English Tea Store Tea Pots

I love hot tea. Like most Americans I have always had a cup or mug of tea. The problem with having a cup of tea is that before you're able to drink it all, it's cold. Now I love iced tea, but I don't like hot tea when it gets cold. Just like I don't like iced tea when it gets warm. I found this store online a couple of years ago and have been really happy with everything I've purchased...especially my "Tea for One" tea set. The tea pot sits on top of the cup and saucer for storage so it doesn't take up a lot of space. The pot holds almost 2 cups so it's just the right amount. When you try to make a pot of tea for one person in a larger teapot, it doesn't hold it's heat because the pot is too big. This one's just right. I like to pour half a cup and keep topping it off with fresh, hot tea! I'm giving the link for the tea for one section, but FYI, the pot I bought is the English Tea Store brand for $6.95! I'm thinking about getting a fine china one though for those times when I feel like being fancy! LOL!

Here's the link to English Tea Store Tea for One section.

Collards

I'm as Southern as Southern can be. But I never cared for collards. Shhh...don't tell anybody! They might take my Southern membership card away! But weight loss surgery can be a funny thing; you don't like what you liked before and you like what you didn't like before. Sometimes I feel like John Travolta on Welcome Back Kotter..."I'm so confused!" LOL!!! One day I wanted some collards. But I had tasted some after my surgery and still didn't care for them. I decided to fix them like German Red Cabbage. Oh my goodness...they were so good! I cook them all the time now. So here's the recipe. Try them out even if you like Southern collards. You might like these too!

Collards

4-5 ounces cubed ham
1-16 ounce bag frozen, cut collards
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 apple, cored, diced large
1 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons red cooking wine
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 tablespoons Splenda brown sugar
1 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

In a Dutch oven, saute the ham until it has a light sear. Add the onion, collards, and apple to the pot. Saute, uncovered, until the collards start to defrost a bit. Add the remaining ingredients and cover. Cook, over medium to medium-low heat, stirring now and then, until all is tender, about 1/2 an hour or so.

Notes:
1. The original recipe calls for bacon, sauteed until clear. We don't like bacon so I use ham.
2. If you use fresh collards, you'll need to cook for about an hour.