April 2017

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

Spring has arrived with a flurry activity. I enjoyed chatting with those of you who attended the Women's Fiction Fans Spring Party on March 28. If you don't already belong to our Facebook Group, you can sign up here today. We are a group of nine women's fiction authors who post every day, occasionally offering giveaways, about women-related issues.

The winner of the codeword giveaway I held in conjunction with the spring party is announced below. 

Let's jump right into the business of the day. Be sure to scroll all the way down for this month's giveaway and a save-the-date for a party you don't want to miss.

Sweet tea sipping and front porch sitting go hand in hand in the South. I did a considerable amount of research for my upcoming release, and I thought I’d share some fun facts I learned about sweet tea with you today. Scroll down to participate in my sweet tea related giveaway. 

• Sweet tea is the norm in the south, but in other parts of the country, it is usually served unsweetened, although many argue this point.
• June is National Iced Tea Month.
• June 10th is National Iced Tea Day.
• Tea was first grown in the US in South Carolina, the only state to have commercially produced it.
• The oldest recipes for cold tea were called punches. They used green tea and were spiked with liquor. American versions of these punches were known as Charleston’s St. Cecilia Punch and Chatham Artillery Punch.
• Nonalcoholic tea wasn’t widely consumed on ice until ice became available in the south around the turn of the nineteenth century.
• At the World’s Fair in 1904 in St. Louis, iced tea was popularized and commercialized.
• Also in 1904, New York City tea importer Thomas Sullivan introduced the small cloth bags that are used to brew tea today.
• In the early 1900’s, teaspoons and tall glasses were developed specifically for iced tea drinking.
• During prohibition, Americans searched for alternatives to illegal alcoholic beverages leading to an increase in the popularity of iced tea.
• There is no tea in the popular alcoholic beverage Long Island Iced Tea.
• With flavonoids reputed to resist cancer and other health ailments, tea has a reputation for being healthy. Just don’t drink a gallon a day.
• While iced tea is popular around the world, the tastes vary by country. In some parts of Europe, ice tea is sold carbonated, and you can find unsweetened green tea in vending machines in Japan. Indian iced tea (Chai) features Indian spices but the Thai version is sweetened with sugar and condensed milk and served over ice with evaporated milk and coconut milk.

Thanks to the websites listed below for providing me with such valuable information. Visit their sites for more fun facts.

•  Bombay Outdoors
• What's Cooking America
• Food Network

Giveaway

I hope you enjoyed all the fun facts about sweet tea. Did you learn anything new? Hop over to my blog and enter to win one of two copies of SWEET TEA TUESDAYS when you take a survey about tea. 

Tiffany Crotts, you are the lucky winner of the $15.00 eBook from the Let's Get Together giveaway that took place during my Facebook party on March 28. Please respond to this email with your book selection! 

Mark Your Calendars!!

Join me from May 1 at 6 pm until May 2 at midnight for a Virtual Garden Party on my Facebook Author page to celebrate the release of SWEET TEA TUESDAYS. I have lots of giveaways and fun discussions planned for the event.

So much excitement headed our way! Looking forward to chatting again soon.

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