"tea party" news and stories

As one of the premiere faces of the Food Network, Alton Brown's enthusiasm for all things food reaches beyond the definition of "foodie." As the host of Good Eats and author of several cookbooks, Brown has spent years uncovering the science behind cooking, which in turn made him a natural choice to be the "play by play" announcer on Iron Chef America.

Brown returns this Sunday (Oct. 3) as the host of third season of The Next Iron Chef, where he'll guide us through the 10 contestants who battle it out in an effort to join the likes of Bobby Flay, Cat Cora and Mario Batali as a coveted Iron Chef.

Slashfood spoke with Brown about the concept of The Next Iron Chef, how the "secret ingredients" are chosen and how the Tea Party movement might inspire food culture down the road.

Looking to start your kids on tea early?

Mlive.com has some great tips for hosting a tea and garden party for children. From the kid-friendly peanut butter or cheese filling for finger sandwiches, to the cupcake decoration station and the small kid-sized gardening projects, this sounds exactly like something I would have loved as a child.

The article mentions having caffeine-free teas for children, and I think this is an excellent idea as well. When having a party for children, it's generally not a good idea to pump the kids full of anything that's going to very suddenly make life stressful for you as the host, and caffeine-free is usually a good policy for kids in general. Fruit or mint-flavored tisanes (herbal teas) would be an obvious choice for refreshing flavors that won't be too far outside a younger child's typical flavor palette

I also think that for kids, painting their own personalized tea cups at a place like Color Me Mine (most of you probably have a similar "paint your own pottery" studio in your local area) would make a tea party a lot of extra fun. Most kids love an art project, and then they can all drink their tea while showing off their one-of-a-kind painted tea cups. Keep in mind that the pottery takes time to complete after being painted, so remember to plan two separate afternoons: one for painting and one for drinking tea out the finished artwork.

Brenda Hyde posts lovely recipes for tea sandwiches at Seeds of Knowledge. Tea sandwiches are one of my long-standing obsessions. When I was in elementary school, I used to make tea sandwich filling recipes out of the Joy of Cooking until I had worked my way through them all.

I began making nasturtium sandwiches when we moved to a flat in San Francisco with a nasturtium-covered back fence. When they were in bloom, nasturtium leaves and flowers made their way into my green and fruit salads, sandwiches, and, of course, garnished my platters.

For a twist-on-the-usual sandwich, why not try this simple recipe at your next garden party?