It's electric!

It's electric! My new tea kettle that is. Several of my friends have electric tea kettles and I've envied the way they quickly heat water. Once I was enlightened on the other uses for it (such as quickly boiling water for spaghetti) I could rationalize purchasing yet another kitchen gadget. Our local Big Box store had one kettle in stock, but it was plastic inside. Yech. To make a long story short, I wound up ordering a stainless steel version from Amazon. It arrived last Tuesday, along with the handy teapot with an infuser basket. And I love them both! Tea making is so much easier and faster. In the morning I barely have time to locate the infuser basket and measure out the loose tea before the water is done heating. I was too thrifty to purchase the tea kettle with a built-in thermometer, so I still use my trusty probe thermometer. I just stick it into the spout while the water is heating and it beeps when the right temperature hits (160* for green tea).

The little teapot is adorable and oh so handy. It has a built-in infuser basket with micro-fine mesh to keep leaves from getting in my tea. Over the weekend I discovered the infuser will fit in the mouth of an average kitchen mug and a wide-mouth mason jar. The teapot holds 18 oz and is the right size for me in the mornings. The lid doubles as a place to set the basket once steeping has completed. The best part is that I am getting 2 of 3 cups of green tea first thing in the AM.

Anticancer Notes:
*ECGC, present in green tea, is powerful in preventing/fighting cancer. 2-3 cups of tea per day are needed for ECGC to be detected in blood levels.
*Plastic is not the ideal container to heat food in. Alternatives include glass, ceramic or stainless steel.