May 1, 2013

From the Archives

Last month was a very busy month with demonstrations, new classes, workshops and other things going.on.  You will hear about them in later posts but for now, here is my inspiration for a tea sweet I made.  It is a tsubaki (camellia) from my yard.  Picture of the tea sweet appears at the end of this post.

 It is hard to believe that I started this blog 5 years ago this month.  I was going back through the archives and I think there are some posts that haven't been seen if you have just joined recently.   One of these days I will organize everything and publish it in a more coherent manner.  In the meantime try looking at these:

1 year ago  Appropriate dress

2 years ago It's the water -- and a lot more

3 years ago: Where do things go in the mizuya?

4 years ago: Acquiring tea utensils part 2 for those curious here is part 1

5 years ago: Tea ceremony planning

If you are interested, please browse the rest of the archives.  There may be something you might find interesting.

4 comments:

  1. I wanted to thank you so much for your post awhile ago about making shiroan. Using your instructions as a guide, I made some for the first time this year. This is what I made: https://gallery.soufflemoments.com:440/v/admin/food/cherry-willow+kinton.JPG.html

    I was wondering, though, how do you form a shape like what you show here? Do you use a towel of some sort to wrap it? If so, what kind of towel? When I tried to make something like that using just my hand, it didn't look smooth on the outside at all...

    Thank you again!

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    1. Tea Apprentice,
      Thank you for showing me your work. It is good to know that people read the blog and actually put it into practice! As for this shape, it is a technique call shibori chakin. Where you take an old chakin and wrap your an ball and twist it. If you don't have a chakin, you can just use a square of muslin or even plastic wrap. Oh and don't forget to dampen your cloth and wring it out so the bean paste won't stick to it.
      Good luck, and let me know how it works for you.

      Margie

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  2. The tea sweet is so amazing! I had to go back to the blossom photo --- just to make sure the sweet wasn't also a real blossom! Thank you for sharing, Margie. And thank you for the reminder to go through the archives. I look forward to doing that --- as to learning more about the true art of tea.

    LaDonna
    Gracious Hospitality

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    Replies
    1. LaDonna,
      Thank you for your comment. Enjoy the archives
      Margie

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