Baker's Best of Health

I recently bought a new variety of tea that looked inviting on the package, but turned out to not taste so good. I knew I’d never drink the stuff, but instead of throwing it out, I decided to keep the bags and use them for their health benefits. Here are a few ways to use tea bags to perk yourself up without ever taking a sip:

• Cooled tea bags are just the ticket for sunburned eyelids. Steep four bags in a quart of boiling water for several minutes, then let them cool to lukewarm. Squeeze the liquid from the tea bags and lay them on your puffy peepers.
• The practice of soaking sweaty feet and hands in tea has been around for centuries, and for good reason! The tannins in the tea help close your pores, thereby shutting off the waterworks. To try it, steep five bags in a quart of hot water, let it cool, and soak your hands or feet for 30 minutes every other night for a week.
• The simplest relief for an angry rash? Squeeze out a cooled tea bag and hold it on your tortured skin.
• Comfort a child who’s just had a shot by applying a wet tea bag to the “scene of the crime.”
• Try this relaxing soak at the end of a tough day. First, put a few chamomile tea bags in a piece of gauze or a leg cut from a pair of pantyhose. Next, slice an orange thinly. Hang the tea pouch under your bathtub spigot as the warm water runs into the tub. Float the orange slices in the water, climb in, and let your cares drift away.