Tea has grown in popularity, and you may come across a number of tea-of-the-month subscriptions. But none will deliver better tea than this sone from In Pursuit Of Tea, an acclaimed purveyor of fine tea.

But a benefit with this subscription is: The fine tea is available in tea bags. (With other tea-of-the-month clubs, it’s loose tea, which not everyone wants to deal with.)

Each month, a box of the finest teabags—12 bags—will arrive. The 12 months of tea highlight the flavors, fragrances, and leaf types that make each type of tea unique:

 
Whether for yourself or as a gift, these teas will bring delight, cup after cup.

Sign up for your subscription here.
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF TEA
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF TEA BAGS
 
 
> THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF TEA

[1] Gourmet tea for people who prefer tea bags to loose tea (photos © In Pursuit Of Tea).

[2] Each month, a box of 12 tea bags arrives.

[1] A book for anyone who wants to paint food (photos #1, #3, #4 © Rocky Nook).

[2] Create lovely watercolors of your favorite foods (photo Pinterest).

Here’s an interesting gift for a food lover who’s artistic, or who wants to try being so. Watercolor Snacks: Inspiring Lessons for Sketching and Painting Your Favorite Foods, says it all.

Author Volta Voloshin-Smith has a large fan base of students who take her watercolor painting classes online and in person.

The first-ever watercolor food guide, this book makes it easy to create watercolor paintings of your favorite foods.

It’s for food lovers, beginning artists, experienced painters ready to explore a fun new subject (food!), and anyone who wants to explore the world of watercolors through easy exercises.

Here are comments from a fan who purchased the book:

“Painting can be a bit intimidating, but this book makes it fun! Great for a beginner or any artist—the step-by-step instructions have you painted pancakes and pizzas with confidence.

“The book features detailed tutorials on many popular foods, including boba tea, avocado Toast, ramen, donuts, croissants, and popcorn.

“The tutorials include fully illustrated steps and a key to the needed paint colors.

“(Also love that the food tutorials are organized by meals!)”

[Source: Amazon]

There are how-to lessons for 30 foods from breakfast to dessert.

Are you ready to create beautiful, delicious-looking paintings?

Get the book here.

How about some whole-grain, fiber-filled snacking for the holidays? Sure, there are chocolate and sugar involved; but Cookie Pop and Candy Pop are not empty calories like many holiday treats. They’re based on popcorn, a whole-grain food with these benefits. But yes, they are a sugary snack. We love them!

We can’t stop munching away on:

 
 
BEYOND MUNCHING: RECIPES!

The GMO popcorn can also be use in recipes such as:

 
Sound good? Check out the recipes.
 
 
A CHARITABLE CAUSE

The manufacturer of the snacks, SNAX-sational Brands, has an annual holiday campaign to raise funds for the Ryan Seacrest Foundation.

A portion of the proceeds of retail sales plus all proceeds of e-commrce sales go to the Ryan Seacrest Foundation, benefiting their Seacrest Studios within children’s hospitals across the United States.

The campaign runs through January 31st.
 
 
GET YOURS HERE

The limited-edition seasonal flavors are available at QFC, Fred Meyer, Fry’s, Dillons, King Soopers, Smiths, Ralphs, Roundy’s and other retailers.

Get them online from the SNAX-Sational.

A special holiday gift box, featuring 9-ounce bags of Candy Pop Popcorn Peppermint Hot Chocolate and regular Oreo Cookie Pop, are available exclusively at Sam’s Club nationwide, including Sam’s Club online.
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF POPCORN

[1] Candy Pop Peppermint Hot Chocolate, drizzled with minty chocolate, shown atop a mug of hot chocolate (photos #1 and #2 © SNAX-sational Brands).

[2] Iced Gingerbread popcorn atop a shake.

[3] Want to make your own? Here’s the recipe for this White Chocolate Peppermint Popcorn (photo © Popcorn Board).

Our Top Pick Of The Week is for pancake and waffle lovers who want some more excitement on their plates. Those who have only used store-bought mixes are in for a surprise with Southern Culture Artisan Foods: pancakes and waffles with such beautiful flavor that we couldn’t stop eating them—pancakes so flavorful that no maple syrup was required. (Of course, you can use it.)

And what flavor: There are 17 flavors, in fact. We’ve only tried a few of them, but we now plan to work our way through the line in alphabetical order, since each flavor calls out to us.

 
 
FLAVORED PANCAKE & WAFFLE MIXES

Where to begin?

 
The mixes are non-GMO, and made with organic flour, organic sugar, flavorings (banana, cocoa, pumpkin, etc.).
 
 
VEGAN FRIENDLY

All of the mixes except three are vegan (Banana Pudding, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip contain dairy ingredients).

There are conventional and vegan* preparation instructions for the pancakes and waffles on each package.

Vegans can:

 
 
WHAT TO MAKE FIRST?

Beyond a breakfast or brunch of pancakes or waffles, we suggest:

 
 
GET YOUR PANCAKE & WAFFLE MIXES NOW!

Individual 10-ounce cartons make great party favors and stocking stuffers. What a treat!

Head to SouthernCultureFoods.com

Plan ahead for these celebrations:

 
 
ABOUT SOUTHERN CLUTURE ARTISAN FOODS

Southern Culture is the creation of entrepreneur, chef, and restaurateur Erica Barrett. Her line of packaged foods includes the pancake and waffle mixes, plus bacon rubs,stone-ground grits and whole bean coffees.

Erica Barrett and her products have been featured on “The Profit” with Marcus Lemonis, and on Shark Tank. Both appearances resulted in offers. (The Sharks enjoyed Banana Pudding Pancake and Waffle Mix and Original Bacon Rub.)

Oprah chose Truffle & Sea Salt Stone Ground Grits as one of her favorite things.

She’s also cookbook author of Shuga & Seoul: A Collection of Sweet and Soulful Recipes Created from the Depths of the South.

Erica, we love your taste!
 
 
> PANCAKE HISTORY
 
> THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF PANCAKES
 
> WAFFLE HISTORY
 
>THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF WAFFLES

[1] The red velvet flavor is outstanding—and we say that as someone who describes most red velvet products as “eh.”

[2] Southern Culture improves the blueberry pancake with blueberry powder and blueberry bits. Feel free to top with fresh blueberries (all photos © Southern Culture Artisan Foods).

[1] Blue Winter Daiquiri, the perfect color for Hanukkah, rimmed with decorating sugar (both photos © Kōloa Rum).

[2] Kōloa white rum is one of seven rum expressions, plus three bottled rum cocktails.

Spell it Hanukkah or Chanukah, the Festival of Lights began last night. You don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy this eye-catching blue and white cocktail (blue and white are the colors of the flag of Israel).

The recipe was developed by The Rogue Brussel Sprout for Koloa Rum.

It tastes as good as it looks…and it actually has a pinch of nutrients provided by the blue spirulina, that turns the cocktail bright blue. If you don’t want to purchase spirulina (it”s available at health food stores), you can use food color.

Thanks to Koloa for the recipe. Check out their fine premium rums—great holiday gifts for rum lovers.
 
 
RECIPE: BLUE WINTER DAIQUIRI
 
Ingredients Per Drink

 
Preparation

1. COAT the rim of a coupe glass with decorating sugar or sparkling sugar (see the different types of sugar).

1. DISSOLVE the blue spirulina in a cocktail shaker with a tiny splash of hot water. Add the remaining ingredients and shake with ice.

2. STRAIN into a chilled coupe glass with a sugared rim.
 
 
MORE HANUKKAH COCKTAILS

*Spirulina is a type of blue-green algae with strong antioxidant effects. It is one of the world’s most popular supplements, loaded with nutrients and antioxidants that may benefit your body and brain. Here’s more about it. Blue spirulina has a neutral flavor and aroma, while green spirulina has an algae character. Here’s more about it.