Anyone that knows my Grandma Julie knows that she makes the best iced tea around. On any given day, she goes through at least 2 pitchers of the stuff. As a little girl I think I drank more of this tea then I did water or milk. When you visit her, you can refuse all you want, but by the time you leave you will have consumed at least one large glass of sweet tea. Really though, no one is complaining. The tea is great, and I miss it dearly when I am in Oregon. I tried recreating it several times, thinking it would be easy, how hard could tea be? It wasn’t easy though…I never seemed to get the balance of sugar and tea right and some pitchers turned out just awful. I finally broke down and asked my grandma what her secret was. She sent me a letter containing her recipe, and to my surprise it involved microwaving the tea, not brewing the tea in a kettle. After a few attempts at her recipe, I think I finally got it right. Now I can enjoy that sweet tea whenever I want to at home, but somehow it always tastes better at her house.
Take a large Pyrex measuring cup or microwaveable bowl and place 4 small or 1 large family size Lipton Black tea bags in 4 Cups water. Microwave on high for 5 minutes. Let sit at least one hour. (The longer it sits, the stronger it gets.) Put 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup sugar in pitcher (I start with 1/2 cup and then taste before adding more.). Pour 2 cups COLD water into pitcher and stir. Add tea mixture and ice. (Don’t add the tea mixture hot or it will crack your pitcher!) If you like your tea strong, add another tea bag to first step, if you like it weak, add more water, if you don’t like it sweet, add less sugar (you can always add more later!) Make yourself a pitcher and sit on the deck, maybe give your grandma or mom a call, she just might have that little secret that will make your recipe perfect.
Grandma Julie & Sofia
Thank you for the tuna-bean recipe. I love beans: they are a mainstay of my vegetarian diet.
ReplyDeleteI made the tortellini dish with great success, and little time to prepare for guests. I think it has also become a standard in Anna's family now, too.
About roasting vegetables: root vegetables do especially well roasted: carrots, beets, onions, potatoes, parsnips (my new favorite to roast.) Our CSA suggested a glaze of one part maple syrup and one part balsamic vinegar, and roast a few more minutes. Very nice balance.
I will be posting 2 more recipes using beans this week. I am looking forward to getting my CSA box in a month or two, I will definetly have to try that glaze!
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