Category Archives: Food

Dona Tea: Introduction

tea

For Mother’s Day, Katie gave me a bottle of masala chai tea concentrate from a company called Dona. Of course I loved the gift! I love tea and anything that spells my name right is a winner.

I looked up the company and thought I would try their assam tea — a favorite of mine. I also splurged on their tea library since I was able to receive my first order at a discount.

Dona's tea library closed
Dona's tea library open showing 18 different teas plus a sourcing map

I love the assam, it’s perfect. I didn’t try any of the tea in the tea library until today (next post) when I decided to spend my birthday month tasting and blogging about the 18 different teas in the library.

I reached out to the company to ask a question, but I forgot to ask them where their name came from. Until I know the answer I’ll assume they named it after me.

Two Menus from the RMS Queen Elizabeth

Food, Friends, Things, Travel, ,

My friend Frances Lide journeyed on the RMS Queen Elizabeth in 1957. She gave me a dress she wore when dining with the captain of the ship. I wore it once, but it fell into disrepair. Clare has it now. She also gave me two menus from that voyage.

I think it would be fun to recreate the “Suggested Menu” someday. Maybe on the anniversaries of the luncheon and dinner.

Click the images below to enlarge them.

The Westinghouse Kitchen-Proved Refrigerator Book

Food, Things, , ,

I’m not sure what literature we get with refrigerators nowadays, but back in the days when a freezer was called an evaporator, refrigerators came with handy kitchen-proved refrigerator books that explained that mold and bacteria could be prevented by COLD. Plus! Recipes!

If you need a beverage that makes 50 servings, look no further than the Westinghouse Kitchen-Proved Refrigerator Book:

Country Club Punch

  • 3 cups sugar
  • 3 quarts water
  • 1 cup strong tea
  • 12 lemons
  • 12 oranges
  • 1 quart grape juice
  • 1 small can crushed pineapple
  • 2 quarts ginger ale

Boil the sugar and water together for eight minutes, add the tea, then chill. Add oranges, lemons, grape juice, and pineapple. Place in refrigerator to mellow for about two hours. Before serving, add 2 quarts of ginger ale and ice cubes.

For small parties this recipe may be divided into thirds. If served in a punch bowl, add quarter slices of orange and lemon and one small bottle of maraschino cherries. Serves about 50.

Okay, I have some questions. Do you cut up the oranges and lemons? Or do you use their juice? I’m assuming the latter based on the second paragraph. And where’s the alcohol? (none of the “cocktails” contain alcohol).

I’m hanging on to this booklet for a while. I might like to try one or two of the better sounding recipes.