Bloomsbury Summer Chutney

Chutney is a fruit/vegetable combination, spices and vinegar cooked slowly for a long period of time to create a divine flavor and texture. Chutney is highly spiced and develops into a sweet-sour blending of flavors that are perfect when served with meat or cheese.

4 quarts finely chopped fruit (peeled peaches, peeled pears, figs or pitted plums)
1 large chopped sweet onion
1 cup of raisins or dried cranberries
1 small seeded and chopped hot pepper or 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 - 3 cups of brown sugar (the sweeter the fruit the less sugar)
1/4 cup mustard seed
2 Tbs ginger
2 tsp salt
1/3 tsp ground nutmeg
4 - 5 cups vinegar (white or cider)

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepot. Simmer until very thick. Stir often -- be careful as you do not want to wear HOT fruit! Ladle hot chutney into hot jars, leaving 1/4=inch headspace. If air bubbles are visible, run a knife inside the jar to release the air. Add the jar seal/lid and tighten. Turn the jar upside down on a clean cloth for five minutes so the heat of the chutney can seal the lid. Invert and listen for each jar to "pop" which signifies a good seal.

At Bloomsbury, we have many uses for summer chutney. Serve room temperature chutney in a side dish as a condiment for meats. Serve hot chutney over pork tenderloin or roasted turkey. Top brie with chutney, encase in puff pastry and bake. It is so good, that you might be tempted to just eat with a spoon! Enjoy!

Taking Tea

Now that you know the Charleston Tea Plantation is the only tea grower/producer in America, you should also know a perfect way to brew tea. At Bloomsbury we follow the same basic guidelines regardless of making loose leaf tea or when using tea bags.

Bring fresh/filtered room temperature water to a boil. When making black tea, herbal tea and some oolongs, it is best to pour boiling water over the leaves. If you are making white, green and tender oolongs, allow the boil to die before pouring the water over the leaves. It just could not be much more simple than that. Use one teaspoon of tea leaves for making each eight-ounce of tea.

Steeping time is primarily driven by your preference, but most black teas should steep about five minutes. Oolongs and green teas steep between one and five minutes. White teas require three to eight minutes. This guide will assist in brewing the best teas....remember we want to brew...not stew...tea.

For those interested in tea types: All teas are from the same plant,Camelia sinensis. Black Tea and Green Tea can come from the exact same plant; it is the curing and production process that makes the tea either black or green. Green tea is picked and dried almost immediately. Black tea is picked and alowed to wilt before being dried. 'This oxidation process produces either green or black tea. Oolong tea is produced about half way between green tea and black tea. Decaffeinated tea is green or black tea which is produced via a decaffeinating process. Remember, decaffeinated tea is not caffeine free. Herbal tea is caffeine tea, but it isn't actually tea. It is a mixture of herbs, spices or fruit that has been dehydrated and is brewed in the manner of good tea.

We would love to share a cup of tea with you...tea is always available to guests of Bloomsbury Inn.

The only tea grown in America!

The Charleston Tea Plantation is the home of American Classic Tea, tea grown in America. It is located on picturesque Wadmalaw Island in the heart of South Carolina's Lowcountry. Its grounds include 127 acres of Camellia Sinensis tea plants and a working Tea Factory and a charming Plantation Gift Shoppe.

Bloomsbury proudly serves iced and hot tea from this plantation at the afternoon social and at breakfast. These teas are also available in the Bloomsbury gift case. Although there is no tea harvested at Bloomsbury, you can see a very old Camellia Sinensis tea plant.

The plantation is 2+ hours from Bloomsbury, it is a great place to visit. Both the factory and the plantation tour are very interesting. Did you know that caffeine-free tea contains no tea?

Rainbows

It has been so hot and dry in historic Camden SC...today's rain was a blessing. And, the blessing brought a rainbow! A traditional rainbow is sunlight spread in a spectrum of colors and diverted to the eye by water droplets. Have you ever noticed that the sun is always behind you when you see a rainbow? The sun always points directly to the top of the arc of the rainbow. Did I mention that it has been rather hot here!