Tuesday, October 23, 2007

It's COLD!!!!

Yesterday it rained all day long. And the low last night was higher than today's high was expected to be. We awoke with temperatures in the low 50's and it didn't rise above 56°. Considering that yesterday's high was 83°, that's COLD!!!


We did math, then headed out to an ice skating rink where a homeschooling friend of ours was celebrating her youngest child's "Gotcha" day. They adopted E. from Romania and decided this year to celebrate the anniversary of his arrival to their family with an ice skating party, the proceeds of which will go to a Romanian orphanage. There was a lot of fun and food, but it was COLD in that place!!! And going outside was no relief!


After skating, Morgan had cheer practice. On the way home we ran a couple of errands and Steve and Joshua graciously took horse duty for us this evening. Supper was left-over Chinese food. BUT....we had freshly brewed iced tea.


Someone asked in my comments how I make my iced tea and so, in celebration of this icy Louisiana day, I'll post the recipe for this favorite icy Southern beverage.


Louisiana Sweet Iced Tea


Start with cold tap water. Bring it to a boil. It's more cheerful if you use a colorful kettle.



I like Luzianne decaffeinated teabags. I use four family size bags to make a gallon of tea.




Remove the boiling kettle from the burner. Add the teabags and cover, letting the tea steep for a minimum of 10-15 minutes.

Add two cups of sugar. This is SWEET iced tea, remember?



Add the warm tea and finish filling the pitcher with cold water.




Add ice. I prefer crushed, but Steve says cubed is best. I'm right, of course.



I'll also add a slice of lemon or lime. Steve says no lime or lemon, thank you. I'm right, of course.

Tonight felt like a "lime" night. Add a good book and enjoy!

Now I'm COLD. So I'm off to make Peppermint Cocoa and get into my snuggly fleece jammies.

11 comments:

Emily said...

We had highs int he 90's today. Tomorrow they are forecasting mid80's . . .blow some of the cold air down here LOL Also, thanks so much for the iced tea recipe!

Junebug said...

I am going to try your tea recipe. My son bought me a colorful blue Le Creuset kettle for Christmas one year and I use it all the time.

Junebug said...

I went to my cupboard and what did I find? Luzianne decaffeinated family size tea bags!! I forgot I bought them. Now I'm set to go. Hey, I love crushed ice too. Why can't refrigerators put out that crushed ice? Mine crushes ice but not quite the same.

Cynthia said...

I'm definitely not a sweet tea person - thought you might want to know that so you won't serve it when I come (LOL)! But, the peppermint cocoa sounds GREAT! You now I'm joking about serving the sweet tea, but I still don't like it. I just thought you should know since you like to point out my food preferences on your blog.. which you know I don't mind and I'm just teasing you!

Unknown said...

Well, Cynthia, you'll just have to drink water. :^) Actually, I usually don't drink a lot of tea - I prefer water. Or coffee (with chicory, very sweet and lots of milk).

Okay, no tea with shrimp etouffe' for Cynthia.

Jennifer said...

Thank you for posting that! I can't wait to make some! I wonder if splenda would taste the same as regular sugar.. HMMMMM????

Unknown said...

Actually, this pitcher did have Splenda instead of sugar. I use the same amount. But you can definitely taste the difference and everyone prefers it with real sugar. But Splenda makes an okay substitute. Better than any other artificial sweetener.

Anonymous said...

That looks SO refreshing! It's warming up over here, I'm going to try it! We drank iced tea in South Africa, but not as sweet. Yours looks delicious.

Michele said...

We make Sweet Tea all the time as well. I haven't like the Luzianne as much, found it to be be a little weak. Maybe we need to use 4 tea bags instead of 2? I had been using the store brand of the decaffinated family size tea bags.

Cynthia said...

LOL! Ok. I'll just drink the water! I could probably be convinced to take a little tea with you!

Junebug said...

Oh, I forgot to tell you the tea was delicious. I don't usually make it that sweet but it was great. I cut the sugar in half the next time, people around my house drink tea without sugar, but if they want my tea they have to drink it with a little sugar at least. I can go to a restaurant and order unsweetened tea, but at home I make it like my mom did and I think it is the best.