Yes, except for me the pivotal year is 1997. When 2007 happened, I couldn't get around the fact that ten years had passed, when '97 felt so local.
They were what they always are: food, arguing with my sister, and then watching films on telly before switching to Jools Holland for the countdown. We are a sedate people! How about you? Thank you for your text; it made me grin :)
I'm a pretty sedate partier myself: I knitted! And read fic! And had tea! Paaaarteeeeh! No, seriously though, it was the preferred method this year because, what with the Sister visiting before Christmas and everything, I haven't had a day just for myself in what felt like ages. Not that all the socialising hasn't been fun, but I was getting a bit of an overdose.
Yeah, I felt that way, too - Christmas is always loud, so it's nice to get a day or two away from that. Sounds like Christmas was tres lovely, though; did you have a good time?
And what are you talking about? TEA IS ALWAYS A PARTY.
Christmas had its ups and downs (family politics: ffs), but it was mostly okay. For once, it was all of the family together, meaning both of my Sister's present on the Eve, which was great. I got to spent some time with my Bro-in-Law as well (Ti's fiancee), and that's always a riot. There was loads of food and then some presents. (I was Santa Claus this year, lol.) All and all, not all that bad. I got back home Tuesday night and the Sister's (Ta) new boyfriend came to get approved of visit Finland, which meant more socialising (and truffles, yay!).
GASP! HOW RIGHT YOU ARE. I APOLOGISE FOR OFFENDING TEA. (LOL!)
Oh, all my family gatherings have some element of that business; a) because all families suffer politics, and b) because my family is so big that there are lots of opportunities for nonsense to arise. But! It still sounds like you made a go of it. Did you wear a Santa hat? I had to pretend to be 1/3 of Santa on Christmas eve, because I wrote a letter to Baby Cousin on his behalf, and then my cousins ate the mince pies.
I'm glad your sister managed to get home; there was a lot of nonsense with flights. Did she stay for New Year, or has she gone back to Scotland yet?
Have you ever had tea brewed with garam masala (and fresh ginger, optional)? Lovely, lovely stuff.
Yeah, I suppose it's a default feature of all families. I'm sort of glad that, because of said family politics, we're sort of alienated from the extended family (aunts and cousins &c.), so that at least the amount of people doesn't add up to the mess, heh.
I had a hat! And a beard! And a staff! And a coat with a pillow stuck underneath! My sister was the elf! They sang me a song! And I complained about arthritis! And then handed away the presents.
The Sister just got here the day before all the flight nonsense started. So yeah: lucky! She's currently at her friend's because she and the boyfriend wouldn't have fitted in my flat. They're leaving tomorrow, I think.
Oooh, that sounds lovely! I'll have to give it a go. Is it just put into plain black tea? I suppose using flavoured tea kind of ruins the point.
I had a hat! And a beard! And a staff! And a coat with a pillow stuck underneath! My sister was the elf! They sang me a song! And I complained about arthritis! And then handed away the presents. This is genuinely the most amazing thing I have heard. Just-- brilliant!
I'm glad. A Swedish friend of mine works at a uni in London, and she was only going back for Christmas (she had NYE plans here), and she didn't make it. So I'm glad your sister skipped the madness. A lot of frustrated travellers this year.
Yes. I'm not sure how you'd do it with a tea bag, because I brew tea the old-fashioned way. But basically: water, milk, tea leaves, garam masala (& ginger); bring to the boil; turn it down, and then bring to the boil a couple more times. Indians drink their tea quite sweet, but a spoon of sugar, or a bit of honey should suffice for you.
Yeah, it's a sort of tradition with us: ever since I grew too old to actually believe in Santa, we stopped getting some friend/neighbour/whoever to do the Santa bit and just had one of the family do it in a sort of theatrical, flamboyant, tongue-in-cheek way. It's always fun.
Aah, the mysteries of tea brewing are unravelling to me! I have always wondered what people mean when they say that someone can't brew a proper cup of tea; I just thought they meant someone had used water that wasn't freshly boiled. (Finns, we are not natural tea drinkers.) I mostly use loose leaves these days and a sort of "tea egg" in a cup, pour boiling water on top of it and let it stew a couple of minutes before removing the egg. So, you have to re-boil it a couple of times? Interesting. I've never tried that, must do tonight.
In India, 'Santa' is a girl's name, so in our house there's a bit of a joke around that. Oh, sister Santa is here, hahaha. Idk, Indians, lol. But yeah, Santa is designated by a Santa hat. But you go the whole hog! That's brilliant!
Mostly when people say it's not brewed properly, they just mean it's not strong enough. With teabags, leave the teabag in for longer, and add the milk afterwards (or the tea won't infuse into the hot water properly). When brewing tea leaves on the stove, the reason why we bring it to boil a few times is to give the masala the chance to, I guess, marinate properly. You can boil the water with the milk in that instance because it's the milk that carries the flavour.
...huh. Apparently I know more about tea than I realised.
('Tea egg'? Like... a little strainer, to catch the leaves?)
Aah, okay, so it's only for this sort of tea. Alright. (I never use milk with tea, by the way: can't stand the combo.) Your tea knowledge is impressive!
A 'tea egg' (I don't actually know if that's the official name?) is a ball/egg shaped infuser, yes. The most typical design, I think, is probably the tong shape, or a plain steel ball attached to a chain that you unscrew in half, put the tea in, screw back together and plop in the water. I have the latter kind.
Oh, I know what you mean. That's pretty nifty! We just throw everything into the pan and then use a tea strainer. And we drink tea from the saucer, because we are all old people.
(Did you give me Anjulie's song Boom? If not: I need to give it to you.)
LOL! Here it's just the other way around: milk with tea = SACRILEGE!
It is quite nifty, especially since I got an egg that has a tiny saucer at the other end of the chain to put the dripping egg on after you've taken it out of the water. (Heh! You sound like my Gran!)
Did you know we have a Tea Council in the UK? True story. I am not sure if they are pro- or anti- milk, so I guess I'll just have to let that go. Hee!
They remind me of the coffee lanterns you can get in the middle east. They work similarly. I think they're so great! Also: how much do I love that you use leaves, and not a tea bag? Old school. ♥
Yeah, you need this (http://kejenga.com/tigeraudio/Boom.mp3), I assure you!
Now there's a new theme for the Tea Partiers, something a bit more sensible to preoccupy themselves with: to take a stance on pro-milk or anti-milk!
I'm a quite recent convert to leaves, and glad of it because they do make so much better tea. Also, I discovered a Tea&Spice shop at the farmer's market and they are a tea geek's paradise, loose leaves only.
Coffee lantern? What's that? (I had this lovely Vietnamese style coffee once that came in a glass that had an individual strainer/filter on top. It was pretty neat.)
In the UK, PG Tips is a tea brand that sells tea bags (pyramid-shaped ones!) and also loose tea leaves. We drink both in the house. I think loose leaves get the chance to disco in the water, which is why it tastes better.
It's like the egg thin you use, but you make coffee with hot water (not boiling), and sometimes you can get quite big ones which are used not so much for coffee as making the smell float around the room. I can't find a picture, so I think I'm calling it the wrong thing.
Isn't it? It came up whilst we were commentversating earlier, and I made a desperate hand-flaily motion.
Yeah, the fact that they get to get their groove on properly is a factor, but also, for tea bags they tend to use only the left-over dregs and the rest of the hack that's not very good quality (or sometimes not even parts of the actual leaf).
Hmm, I suppose I could use my egg for coffee as well, if the holes weren't so big, why not.
Gaaah, you cannot believe what I am listening to at the moment (someone posted it on FB): Marky Mark. Dear lord.
Yes, thanks. Very quiet - until the people outside started whalloping saucepans with wooden spoons and puking over each other. I learned from the Radio Times that these celebrations only started in England after 1974, which put the whole noisy nonsense into perspective. I hope you have a wonderful 2011.
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Date: 2011-01-01 12:33 pm (UTC)~2011 ooh!
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Date: 2011-01-01 08:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-01 12:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-01 11:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-01 11:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-01 11:14 am (UTC)How was your new year's celebrations, by the way? Or were they, at all?
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Date: 2011-01-01 11:16 am (UTC)They were what they always are: food, arguing with my sister, and then watching films on telly before switching to Jools Holland for the countdown. We are a sedate people! How about you? Thank you for your text; it made me grin :)
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Date: 2011-01-01 11:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-01 11:25 am (UTC)And what are you talking about? TEA IS ALWAYS A PARTY.
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Date: 2011-01-01 11:32 am (UTC)get approved ofvisit Finland, which meant more socialising (and truffles, yay!).GASP! HOW RIGHT YOU ARE. I APOLOGISE FOR OFFENDING TEA. (LOL!)
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Date: 2011-01-01 11:37 am (UTC)I'm glad your sister managed to get home; there was a lot of nonsense with flights. Did she stay for New Year, or has she gone back to Scotland yet?
Have you ever had tea brewed with garam masala (and fresh ginger, optional)? Lovely, lovely stuff.
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Date: 2011-01-01 11:52 am (UTC)I had a hat! And a beard! And a staff! And a coat with a pillow stuck underneath! My sister was the elf! They sang me a song! And I complained about arthritis! And then handed away the presents.
The Sister just got here the day before all the flight nonsense started. So yeah: lucky! She's currently at her friend's because she and the boyfriend wouldn't have fitted in my flat. They're leaving tomorrow, I think.
Oooh, that sounds lovely! I'll have to give it a go. Is it just put into plain black tea? I suppose using flavoured tea kind of ruins the point.
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Date: 2011-01-01 11:58 am (UTC)This is genuinely the most amazing thing I have heard. Just-- brilliant!
I'm glad. A Swedish friend of mine works at a uni in London, and she was only going back for Christmas (she had NYE plans here), and she didn't make it. So I'm glad your sister skipped the madness. A lot of frustrated travellers this year.
Yes. I'm not sure how you'd do it with a tea bag, because I brew tea the old-fashioned way. But basically: water, milk, tea leaves, garam masala (& ginger); bring to the boil; turn it down, and then bring to the boil a couple more times. Indians drink their tea quite sweet, but a spoon of sugar, or a bit of honey should suffice for you.
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Date: 2011-01-01 12:15 pm (UTC)Aah, the mysteries of tea brewing are unravelling to me! I have always wondered what people mean when they say that someone can't brew a proper cup of tea; I just thought they meant someone had used water that wasn't freshly boiled. (Finns, we are not natural tea drinkers.) I mostly use loose leaves these days and a sort of "tea egg" in a cup, pour boiling water on top of it and let it stew a couple of minutes before removing the egg. So, you have to re-boil it a couple of times? Interesting. I've never tried that, must do tonight.
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Date: 2011-01-01 12:31 pm (UTC)Mostly when people say it's not brewed properly, they just mean it's not strong enough. With teabags, leave the teabag in for longer, and add the milk afterwards (or the tea won't infuse into the hot water properly). When brewing tea leaves on the stove, the reason why we bring it to boil a few times is to give the masala the chance to, I guess, marinate properly. You can boil the water with the milk in that instance because it's the milk that carries the flavour.
...huh. Apparently I know more about tea than I realised.
('Tea egg'? Like... a little strainer, to catch the leaves?)
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Date: 2011-01-01 12:47 pm (UTC)A 'tea egg' (I don't actually know if that's the official name?) is a ball/egg shaped infuser, yes. The most typical design, I think, is probably the tong shape, or a plain steel ball attached to a chain that you unscrew in half, put the tea in, screw back together and plop in the water. I have the latter kind.
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Date: 2011-01-01 12:52 pm (UTC)Oh, I know what you mean. That's pretty nifty! We just throw everything into the pan and then use a tea strainer. And we drink tea from the saucer, because we are all old people.
(Did you give me Anjulie's song Boom? If not: I need to give it to you.)
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Date: 2011-01-01 01:02 pm (UTC)It is quite nifty, especially since I got an egg that has a tiny saucer at the other end of the chain to put the dripping egg on after you've taken it out of the water. (Heh! You sound like my Gran!)
(No, I did not!)
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Date: 2011-01-01 01:06 pm (UTC)They remind me of the coffee lanterns you can get in the middle east. They work similarly. I think they're so great! Also: how much do I love that you use leaves, and not a tea bag? Old school. ♥
Yeah, you need this (http://kejenga.com/tigeraudio/Boom.mp3), I assure you!
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Date: 2011-01-01 01:33 pm (UTC)I'm a quite recent convert to leaves, and glad of it because they do make so much better tea. Also, I discovered a Tea&Spice shop at the farmer's market and they are a tea geek's paradise, loose leaves only.
Coffee lantern? What's that? (I had this lovely Vietnamese style coffee once that came in a glass that had an individual strainer/filter on top. It was pretty neat.)
Ooh! That is a fantastic song!
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Date: 2011-01-01 01:39 pm (UTC)It's like the egg thin you use, but you make coffee with hot water (not boiling), and sometimes you can get quite big ones which are used not so much for coffee as making the smell float around the room. I can't find a picture, so I think I'm calling it the wrong thing.
Isn't it? It came up whilst we were commentversating earlier, and I made a desperate hand-flaily motion.
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Date: 2011-01-01 01:49 pm (UTC)Hmm, I suppose I could use my egg for coffee as well, if the holes weren't so big, why not.
Gaaah, you cannot believe what I am listening to at the moment (someone posted it on FB): Marky Mark. Dear lord.
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Date: 2011-01-01 01:52 pm (UTC)MARKY MARK. Oh, girl. Oh no.
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Date: 2011-01-01 01:55 pm (UTC)I KNOW. God. It was only one song, though. That is my only excuse.
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Date: 2011-01-01 12:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-01 12:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-01 12:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-01 12:54 pm (UTC)Mine was quite quiet, too, and living in the sticks meant that even at midnight there wasn't too much noise.
(The address you sent me on that lovely little Moo card - is that still valid? Am updating my address book.)
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Date: 2011-01-01 01:16 pm (UTC)