I is for ???? Hmmmm....

 So how is everyone today? Have we all made it so far in the blogging challenge? Well today is a super duper stumper for me. The reason my post is so late this morning is because I is not really an easy food letter. Sure you have Iceburg Lettuce but isn't that really just lettuce so should be L. Then you have Ice Cream but eh not quite in the spirit of what I've done so far. So today will have to be a cheat day.

I'm going to talk today about making homemade ice-tea. A few months back in an effort to save money I began to make ice tea at home. After some trial and error I have perfected making it to satisfy everyone in my family's tastes.  The best part is that for the less than the price of one small bottle of brand name iced tea I can make nearly 2 gallons.

courtesy of theculinarygeek on flickr

There are a few methods of making ice tea. There is the sun-brewing method. But I highly recommend you do not do that as it is known to often time become a breeding ground of bacteria and people have been known to become violently ill.  You can boil water in pot add tea leaves and let cool down before serving. Then there is my all time favorite method. You boil water add tea bags then pour over ice. So much faster and still tastes yummy. Oh and there are other methods but these are the most common ones.

In my experience black tea works the best for home brewed iced tea. Although my family love when I brew it using an english breakfast blend. As far as adding flavor to the tea you can have fun and get creative. I like to add a packet of lemonade mix to my brewed tea. It gives it a nice lemon flavor and a bit of sweetness without overwhelming the tea itself. It is not quite an Arnold Palmer (equal amounts of lemonade and ice tea). You can also do things like brew mint leaves with the tea bags. Add berries, lemons, or other fruit.

courtesy of desegura89 on flickr

Level of sweetness in tea is often very subjective. When making tea for a crowd I find it best to let them pick how sweet they want to make it. Sugar substitutes will dissolve well in the tea however pure sugar does not. The solution to that is to make a simple syrup using sugar and water boiled in a pot. Let the syrup mixture cool then add to your tea to make Sweet Tea.

If you have leftover tea you can freeze it in ice cube trays and use next time so that way you don't water down your tea. You can also freeze lemonade so that way as it melts it flavors your tea. Lastly to be super fancy you can freeze berries/lemons in water to make pretty ice cubes. 

How do you like your iced tea? Do you even like home brewed tea?

C is for Cucumber

Here it is day 3! My etsy post will be a little late as I stupidly forgot to ask my feature shop the interview questions so as soon as I hear back from her I'll have it up and ready to go. See this is why I need to get organized!

Today's featured food is cucumbers. While they are not the most vitamin packed fruit/veggie out there they do contain some vitamin A, C, K and folate. they have just about 10 calories in half a cup. So they are a great item to bulk up foods such as salads and sandwiches. And of course when you grow too many this year in your garden what's better than a fresh homemade pickle?

Cucumbers are not just for salads of pickling! If you go to any fancy shmancy spa you'll often be served a refreshing beverage of flavored water. The main flavor? Cucumbers!


Refreshing Flavored Spa Water

1 large cucumber sliced
1 bunch of mint
1 lemon sliced
Cold Water


 Fill pitcher with water, most of the cucumbers, a small handful of mint, and lemon slices. Place in fridge for at least 4 hours.  Garnish drinks with leftover cucumbers.


You can also mix it up and add different fruits for different flavors. Such as instead of lemon add pears, apples, limes etc. It is very important though that you give it time to develop flavor. The longer you let it sit the more flavorful it will be. Make sure to put both leftover cucumbers and the water in the fridge not only to keep it cold but to keep it from growing bacteria.