gimme some grape pie

Yesterday evening, I spent a few hours at my delightful neighborhood teashop, Sympathy For the Kettle, in order to fend off the distraction that comes along with being at home and to get some reading done. Since i am on a coffee/black tea-free diet currently, the Kettle is perfect place for me since they offer a wide selection of herbal teas. I ordered a Vanilla Rooibos tea, which I first became familiar with while in Prague. Rooibos is essentially like black tea in flavor, however it is more like red tea, and both caffeine-free and herbal. It's grown only in a certain region in South Africa and in Prague I was told that it stimulates life and healthy living.

So, I sat down for a couple of hours of somewhat successful reading. At first I was pleasantly accompanied by a quiet mother and daughter chess match over at the table closest to me, which helped stimulate my work. However, as soon as they left, my progress was halted as a pair of young lovers on what appeared to be a second date sat down next to me and chatted incessantly about where they had traveled to and graduated from and yada yada yada. They were so googly-eyed over one another. They hardly noticed that I was obviously plugging my ears in order to save myself from their conversational nonsense. Usually, I think that the Kettle is a great way to spend an enjoyable evening...what more could you want? Tea, pastries, and a wealthy stock of board games like Scrabble and chess.

Oh yeah, I forgot to expand on the best part: the pastries. I persistently return to the Kettle in search of their Bergamot Cupcakes topped with Lavendar Icing (Bergamot is a citrus fruit whose power plays prominently in Earl Grey tea). These are my favorite cupcakes ever--Red Velvet Shmelvet. But, better yet, last night I saw a nice, crusty little pie sitting atop the counter that looked like it could be made of blackberries, but I was surprised to find out that it was made of delicious Concord grapes, which are now in season. The pie was remarkable--not too crusty, a lot of naturally sweet grape jam, and small enough so that it leaves you wanting more. Uh, I might have to return this afternoon to have another slice as long as they haven't sold out.