New year, new committment to blogging

Well, that, and I want to be in the next round of the Hogwarts Swap, and you need to be a regular blogger for that...though I do think I will make an "in character" blog this time.

On to beer...

I recently bought myself a Mr. Beer kit and it's fermenting as we speak. The premier starter kit, listed as $50 on the website, I got for $15 at Rite Aid! I am not kidding! Is it ready to bottle yet? Let me go check...no, not yet, probably because my basement is slightly colder than the optimum temperature. There will be another beer review soon, but it's a little early in the day right now.

So, since I also like tea and it is very cold and snowy today, how about some tea reviews?

Vanilla Almond Decaf, from The Republic of Tea. Their description: The rich smoothness of real vanilla takes over the first sip of this tea, sweetening the cup. A nutty almond note follows, which sends it soaring into the realm of dessert. Top a strong brew with steamed milk for a creamy tea latte.

Brew time: 4 minutes

I can definitely smell both the vanilla and the almond notes. Tasting the sweetness? Not so much. Let me add some honey. (Can I find the honey jar? No, of course not. But, important tip: Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits gives you honey packets when you get takeout. Snag some today for your future tea or lunchbox needs. Found one! Back to your regularly scheduled tea review.) Ahhh...yes, that's better. You know what would go well with this? A Zero bar. A good tea for an afternoon break. As I have no Zero bars at this moment and don't wish to brave the ~ 10" of snow to walk to the store just for that let's see how a piece of chocolate from the box my wonderful husband :-) gave me goes. Mmmm...chocolate caramel. Well, not bad, but I still think the Zero bar would have been better.

Knitting update:

All scheduled Christmas knitting was done on time. I made my mom a potholder and a hat from the second Hat Attack. My daughter got a pair of zebras for her Noah's Ark, my husband got a pair of socks, and my dad got a scarf. Now I'm making my daughter a pair of mittens, inspired by Elizabeth Zimmerman. (The ones with the snowflake pattern.) I'm using up my oddballs of Andean Treasure (baby alpaca from KnitPicks). I want to make myself a pair, so hers are kind of a swatch for mine. I just finished the cuff on the second one. Also, I just heard that an old friend is getting married this fall :-) :-) :-) so of course I'm off and knitting! I just wish either a) WalMart stocked Peaches N Creme in more colors, b) postage wasn't so much, or c) Bernat, Lion, or Lily made 1 lb cones of dark green cotton. Oh well, Joann.com or in-store at Pat Catan's are both pretty reasonable.

Hmmm...it's getting on toward dinnertime, so I will sign off for now. Keep warm!