Favorite Things: Teapots

As a tea lover, I am naturally concerned about passing on my passion to the next generation, and in our family, that means making sure that our children have properly-sized utensils to that they can enjoy their own cup of tea whenever they want.

What this means is that any time I see a small teacup or miniature teapot, I buy it. Right now we own several teapots, including the Grand Dame, an antique 12-cup vessel I inherited from my grandparents, a fat white low 3-cup that is the veteran of many tea sessions between my husband and I, a chipped white 5-cup pot that is the "family everyday" pot (whose lid was replaced and now doesn't fit), and this pretty Blue Betty in the photo, which was a holiday present for baby Joan. We used to have a larger Brown Betty that belonged to my oldest son, but it has vanished except for the lid, which we use on my oldest daughter's white one-cup pot.

So yes, we have many teapots, and pretty much all of them are in daily use, except for the Grand Dame, who holds court in the china cabinet and may not be touched by anyone under 30 without the shrieking banshee emerging from my innards. We also have our very own china teaset-with-pictures-all-in-blue, but that is so much of an antique that we all look at it, without using it, by common consent.

As blog reader Jim commented, a good pot of tea is one of life's joys! I hope you -- and your children -- get a chance to indulge.