A Nice Cup Of Tea to Warm Up Your Christmas Holidays

I do love drinking tea, especially during winter time when it's cold(er): it warms me up. And, when I need a break, there is nothing better than a nice and warm cup of tea.
There is a very wide variety of teas, and if you include herbal teas your choices increase even more.
Many studies show the benefits of drinking tea. Every tea, black, white, green, oolong or herbal tea, has its own properties. So drink tea and try the different varieties.
Moreover, there's more than just the pleasant taste and warmth of tea: it's relaxing and makes you feel content. And the process of making tea also brings this feeling.

Speaking of the tea making process, here are some tips:

• Find a good quality tea, possibly from a specialized tea shop. I do not know of any such a shop here in Rome, but I would appreciate if some of you woul let me know if you have ever come across one. Alternatively, there are web sites offering a wide selection of very nice tea. The disadvantage of course is that you cannot smell them or try a cup of the tea you would like to buy. However, some of these sites are worth trying. One I personally shopped from is www.republicoftea.com: they offer a nice selection and ship fast. I would suggest the use of loose tea rather than tea bags; however tea bags are handy sometimes, especially if you are travelling.

• Use good, well oxygenated water. Oxygen is crucial for the tea to develop its flavour. The following do not have the right oxygen content: bottled water, distilled water, water that has boiled for too long or previoulsy boiled water.

          If your tap water tastes good, definitely use it. Otherwise, use a filter.

• Heat the water. To do that you have a number of choices: a kettle (the electric kettle enables you to warm the water very fast), a saucepan on the stove, or a microwave oven.

• Preheat the teapot. This is essential otherwise some of the heat from the boiling water that you pour for your tea will be absorbed by the teapot and your tea may not be as hot as you woul like it to be.
  

• Teapots are generally made of cast iron or ceramic and porcelain. I personally prefer and   recommend the latter (no wonder, right?). Not only because I make them, but because they can be very colorful and pleasant to the eye and I really want to enjoy my tea with all my senses, including my eyesight.

• Put your tea infuser or tea bag into the teapot and gently add hot water and then steep for the appropriate amount of time: for green teas, 2-3 minutes; for black teas, 3-5 minutes: for herbal teas, 5 minutes or longer. If you want darker teas, increase the quantity of tea (usually 1 teaspoon for 125 ml of water), don't let it steep longer: if you let it steep longer, it becomes bitter.

• Warm up your tea cup with warm water and then pour the tea and enjoy it.

If you like a second cup of tea, you should keep your teapot warm, shouldn't you. To do that, I use a teapot warmer like this one that is on sale at a very convenient price at Italian Art & Design .

This could be a very useful and fancy idea for your Christmas presents.
         

Albisola's Christmas Ceramics

It's Christmas time, time to buy presents, but also a good opportunity for spending a nice weekend in a location that hosts a very interesting event: Christmas Ceramics at Albisola.

Albisola (in the beautiful Liguria region) is a summer turist destination, also famous for its ceramics.

From November 28 to December 13, 2009 it hosts the sixth edition of what has now become an annual appointment for pottery lovers. This year, more than 150 Italian and foreign artists, famous as well as still unknown, will exhibit their works in Albisola.

This is a nice opportunity to visit this wonderful town and spend a nice weekend and maybe find original Christmas presents and decorations.

For information, click here and visit their website.

Ideas For Your Christmas Gifts: Essential Oil Diffuser

For the following month, I will post tips and ideas for your Christmas gifts, starting with this special offer for only € 12.90!!!!! You can’t miss that.

A nice porcelain essential oil diffuser with colorful hand-painted polka dots: a very nice and fancy present for a friend, a sister or for your daughter. You find it under the Small Gifts For Up to € 40 category at Italian Art & Design.

If you add a selection of essential oils, it becomes a very special gift. Essential oils can be diffused, but you can also add some drops in your bath water, massage some drops on your wet skin after a shower or a bath, or add some drops to your favorite body lotion to fully benefit from their properties.

Here is a list of some essential oils and their properties that could suit the lady who will receive this nice gift:

• Basilicum oil. Tonic, refreshing, memory boosting and insectifuge. For headaches, insomnia, depression and nervous tension.

• Cinnamon oil. Antiseptic and antibacterial. For diarrhea, dyspepsia, bad blood circulation and rheumatisms.

• Eucalyptus oil. Antiseptic, analgesic, pesticide. For flu, cold, sinusitis, laryngitis, cough, coxalgia, neuralgia, rheumatisms and mental lucidity.

• Geranium oil. Circulation tonic, anti-ageing, styptic, anti-cellulite, haemostatic and insectifuge. For stress, nervousness, urine retention, cellulites, haemorrhoids, greasy skin, menopause’s and gynecological problems.

• Jasmine oil. Relaxing, calming and aphrodisiac. For headache, menstrual period, dejection and nervous fatigue.

• Jasmine oil. Relaxing, calming and aphrodisiac. For headache, menstrual period, dejection and nervous fatigue.

• Lavander oil. Analgesic, diuretic, styptic, refreshing, relaxing, and calming. For rheumatisms, muscle’s pain, colics, dyspepsia, depression, headaches, hypertension, insomnia, stress and skin diseases.

• Lemon oil. Refreshing, stimulating, antimicrobial, febrifuge, diuretic, antitoxic, haemostatic and antiseptic. For rheumatisms, digestive and hepatic problems, greasy skin, arthritis, varicose veins, cellulites, obesity, brittle nails, flu, fever, sniffles and dyspepsia.

• Melissa oil. Antispasmodic, refreshing and calming. For chronic cough, asthma, bronchitis, colics, menopause’s’ problems, stress, migraines, vertigo, insomnia, hysteria and erethism.

• Orange oil. Calming, antispasmodic and anti-wrinkle. For skin care, obesity, fluid retention, obesity, constipation, nervous tension and stress.

• Oregano oil. Antiseptic, deodorant, aphrodisiac, tonic, febrifuge, peptic and pesticide.

• Pefitgrain oil. Antiseptic, deodorant, peptic and tonic. For acne, sudation, greasy skin and hair, dyspepsia, insomnia and nervous exhaustion.

• Peppermint oil. Antiseptic, tonic and anti-inflammatory. For coxalgia, dyspepsia, sea sickness, fever, stress and migraine.

• Rosemary oil. Corroborant, emmenagogue, tonic and antiseptic. For memory, and energy boosting, muscle’s pain, rheumatisms, bad circulation. One of the best tonic massage oils. It helps hair growing.

• Sandalwood oil. Calming, anti-ageing and cardiotonic. Considered decongestant for vein and lymph.

• Valerian oil. Soporific, hypotensive and calming. For insomnia, migraine, nervous dyspepsia and dandruff.

• Ylang Ylang oil. Calming, antiseptic, aphrodisiac. For hypertension and skin diseases.

If you are interested in combining the oil diffuser with essential oils for your gifts, please contact us for the price and to arrange a special Christmas packaging.

Orders should placed by the end of November to ensure availability of essential oils.

Small Christmas Gifts

As promised, here are the news of Italian Art and Design's Christmas gift ideas.
Christmas is coming, it's time for Christmas presents. But this is also a time of crisis and our Christmas budgets are certainly smaller than previous year.
But let's spend a joyful Christmas anyway with presents under the tree!!
Maybe this year our presents will be smaller and cheaper; maybe we can think of something useful to buy for our dear ones.
We've selected some of these presents under the category "Small Gifts Up to € 40" on our web site.
Stay tuned and visit us often the next days because we will be adding new ideas and special offers for your Christmas presents.
Here is a flavour of our selection:

Getting Ready for Christmas

Free Flash from www.tnpsc.comHere we are again, getting ready for Christmas.
And, this year again, let's try to keep up to last new year's resolution: buy Christmas presents well in advance so that I can avoid the chaos and stress of the weeks before Christmas, when everybody is rushing to shops and shopping malls to find the right present for children, husbands/wives, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, and friends.
But this year things are even more hectic since we are busy decorating our online shop and preparing special offers for Christmas.
So stay tuned and regularly check out here to see what we are preparing for your special Christmas presents.

Elettra's Ceramics at Italian Art and Design

I'm very pleased and honoured to announce that my friend Elettra Cipriani has joined me at my online shop!!!
Elettra is a fantastic and original artist whose professional work mainly focuses on experiment and research. Her Raku, "terre sigillate", and "smoked" artwork fully translates her love for experimenting with materials and techniques: combinations of coloured clays, glazes and glass, sand and metals, all contribute to the beauty and uniqueness of her work.
Elettra started her professional career in 1978. Since then she has had the opportunity to meet and work with the most famous Italian ceramists. She is the founder of "L'Albero di Terracotta" where she holds pottery courses and workshops.
Here is a selection of Elettra's work:






To view other work by Elettra click here