-Freeze Ice Cream Spade. This is the kind of spade that you see at the creamery ice cream stores. It is filled with an anti-freeze agent so that the ice cream will not stick to the spade. It’s big and tough for digging through hard blocks of ice cream. Our Smooshed Ice Cream Set includes two of these spades.

2. Deluxe Quick Release Ice Cream Scoop (Large). This is a very good quality, spring action type ice cream scoop. It is made of heavy duty 18/10 stainless steel and is equipped with a heavy duty spring. Makes 16 scoops per quart. Can be used for meatballs and mashed potatoes.

3. Deluxe Quick Release Ice Cream Scoop (Medium). This is of the same construction as the large is a quality, heavy duty ice cream scoop. Makes 50 scoops per quart. This is ideal for making drop cookies.

4. Aqua Ice Cream Scoop. This scoop relies on warm water for easy scooping. Remove the plug, fill with warm water, and scoop. The design creates heat in the head where it is needed the most. This is a top-of-the-line product.

5. Easy Grip Jumbo Ice Cream Scoop. This is a nine-inch long scoop with a deep curve and tip designed for easier scooping. Unlike many scoops, this one has the leverage and tip to cut through hard ice cream. It makes extra large scoops. This quality scoop has a nice heft and balance.

6. Microwave Ice Cream Scoop. Heat the scoop in your microwave for 30 to 40 seconds. The scoop will then cut easily through hard ice cream.

Water quality of glaciers do we want it

Water quality is an important topic, since we all drink quantities of water over our lifetimes. Even if we drink only minimally, we still want top water quality.

So what about the water quality of glaciers – do we want it? Is the water quality of glaciers really pristine, as we are led to believe?

Glaciers Store About 75% of the World's Freshwater

Freshwater contains very minimal amounts of dissolved salts, especially sodium chloride. It is found only in lakes, streams, and rivers – never in oceans or seas. Glaciers have, therefore, potentially good water quality. Is that water quality pristine, though?

Glacier Bottled Water

Several water bottlers have chosen a glacier as a symbol of purity. Some use the words “glacier” and “virgin” in labeling or advertising. But water quality does not always match the symbol. According to government and industry estimates, 25 to 40 percent of all bottled water is actually bottled tap water – despite pictures of glaciers!

Before recent FDA intervention, the label on one brand of bottled water read: "Alaska Premium Glacier Drinking Water: Pure Glacier Water From the Last Unpolluted Frontier, Bacteria Free". Why was that bad if water quality in those bottles was so high? The water apparently flowed into the bottles from Public Water System #111241 in Juneau, Alaska, not from glaciers.

Some bottlers imply top water quality by referring to their water’s origins as streams flowing from glaciers, or glacier-fed lakes, but in Alaska, such wording is forbidden.

“If it says ‘glacier water,’ it's got to be right from the glacier without the influence of any other surface sources,” says Mike Gentry, program coordinator for the Alaska State Department of Environmental Conservation's Food Safety and Sanitation Program. He added that if it's a blend, direct glacier water could have been mixed with other water from a stream or a lake fed by glacier.

If the label will read “pure glacier water,” the bottler must use water taken right from the glacier. He may not add or remove minerals, but even glacier water quality can be changed by filtering and treatments.

The label on another brand of “Alaskan” bottled water (unchanged at the time of writing) boasted of high water quality:

“Mother Nature recycles all water. Get it from a river, get it from a spring, get it from a well, seven years ago that water was used by someone (or something) else, unless... Unless your water was stored in the Eklutna Glacier, for 23,000 years.”

The implication here is that glacier water quality is unsurpassed since it has been stored away for so many years. One can almost imagine a glacier with an airtight, liquid-tight seal for ultimate protection!

The True Water Quality of Glaciers

Because of their frozen state, glaciers may have lower levels of contaminants and bacteria, but how low?

One FDA investigator noted that, aside from marketability, glaciers are a rather imperfect water source, since animals traipse across them all the time, contributing contaminants and lowering water quality.

I am not an expert on glaciers, but I do know that when Eklutna Glacier formed, however many years ago, its ice was not pure. Yes, its original snow was free of much contamination such as we know, but its snow was never chemically pure.

1. Each flake of glacial snow began as a small droplet of water or ice crystal that formed around a nucleus. The water needed a tiny particle around which it could condense. It might have used a microscopic salt crystal released into the air by an ocean wave. It might have used a particle of ash from a forest fire. It might have condensed around ash from a volcanic eruption, but each snowflake had to have that microscopic bit of material. Glacial water quality is affected by billions of old salt and ash particles.

2. Each flake of glacial snow helped scrub acids from the atmosphere. Acid rain is not new – only industrial acid rain. The atmosphere contains about 350 ppm CO2, and ancient volcanic eruptions filled the atmosphere rapidly with more CO2. When our glacial snowflakes fell, they dissolved some of that CO2, and made carbonic acid snow. Glacial water quality is affected by “acid rain”.

3. Each flake of ancient glacial snow was further contaminated by animals. You have undoubtedly heard of wooly mammoths. You have heard, too, of migratory humans who likely hunted wooly mammoths. Can we believe that neither the ancient animals nor the hunters that stalked them ever walked on the glacier from which we are now urged to drink? As your parents may have told you, “Never eat yellow snow.” Glacial water quality is affected by “yellow snow”.

Glacial Water Quality in a High School Lab

As a former high school teacher and principal, I would have to say that any high school science lab with a distillation apparatus could supply better water quality than that found in a glacier. So do I want the water quality of glaciers? I think I’ll pass.