Today’s tea from my Tea Advent Calendar is one I’ve never tried before, Cocomint Green. It looks like a green tea version of chocolate mint. The tea has green tea, cocoa nibs, natural chocolate mint flavor, and peppermint leaves. It really smelled like mint chocolate when I opened the packet! At first glance, the tea leaves look like Chinese green tea. I steeped it for 3 minutes in 8 ounces of 180ºF hot water. Unsweetened, it was a little bitter (I probably should have steeped it only 2 minutes rather than 3). But this is also chocolate mint flavor, so there’s no way I was going to drink this without sugar and milk. Unfortunately, it had a slightly grassy flavor that I think was from the green tea. It sounded and smelled like it would be a good tea, but after steeping it, I didn’t much care for this tea.

Today’s tea from my Tea Advent Calendar is White Chai. I already like Adagio’s chai teas, but I’ve never tasted their white chai. I’m hoping this is as good as their other chai teas. The tea ingredients are ginger, lemon grass, cinnamon, pineapple pieces, white tea, coconut, cloves, cardamom, natural spice flavor (what in the world is that???) apple pieces, red peppercorn, and natural cinnamon flavor. When I opened the packet, it smelled like chai tea, except a little fruitier. I’m not sure if that’s because of the white tea or the pineapple pieces. I steeped it for 3 minutes in 8 ounces of 195ºF hot water. It didn’t taste terrible unsweetened, but I prefer my chai tea sweet and milky, so I added sugar and almond milk. It had a much lighter, slightly fruity flavor compared to regular chai tea. I liked it a lot! I could taste the lemon grass, which gave it a nice brightness. It was a nice tea to drink right after lunch.

There’s a huge Christian/Sweet Romance readers Facebook party at the Whispers in Wyoming Facebook group . My time slot is tonight from 5 pm to 8 pm EST (2 pm to 5 pm PST), so I’ll be there soon! Six other Christian/Sweet Contemporary Romance authors are at the party with me during this time slot: Jan Thompson, Nancy Bolton, Andrea Boyd, Susan K. Beatty, Lisa Prysock, and Danni Roan. I don’t know the other authors except for Jan Thompson and Lisa Prysock. They were both authors with me in the Save the Date Christian Contemporary Romance anthology that made the USA Today bestselling books list! I love both of them and it’ll be fun to have them during the same time slot tonight! I hope you join us!

Today’s tea from my Tea Advent Calendar is Cherry Marzipan Oolong. I’ve actually tried it once before, several years ago, and I’m really looking forward to it. It has oolong tea, cinnamon, apple pieces, rose hips, natural wild cherry flavor, natural almond flavor, cherries, and rose petals. When I opened the packet, it smelled like cherry candy, but I could also smell the almond flavor. I steeped it for 5 minutes in 8 ounces of 212ºF hot water. It’s actually quite good unsweetened. The oolong is very pleasant, not bitter or too malty, and it compliments the cherry really well. I don’t really taste much almond, though. I tried it with sugar and almond milk, and then I tasted more almond flavor, although I’m not sure if it’s because of the almond milk. I tasted less cherry, though. If I made this again, I’d skip the sugar and almond milk so that I could taste more of the cherry. This was a good tea!

I really love banana nut bread, so I was pretty excited to see today’s tea from my Tea Advent Calendar , Honeybush Banana Nut. I’m not a huge honeybush fan, but I don’t mind the flavored honeybush teas from Adagio, so I was expecting a pretty good cup. The tea has honeybush tea, apple pieces, cinnamon, cocoa nibs, natural banana flavor, natural chestnut flavor, and marigold flowers. I could smell the banana and chestnut flavors as soon as I opened the bag. It didn’t quite smell like banana bread, but it was close! I steeped it for 5 minutes in 8 ounces of 212ºF hot water. I didn’t like the unsweetened tea when I tasted it, so I added almond milk and sugar. WOW what a difference that made! That’s a great cup of tea! It’s like slurping banana nut bread. I loved it!

Day 2 of my Tea Advent Calendar is Pomegranate Grove, which is a non-caffeinated tea. It has apple pieces, rose hips, hibiscus, cinnamon, ginger, natural pomegranate flavor, rose petals, raspberries, and orange. It smelled almost like hard candy when I opened the package! Yum! I steeped it for 10 minutes in 8 ounces of 212ºF hot water. It turned a beautiful red color when steeping! It tasted tart and a little bit sweet when I tried it unsweetened. But when I added sugar, it really brought out the pomegranate flavor, and the cinnamon was only a hint, just enough to give it a little bit of depth. The raspberry flavor also gives it a little bit more fruitiness. A really delicious tea!

「ひとり寿司」をブログに連載します！ ひとり寿司 寿司シリーズの第一作 キャミー・タング 西島美幸 訳 スポーツ狂のレックス・坂井 —— いとこのマリコが数ヶ月後に結婚することにより、「いとこの中で一番年上の独身女性」という内輪の肩書を「勝ち取る」ことについては、あまり気にしていない。コントロールフリークの祖母を無視するのは容易だ —— しかし、祖母は最終通告を出した —— マリコの結婚式までにデート相手を見つけなければ、無慈悲な祖母は、レックスがコーチをしている女子バレーボールチームへの資金供給を切ると言う。 ダグアウトにいる選手全員とデートに出かけるほど絶望的なわけではない。レックスは、バイブルスタディで読んだ「エペソの手紙」をもとに「最高の男性」の条件の厳しいリストを作った。バレーボールではいつも勝つ —— ゲームを有利に進めれば、必ず成功するはずだ。 そのとき兄は、クリスチャンではなく、アスリートでもなく、一見何の魅力もないエイデンを彼女に引き合わせる。 エイデンは、クリスチャンではないという理由で離れていったトリッシュという女の子から受けた痛手から立ち直ろうとしている。そして、レックスが（１）彼に全く興味がないこと、（２）クリスチャンであること、（３）トリッシュのいとこであることを知る。あの狂った家族とまた付き合うのはごめんだ。まして、偽善的なクリスチャンの女の子など、お断り。彼はマゾヒストじゃない。 レックスは時間がなくなってきた。いくら頑張っても、いい人は現れない。それに、どこへ行ってもエイデンに遭遇する。あのリストはどんどん長くなっていくばかり —— 過去に掲載済みのストーリーのリンクはこちらです。 *** ジョージは指を鳴らした。「分かった、君って、僕の元カノに似てるんだ」 デートの最中に元カノの話をするのは、自分の車を鍵でキーッと傷つけてくれと頼み込むようなものだということを、知らないのだろうか？ 「そうだそうだ、君って本当に彼女にそっくり……といっても彼女の方が可愛かったかな。シワも少ないし」 シワ？ シワなんてあっただろうか？ レックスはまだ三○なのに！ 「それにあの子の方が、体が曲線的だったな」ジョージは、砂時計のように、あり得ないほどくびれた体型を空中に描いた——「ケ...