Lani and Norm, Author at My PersonaliTea - Ottawa Valley

How to make fish with matcha crusted with pistachio and panko

September 5, 2018November 21, 2022Lani and Norm

Sure, why not! I did a post not too long ago on “Can you cook with matcha?” and you can. If you look out there for recipes with matcha, there is a lot of baked goods and desserts that incorporate matcha in some way. The recipes and results are delicious! But how many baked goods and desserts can one person eat? While you’re thinking about that, I’ve been thinking about other ways to use tea in recipes besides desserts. My post on “Can tea be used in skin care products?” included some recipes for bath bombs, scrubs and body butters that included green tea and/or matcha. But I’ve been thinking more about how to incorporate tea into regular meals and dishes.

Chai in brownies makes for one of the best chair recipes you have to try!

August 29, 2018November 21, 2022Lani and Norm

Last week we were found out what is chai? This week we want to do something more with chai than just drink it, which is a wonderful way to experience chai! In any case, below is a brownie recipe that I modified to make a “chai” brownier recipe. I love it. In the recipe where is says 1/2c chai, I used a 1/2 c of the raw chai blend mix. Something I should have done before just using the chai blend is to take out any cardamom pods or shells. Something I may try in the future is to keep in 1/2c cocoa powder and instead of the greek yogurt perhaps use chai brewed with milk itself. Lots of ways to play around with the recipe. But this is just one attempt. Hope you enjoy it!

Have you ever really wondered what is chai?

August 22, 2018November 21, 2022Lani and Norm

You hear people ordering “chai tea” at the local coffee shops. What exactly is chai and how does it relate to tea? The word “chai” is actually the Hindi word for “tea”. So they are the same thing. The word chai is derived from the Chinese word for tea, “cha”. The Hindi word chai is […]

Can tea be used in skin care products?

June 12, 2018November 7, 2022Lani and Norm

I seem most at peace when I’m sleeping, drinking tea or making something with my hands. The latter seems to allow me to think more creatively and imaginatively about everything and anything. In any case, this past weekend was about making things with tea and in particular green tea and matcha. Of course, there is the usual baking with matcha a few recipes of which can be found in a previous post on Can you cook with matcha? This weekend, while I did make some matcha cupcakes, [1], I wanted to see if I could make some skin care products with matcha and/or green tea. I only started making skin care products last year: scrubs, body butters, melt and pour soaps, shower/bath bombs, lip balms, etc. Simple things. But now that I’ve made them a few times, I had a desire to start experiment. If people are making coffee scrubs, I’m sure someone is making tea scrubs out there! In any case, my search on Pinterest leads me down a rabbit hole, as usual! But I managed to climb out with a few interesting recipes for DIY skin care products that I quickly repined and tried. [2]

Give a personalized gift of tea by snail mail

June 8, 2018November 21, 2022Lani and Norm

Has the art of sending letters and greeting cards by post died? I’m not sure. When I was younger I remember days like Valentine’s Day, the Christmas season and birthdays being a big time for receiving greeting cards. It was like waiting for the end of the season to count how many I got; displaying Christmas cards or birthday cards all over my rooms. It was a source of pride almost. As I get older, there were fewer cards but more meaningful ones.

Indian Tea – Regions of the world of tea

June 1, 2018November 21, 2022Lani and Norm

The tea in Assam is made from the Camellia sinensis var. assamica plant. There are more than 800 tea estates in Assam. Tea from this region is known for its body, briskness, strong malty flavours. It is used as the main component in breakfast tea blends. The growing season is from late spring to early fall. Most of the tea produced is from July to September.