How to Remove Caffeine from Tea

[ from Qualiteas.com ]

The biggest surprise is that approximately 80% of the water soluble caffeine in tea is released during the first 30 seconds of brewing. So, to remove most of the caffeine from your tea, simply pour boiling water over the loose-leaf tea leaves in your teapot, allow the tea to steep for 30 seconds, and then discard the liquid. Use the same tea leaves with fresh hot water to brew a close to fully decaffeinated cup of tea for drinking.

You will find this process highly effective, allowing you to enjoy the originally caffeinated teas you love without major concern over caffeine content. Test it for yourself and you will see that it works.

Be sure to use only loose-leaf, premium-grade teas instead of the tea in teabags. Unlike teabags loose-leaf teas can be brewed over and over again until you have depleted the leaves of their wonderful natural flavor. This means that the same teaspoonful of tea can produce two, three or more cups of tea all from the same leaves. It is nearly impossible to brew a second worthwhile-tasting cup of coffee from the same grounds, or a good second cup of tea from most of the off-the-shelf supermarket teas sold in teabags.

Cheers...

FoodScapes: Amazing Photo Art You Can Eat

London based photographer Carl Warner was apparently never scolded to stop playing with his food - or perhaps he was and this is the result. Using food as the medium, he constructs landscape photos that generate the double-take effect followed by the obligatory "How did he do that?"

Consider this fishscape which features rocks made of oyster shells and crab claws, boats made of marrows and asparagus, and a shining, silvery, slippery sea of fish.Carl admits that there is some wasted food in the process, but most goes to feeding the crew, family and friends.

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First Ever "Green" Cookie

Long Island-based Nutritious Creations has introduced the Hybrid Cookie(TM) comprising a line of new chip-like cookies taking the healthy snacker by complete delicious surprise.

The Hybrid Cookie, which utilizes the irresistible crispy taste that comes with baking a snack and the health benefits of puffing, won't leave the snacker feeling guilty. Low in fat and reduced calories, the Hybrid Cookies are kosher and dairy under the certification of the OU label. The cookie-chips come in four delicious flavors Chocolate Chip, Cinnamon Oatmeal, Chocolate Fudge and Rocky Road.

Despite being an all-natural, multi-grain snack that is a good source of fiber (4g), the cookie-chips have been described as satisfying and sweet snacks for children and adults alike as well as those on a health-conscience diet.

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Top 10 Office Snacks

Courtesy of New York Dietician, Marissa Lippert.

Here�s her list:

Top 10 all-around picks, in no specific order, to stash at your desk or in your office fridge

1. Raw, unsalted nuts (almonds, pistachios, cashews, walnuts, pecans)
2. Kashi TLC granola bars, Gnu Flavor & Fiber bars, Lara bars (or check out youbars.com and create your own)
3. Low-Fat Laughing Cow Cheese, Coach Farm Goat Cheese or organic part-skim string cheese
4. Fage 0% Greek Yogurt or Stoneyfield Farms Low-Fat Organic Yogurt
5. Wasa, Finn Crisp, Kavli or Dr. Kracker wholegrain crackers
6. Organic peanut, almond or cashew butter (any organic/natural brand will do, or get the freshly ground stuff at your local Whole Foods Market or health food store or through FreshDirect.com)
7. McCann�s Irish Steel Cut Oatmeal or Arrowhead Mills Organic Original Instant Oatmeal
8. Kashi GoLean or Heart to Heart Cereal; Uncle Sam�s Cereal; Bear Naked Granola (watch portions!)
9. Sweet Riot Chocolate Covered Cacao Nibs (for the occasional afternoon chocolate craving)
10. Good Health Half-Naked Popcorn or Glenny�s Soy Crisps (1.3oz � small bag)

Cheers...

Cleaning up in Beijing

The quality of the air in Beijing isn�t the only thing that the image-conscious government of China is improving. More appealing English translations of traditional dishes have been provided to restaurants in preparation for the upcoming Olympic visitors. �Husband and wife�s lung slice� will now be rendered as �beef and ox tripe in chili sauce,� while �bean curd made by pockmarked woman� becomes �mapo tofu�.

(No, I�m not making this up.)

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101 Twenty-Minute Snacks

Okay, so I'm digging through some archived stuff from last December and came across these, which don't need to wait until next December to enjoy. In fact, I'll probably whip up some of these for the Indy 500 this weekend and no one - no one - will ask, "Hey, aren't these Christmas snacks?"

NY Times Article & Slideshow

Cheers...