Teacup Terrorist

It is getting colder outside, which makes me want to curl up with a cup of something hot. My beverage of choice right now is hot apple cider.

I have found the best way for me to enjoy my cider is by warming it on the stove. I want it warm enough that it is steaming, so I can sip it a little. Try adding a hint of cinnamon right before you serve it. For a little more zest add a little (brandy).

Ps. It is also called MULLED apple cider

Talk about a warm drink! Thanks (mom) Iris for your awesome take on how to enjoy hot apple cider this chilly fall season.

Summer may be winding down, but the heat surely isn’t. You still have plenty of time to make iced tea. My mom makes it all year round. That opens us up for another edition of Iris’s Carafe:

I make my tea on the stove. You take a glass pot and fill it with water. Bring the water to a boil. Then you get about 4 or 5 teabags and stick them in the boiling water. Let them steep for a few minutes. Once steeped, pour the tea into a pitcher. Then you repeat the process with the same teabags till the pitcher is full. Add a cup or two of sugar and place the pitcher into the refrigerator. Once cold, enjoy

Technorati Tags: Iris’s Carafe

Within one week I should have in my hands a brand new package of Kona coffee directly from Hawaii. Thanks to my friend Marisa, you will all get a full review of my thoughts and feelings on Kona.

In other news, Iris will be adding her thoughts again soon. We just talked yesterday about her next post of Iris’s Carafe. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.

Here is our first featured tip from our guest blogger, my Mom, Iris.

I have discovered a good way to brew green tea. Use a glass lined *not plastic lined* thermos to steep your green tea in. I have an Oster ThermoCarafe. Boil your water, put the water in the carafe, put your tea bags in that and close it. Then let it set. It comes out so good.

It makes such a difference. The taste is more robust. The tea comes out darker. It’s a better way to infuse your tea. You don’t even need to sweeten it. If you do need a bit of sugar, add a little apple juice. It’s a beautiful thing.

Also, you will have piping hot tea for at least a day. The tea doesn’t go bad. I left it over night and went to get some the next day…it was still too hot to drink. I left it another day and it was still warm.

My sister Janet says that it tastes funny in the coffee pot, but in the thermos it comes out better than the store.

Technorati Tags: green tea, tea