Apologies for last week’s hiatus, dear readers! I took a few days off while a friend visited from Tucson. We had a lot to catch up on, and we saw The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies together. (Probably not my favorite Peter Jackson movie, I admit. But it was worth seeing, just for the sheer joy that is Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage on screen. Sweet Tolkien, those two know how to play on a fan’s heartstrings.)

My friend gave me a thumbs-up on my latest story premise, though, and left with a copy of my latest manuscript to read (once I’d hooked her with the first chapter). So I’m prepared to call that a win, even where writing is concerned.

In any case, I’m back with another Teatime Tuesday! My grandmother who lives in Chicago was kind enough to send my family some English muffins from Wolferman’s for Christmas, as well as some strawberry preserves.

Naturally, I sampled them right away, like the carb fanatic I am.

For my tea selection, I chose Verdant’s Black Laoshan Chocolate Genmaicha. Genmaicha is a type of tea (usually green, though not in this case) mixed with toasted rice. Verdant also added cocoa bits to this particular blend. The taste is incredibly cozy, with lots of roasted chocolate notes.

Thanks for joining me for tea, and have a wonderful week. I plan to post a brief entry on Christmas Day, about why it’s my favorite holiday in fiction. In case I don’t post it on time, though, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!