Ingredients: peppermint leaves, rosemary and sage

Start with cold water, place it on the stove and bring it to a "mad boil." Pour the water in a heated cup, add 1 teaspoon of tea leaves and allow to steep for 4 or 5 minutes. Add honey or sugar if you prefer sweetened beverages. Serve at the end of a hectic day with sugar cookies, a crackling fire and a good book.

ingredients: rosehips, lemon grass/balm, lemon peel, cinnamon A teaspoon of each. Simmer 3 min.

Anna, 7th Duchess of Bedford, is reputed to have originated the idea of afternoon tea in the early 1800s. She conceived the idea of having tea around four or five in the afternoon to ward off the hunger pangs between lunch and dinner. Some time earlier, the Earl of Sandwich had the idea of putting a filling between two slices of bread. These habits soon became a good reason for social gatherings, and started a trend that is still an integral part of British life.

Tea Gardens

As the popularity of tea spread, it also became an essential part of people's entertainment outside the home. By 1732 an evening spent dancing or watching fireworks in Vauxhall or Ranelagh Gardens would be rounded off by serving tea. Tea gardens then opened all over the country on Saturdays and Sundays, with tea being served as the high point of the afternoon.

Dancing was included as part of the day's festivities, so from the tea gardens came the idea of the tea dance, which remained fashionable in Britain until World War II when they disappeared from the social scene. Tea dances are, however, once again becoming an area of interest.

High Tea

For the working and farming communities, afternoon tea became high tea. As the main meal of the day, high tea was a cross between the delicate afternoon meal enjoyed in the ladies' drawing rooms and the dinner enjoyed in houses of the gentry at seven or eight in the evening. With the meats, bread and cakes served at high tea, hot tea was taken.

Tea Shops

In 1864 the manageress of an Aerated Bread Company shop persuaded her directors to allow her to serve food and liquid refreshments in the shop. She dispensed tea to her more favoured customers and soon attracted many clients clamouring for the same service. Not only did she unwittingly start the fashion for tea shops but also one foundation of women's emancipation, since an unchaperoned lady could meet friends in a tea shop without sullying her reputation. Tea shops spread throughout Britain, becoming as much a tradition as tea itself: and even today, despite the plethora of fast food and drink outlets, this tradition remains, attracting huge numbers of UK and foreign tourists.

Tea Break

Tea breaks are a tradition which have been with us for approximately 200 years. Initially when workers commenced their day at around five or six in the morning employers allowed a break in the morning when food and tea were served. Some employers repeated the break in the afternoon as well. Between 1741 and 1820 industrialists, landowners and clerics tried to put a stop to the tea break maintaining that the imbibing of this beverage made working people slothful. Although it was before the inception of trade unions the workers made a stand and the tea break remains with us to this day.

Catnip is undoubtedly best recognized as an intoxicating herb that cats find to be irresistible. Also commonly called catnep and catmint, this relative of the mint family is also a well regarded herbal calmative with numerous applications for a number of human ailments. Use of catnip as a mildly relaxing tea dates back to old England were it was a popular drink prior to the importation of teas from Asia.

In folk medicine, catnip leaves and flowers are usually steeped to make a pleasant tasting tea. Consumed prior to bedtime catnip tea is widely believed to hasten slumber and aid in achieving a restful nights sleep. It is also employed as a remedy in the treatment of tension and anxiety, and is mentioned as being a useful calmative for hyperactive children.

Catnip is also listed as a mild diaphoretic, helpful in eliminating toxins from the body, as well as acting as a carminative to support digestion, relieve upset stomach, and control the symptoms of diarrhea.

The claimed effects of this mild herb are generally acknowledged in contemporary literature which lists the principal active agent in catnip as nepetalactone, a volatile oil similar in structure to the sedative ingredient found in valerian root, another well known sedative herb.

In recent years the smoking the dried leaves of this herb has been mistakenly popularized in certain circles in the belief that one can attain intoxicating high similar to that produced by marijuana. This is now generally recognized as untrue, and was based upon a confusing similarity in the physical appearance of the two plants. Catnip is an extremely safe herb.

Catnip is in the mint family. To many people's surprise, it is an edible herb for humans as well as a fragrant herb for cats. Have a cup of tea to relax and unwind when you come home from work, and while your at it, throw some to your cat.

Included in these are upset stomachs, flatulancy, stomach acid, and stomach spasums. Use Catnip as a sleeping aid if you have insomnia. It is an antispasmodic, astringent, aromatic, carminative, diaphoretic, and an anodyne. Use it to help promote mensturation and to lessen menstural cramps. Catnip is good for those with an anema, and can also help with diarrhea and chronic broncitus. A weak tea can be given to babies to treat infant colic.

For our purrring pals, Catnip (hence the name) is an aphrodisiac. About 10% of cats do not respond to it, and whether or not your cat will respond has to do with her/his genetics. The cats respond from smelling the herb, though you'll notice that some chew on it. This is not because they receive more of a reaction to it by taste, it is because breaking the leaves releases more of the scent.

Some folk names for Catnip include: Catmint, Catnep, Field Balm. At one time Catnip was thought to help with Scarlet Fever. Some people have made claims of a hallucinogenic property to it, but this is entirely false. Catnip contains no chemicals that can cause this state of mind.

Catnip is a love herb, and it is good to use a pinch in sachets or incense with other love herbs (especially good when used in combination with rose petals). It's element is water and it's planet is Venus. The deity associated with Catnip is Bast (big surprise), and the magical use of the herb is love, animal contacts, happiness, and beauty. Many magic users use the dryed leaves of a Catnip plant as bookmarks for their book of shadows or personal magical books. When you give the herb to your cat, it creates a psychic bond between you. If it is grown near or around your home it attracts good luck. Use Catnip in spells to bring about more beauty to your life or your personal appearance.

Catnip is a Perinneal and in the mint family. It grows from 3 to 5 feet high. It flowers from mid-summer until the first month of autumn, and it is not necessarily true that the plant dies after it flowers, as opposed to it's near cousins, the mint plants. Cuttings are easy to grow from, stick a 4" long stem cutting into moist, fertile soil. This method takes approximately a week to root. Harvest the leaves and tops of this plant in the late summer and early fall. Dry the leaves, but make sure that you do not use the stems.

For human consumption internally, make an infusion with 1teaspoon Catnip to 1 cup of water, drink up to three cups a day. A tincture can be taken 1/2 to 1 teaspoon a day. Make a quick astringent from Catnip by pressing the crushed leaves into a minor cut until you are able to receive medical treatment.