iPhone Friday

A Chance to Relax After Work

"iPhone Wallpaper from App: "Backgrounds"
{Click on name for link to app}

While looking at someone else's blog, I saw the idea for posting a photo taken on your iPhone every Friday. {Sorry, I do not recall which blog as I was surfing the net and caught a glimpse of the idea, then was off to another site. I am sure you know how that goes.}

For my first iPhone Friday post I wanted to share something I enjoy when I relax, but first some background.  I meet regularly with a wonderful group of friends who do Native American Beading. {Though not full blooded I have some Indian blood running through my veins.  Mainly Cherokee, but I am sure I have some other mixed in.} I am learning from a fantastic teacher {a wonderful Osage elder}! The patterns are not written down, but instead are shared in the time-honored tradition of passing the information along by word of mouth. Someday I too will pass along this information, doing my part to keep this "art" alive. I will post in the future about some of my beading and I will ask my teacher permission to include a photograph taken of him in his full regalia at a PowWow.

Recently while we were beading I was offered a cup of Chai Tea Latte. I know my DS {Dear Son} loves Chai Tea but I had never tried it as I was thinking it would be strong and have a heavy spice taste. I was so wrong!  Our hostess was making some for another beader and offered me a cup. Oh Wow!! How do you spell "hooked"?! It is possibly the best hot tea I have ever tasted.

Now I should back up and tell you that I am from the South so I love a very cold glass of ice tea and yes, "Sweet Tea please!"  I "dabbled" with drinking hot tea when I was a teenager. I would drink it but it was not "Wow!" because I had not found the right tea. I had fun trying different teas though. During this time I heard about a cup called a "Mustache Cup" while I was at camp.  When I got home I mentioned it to my father.  Being the loving Father that he is, he secretly went in search for one for me.  Dad lettered my name on mine before he gave it to me. I am not sure where he found it but I thought it was the coolest thing. I would still have it except I made the mistake of leaving it at home when I moved 500 miles away. Ooops!  My parents have moved since then and so I am quessing it was either discarded or given away. {I really should ask though!}

Since I no longer have that cup and I knew some of you would wonder what one looks like, here's a photo from Stephanie Land Clicks' Blog.

I chose a more fancy one to show you. The one I had was a ceramic mug. You can see now why it is called a mustache cup - just right for someone with a mustache.

I thought the hot tea tasted better in my mustache cup because it had been lovingly found (and personalized) by my Father! The only thing missing from my hot tea was milk. At the time I did not realize milk was needed. Growing up in the South I had not seen anyone put milk in their hot tea. I was around so very few hot tea drinkers and actually did not meet a hot tea fan until I was away at camp for a week one summer. Even though it was hot and humid {a normal Southern summer} I drank a lot of hot tea that week because it was new to me.  

Fast forward to current days and my first encounter with Chai Tea Latte. When it was presented  to me I was told it was Chai Tea. I was not sure if the creamy taste was normal for all Chai Tea but as I inquired, they told me it was a Latte so it had milk in it. The milk smoothed it out nicely. 

The photo I am using for my first iPhone Friday post was actually taken a couple of weeks ago. I went to Panera to relax and write a letter to one of my Fountain Pen Network {FPN} pen friends who is from the UK.  I decided a cup of Chai Tea Latte and a slice of Babka would be a nice treat.  {To read more about Panera's Babka, click on the name.} So without further ado, here is my iPhone Friday photo:

In my letter, I mentioned my new addiction to Chai Tea Latte and how the milk really added what had been missing {for me} from hot tea.  For as long as I can remember, I have heard  the British really know how to appreciate a good cup of hot tea. My pen friend wrote back that "milk is essential."  Yes! Confirmation that I had finally discovered what had been missing from my hot tea experience! {And by the way, that is a normal slice of Babka. Panera is very generous. It is light and airy so some can finish this big slice in one sitting. I sometimes have to ask for a to-go box so I can take the other half with me.}

By the way, to block out the sounds of the cafe, I was also listening to a mystery via "Playaway" from one of my local libraries {thus the writing on the Playaway}. I could not resist taking a photo with the Playaway so you can see how small they are. 

For those interested in seeing how Babka is made, I am including a video of Tom Gumpel, Head Baker at Panera:

Happy Friday!


from Studio Z