2-year College Project "Three Cups of Tea" COMPLETED!

I am so happy to announce that TODAY we - the students and alumni at Brookdale - have reached our goal: raised $35,000 towards a school in Pakistan/Afghanistan through Central Asia Institute! Jesse Beutell, the new President of PTK and I just went to Commercebank and emptied 32 c-banks to finalize the "Spare Your Change for Change" campaign! This completed the project and we have now raised $35,008.26 to be exact! A check will be sent to Central Asia Institute so they can begin scheduling our school project. It is a great day, exactly two years since we had our initial luncheon with Brookdale's President Dr. Peter Burnham who questioned if we would be able to go through with a project of this kind. WE DID IT! THANKS to a lot of students in Phi Theta Kappa, Alumni members, and wonderful people at Brookdale and in our community. "Knowledge is Power - Three Cups of Tea" is truly a project where we have proven that every penny counts. And we are showing that students and alumni together can make a difference – and leave a legacy: A school will be built in Central Asia in the name of Brookdale College. THANKS, THANKS, THANKS for all your efforts. Asalaam Alaikum – Peace be with you – and the children we will make sure get an education for many years to come.

Kirsten Kristensen - Service Project Coordinator, 1st Vice President, Brookdale Alumni Association

The Elegant Eccentric Teapot

Are you into teapots? If so, you may enjoy "The Elegant Eccentric Teapot" juried art exhibition at the Barron Arts Center, 582 Rahway Ave. in Woodbridge, NJ. The exhibition runs from June 13th - July 3rd, 2008 and is open Mon-Fri 11 am - 4 pm, Sat-Sun 2-4 pm. The exhibition is curated by my good friend in tea, Food Historian and Tea Specialist Judith Krall-Russo. The exhibition shows 50 art pieces all around the teapot from 2D-3D and with a broad variety in style. Great pieces are exhibited by my tea friends, Gerda Liebmann and Julian Landa. Enjoy!

FifTea Celebration, June 21st

This weekend called for celebration. I was blessed with friends and colleagues helping me celebrate my turn of a half-century in honor of our "Knowledge is Power - Three Cups of Tea" project (http://www.3cupsoftea-brookdale.info/). We are so very close to reach our goal: $35,000 towards a school in Pakistan/Afghanistan in the name of Brookdale College. With the last funds coming in we should be able to send the final check to Central Asia Institute by the end of this week. YES! We did it!

Several teas were enjoyed during the FifTea: Welcome Tea, Formal Afternoon Garden Tea, Royal Tea Dance, Three Cups of Tea, and High Tea.

In lieu of gifts guests were asked to donate to the project and/or bring a teacup for our Three Cups of Tea table. Wonderful and creative cups were given - such treasures - that will be used for great tea times for years to come. One cup was accompanied by a beautiful painting of it by Gerda Liebmann. And then there was this other gift: Wine and wine glasses engraved with Tea 4 U. Most certainly the only Tea Coach wine in this world! The wine will certainly be enjoyed - but the bottle treasured forever. Want one? Final Cut of Ocean, NJ can help you. They are experts (and great friends and tea drinkers, too.) http://www.finalcut.com/, 732.493.1737, ask for Jack Miller.

True Teas at the Backdoor Cafe

Today was the official opening of the Backdoor Cafe in Tinton Falls. Great place to go for breakfast, brunch or lunch. They specialize in Cajun foods as buffet (for only $4.95!), but have something for everyone a la carte as well - and guess what: real teas! (Okay, I am biased. Yes, the teas are from Tea 4 U.)

Come and enjoy this great place owned by hostess Flo Gill and chef Howard Jim Montgomery. The cafe is at the back (therefore Backdoor!) of the office building on 106 Apple Street, Tinton Falls, NJ, tel. 732.224.9980, open Mon-Fri. 8 am - 3 pm.

Appreciation of Tea and Friends

What a nice surprise to get a belated holiday gift with home-made strawberry preserve and new tea accessories. The do-it-yourself teabag is held by a beautiful pewter-covered grapevine twig from http://www.clay-company.com/, made in the USA - using objects found in nature. What is better than enjoying a cup of Danish "hygge-te" (cozy tea) from A.C. Perch - from my visit last year - thinking of good friends in North Carolina (thanks Parul and Nate!) in our 80 Deg.F warm sunroom viewing the birds and the garden nicely covered in snow.

Life is uhmm .. good - tea good!

Kirsten

Run for Tea

Usually we tea people are known to be calm creatures, being soothed by the devine benefits of the tea, however, this is not always the case - not among the monks in Tibet: This award winning photo of the 2007 Costo International Photo Contest was just published in the Costo Connections magazine, March 2008. It was taken by a Taiwanese woman who was in Tibet in May 2007 and saw this young lama run accros the courtyard into the temple to make tea for an elder lama. Shu-Yu Liu got first prize of $2,500. Beautifully captured moment. I will walk out to my kitchen and make myself a nice cup of tea - actually I will make a Pu'erh mini tuocha in honor of the lamas in Tibet. I hope they don't have to stress every day to please the older lamas. Yours in Tea, Kirsten

Welcome to Tea 4 U!

Welcome to my Tea blog, welcome to my new HP computer, and welcome to our new website for Tea 4 U. Lots of improvements happen at the same time, and I excuse if some links, photos, or information are missing. We are working on creating a unity and I am looking forward to this step up in the virtual era. I will be sharing experiences and news of tea on this blog. Please feel free to comment or share ideas. Yours in Tea! Kirsten