Fresh Garden Mint Iced Tea

It's August and that means most gardens are overflowing with fruits, vegetables, and herbs. After having spent months tending to our plants, our gardens are finally producing a wonderful bounty. Now what to do with all the excess. What started out as one small mint plant by August can turn into an entire bed being run over by this aggressive weed/herb. One can only make so many jars of jelly (I will be posting a few recipes for mint jellies in the coming weeks), so what else can be done with huge amounts of mint. Ice tea of course!

So this year I planted one small mint plant that my mother in law bought at the Charleston Farmer's Market. Well, this one little plant went a little crazy with the fish fertilizer that I fed it (tip: use fish fertilizer, it's awesome and one of the best gardening tips my mother ever gave me growing up) and has had to be moved to larger pots twice this summer. I have made jellies, cakes, muffins, all using mint and I still have a huge, huge plant. So about a month back I decided I would add mint to iced tea for my kids. That one pitcher has turned into hundreds, they love it. The following is the recipe I use for Fresh Garden Mint Iced Tea.

Fresh Garden Mint Iced Tea

by Ann Jones August-12-2015

This is a great way to use garden mint, especially since mint grows so well and you end up with a ton!

Ingredients

• 12 Tea Bags
• 8 cups Water
• 1/2-1 cup Sugar/Sugar Substitute
• 5-10 Sprigs Garden Mint

Instructions

1. Cut 5-10 sprigs fresh garden mint 2. Place 12 tea bags in a heat proof bowl 3. Wash mint and place in bowl with tea bags4. Add 8 cups boiling water to the bowl 5. Let steep 20 minutes 6. Place strainer over heat proof pitcher and strain tea into pitcher 7. Add sweetener of your choice and stir 8. Let tea chill in refrigerator until cold

Prep time: 30 mins Total time: 1 hour 30 mins Yield: 8 cups 

• I have made this recipe with a variety of different teas. The best is a watermelon lime tea my husband bought me. It makes great iced tea! Regardless is works with pretty much any type of green or black tea
• How much sugar/sweetener is really a personal choice. If you like McDonald's sweet tea add a whole cup. If you like to sweeten at the glass, don't add any
• I use stevia for my drinks. It's my sweetener of choice, I limit the amount of granulated sugar we consume since my oldest has ADHD and sugar makes him bounce off the walls. However, this recipe would work with sugar, splenda, you name it. I haven't tried it with honey so I can't speak for how much to add (I would love to hear if you experiment and find out though!)
• This makes strong tea. My family likes their iced tea to taste like tea, not water. If you like your tea weaker, reduce the amount of tea bags to 8-9
• A sprig of mint is 6-8 leaves, so 10 sprigs would be about 60-80 leaves. You can use one really long sprig of you want. It doesn't have to be 10 small sprigs. 

Homemade Iced Sweet Mint Tea

I have a horrible time making female friends. As far back as I can remember I have had one very close female friend and than a small group of female acquaintances. At parties in college I was more likely to be talking about political theory or science than where I got my nails done (for the record I have never actually been in a nail salon, shocking I know). To this day I have a hard time discussing 'typical' female topics. I fully admit a large part of it is my fault. I grew up with male cousins that were obsessed with professional wrestling and computers. To make matters worse I was an only child and I loved spending time with my dad, we went to sporting events, on hikes, and watched movies. Now I live in a house full of men. Most conversations in my house involve video games or bodily functions, not necessarily in that order. As I've gotten older I've realized I need to be better and more patient with forging female friendships. I have a horrible habit of getting mad at close female friends and then cutting off contact, or just losing contact through my total lack of being great about remembering to make phone calls. We all have things we can work on and one of mine is definitely being better about getting along with other women. I'm a work in progress.

Our weather has been hot and very humid. Our humidity was 83 percent today and it was 93 degrees. It was horrible. Due to the lovely summer weather I have been making lots of cold drinks. Iced Tea is a family favorite and Mint Iced Tea is a great way to use garden mint. The recipe is as follows.

Adapted from Food.com.

Iced Sweet Mint Tea

Recipe Type: Drink

Summary:

A refreshing sweet iced tea recipe using fresh mint.

Preparation Time: 0h, 5m

Cooking Time: 0h, 20m

Yield: 2 Quarts

Mint Iced Tea

Ingredients

• 12 black tea bags
• 10 mint sprigs
• 2 gallons water
• 3/4 cup sugar (or your choice of sweetener)

Cooking Directions

1. Boil the 2 gallons of water.
2. Once water has boiled add water to mint and tea bags.
3. Let steep for 20 minutes.
4. Discard tea bags and mint.
5. In a heat proof pitcher add sugar (or sweetener) and then pour iced tea over.
6. Place in fridge until cold.
7. Serve over ice and with sliced lemon if you prefer.

This tea is strong and sweet. My husband and I are both fans of strong tea, so if you like your tea weaker reduce the amount of tea bags. The same goes for the sugar. If your like your tea sweet add the amount listed, alternately you can make the tea unsweetened or reduce the amount of sugar to meet your needs. When I make this for my whole family (including my kids) I use decaf tea bags and it turns out just as good. 

Cream Scones with Strawberries

Cream Scone with Strawberries and Whipped Cream

I miss having tea with my mother. From the time I was 10 we would go to tea at one of the fancy hotels in downtown Seattle. They had a full high tea and it was fabulous. We would dress up, eat cucumber sandwiches and talk. After I had a job I paid for my mother and I to stay at the Empress hotel in Victoria (BC) and we had high tea. If you have never been it is a great and beautiful experience and one of the favorite memories I have of my mother. After my mother passed away my aunt sent me the teacups that had been my grandmothers. I keep them in a special cupboard and a couple of times a year I take them out and have tea. Last year my boys joined me and it felt complete, my mother would be smiling. There are certain foods that I always associate with having tea. Tea and scones go hand in hand to me, I love them. I am constantly experimenting with new scone recipes and this week I tried a new recipe for Cream Scones from Martha Stewart Living.

Downtown Huntington, WV From Marshall University Campus

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 30 minutes of total time, 10 minutes of which is active and makes 8 scones. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First, I always freeze my butter when making scones. It helps to keep the butter from melting while it is being handled and makes for richer scones. Make sure to minimally blend the dough. Just mix until it comes together and hand pat the dough before cutting out the scones. The less you touch the dough, the better the texture and it keeps the butter from melting. I chose to serve half of these scones with cut up strawberries which I tossed with a bit of sugar and real whipped cream.

Downtown Huntington, WV

My two boys loved this recipe. I think they ate 4 of the scones as soon as they came out of the oven. Obviously I did not eat any of them, gluten free scones are just not as delicious. Before anyone disagrees I promise I have tried a ton of recipes, bakeries etc and they just aren't as good as regular flour. These scones were great though and made nice strawberry shortcake. They were also delicious with jam for breakfast.

For the recipe go to Cream Scones.

Cream Scones with Strawberries

Recipe Type: Breakfast

Summary:

A simple cream scones recipe that also make great strawberry shortcake. Only 30 minutes start to finish.

Preparation Time: 0h, 10m

Cooking Time: 0h, 20m

Total Time: 0h, 30m

Yield: Serves 8

Melting in the Summer Heat? Try Lemon Balm Iced Tea

Lemon Balm Iced Tea

It has been raining for what seems like months. When it's not raining the temperature has been in the 90's and humid. I think we have had enough rain for the entire year just since May. While this would normally be a minor annoyance, my plants are really less than happy. I found mushrooms growing in my basil pot and the lower leaves are turning yellow. There has just been way too much rain, even with great drainage etc they just aren't happy right now. Since the rain is wrecking havoc on my potted plants I have been making an attempt to use as many of my herbs as I can while they are still doing decent. This week I came up with a new recipe for Lemon Balm Iced Tea.

• 2 cups lemon balm leaves
• 4 black tea bags
• 1 sliced lemon

Wash and hand crush the lemon balm leaves. Add the lemon balm to 8 cups of water. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 5 minutes. Take off of heat, add the tea bags and sliced lemon. Place a lid on the pot and let sit for 10 minutes. Strain the tea and add to a gallon pitcher. Add cold water to fill and let sit in the fridge until cool. Serve over ice.

That's it, a very easy recipe that is refreshing on a hot summer day. My two boys really loved the lemon flavor of this tea and drank the majority of the pitcher. It really is a great way to use lemon balm!

Cream Scones with Dried Pomegranates

Growing up my mother was obsessed with high tea. She collected tea cups, tea pots and hosted tea parties at our house. These weren't little parties either. She would spend hours making tea sandwiches, cookies and most importantly scones. Everything always had to be just right. These were also not jeans and t-shirt affairs. My mother would sew me beautiful dresses to wear to these parties, spending hours making sure everything was just right. As I got older we would spend hours at second hand stores looking for vintage dresses and coats. Then we would dress-up and go to high tea at the Four Seasons in downtown Seattle. It always felt so special and fun and I loved spending the time with my mother. One of my favorite memories of my mom was when I was able to pay for an entire trip for the two of us to Victoria, BC. I was in college and working more than part-time. I saved up as much money as I could after rent etc. and paid for the entire trip. We had a great time and the highlight was tea at the Empress Hotel. It was perfect, the food, atmosphere and most importantly the happiness reflected on my mom's face. I love these memories and every time I make scones for my children I remember my mother. Recently I tried a new recipe for Cream Scones from Everyday Food magazine, which I hoped would be as good as the ones my mother made growing-up.

This recipe has 8 ingredients. It takes 25 minutes of total time, 10 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. I did make one major modification. The super store in my area has decided to stop carrying currants, so instead of going to another store I substituted dried pomegranates. The only other change that I made was to use organic butter, I prefer organic butter, eggs and milk, especially for my two boys. I chose not to add sanding sugar to the top of the scones, I prefer the taste without it. Finally, make sure to rotate the pans halfway through the baking time to ensure even browning. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

These scones turned out very well. They had a nice flaky texture and the dried pomegranates worked perfectly. While I love currants, I thought substituting pomegranates was a nice change from my usual routine. I enjoyed my scone with a cup of coffee and it was delicious. Perfect for afternoon tea (or coffee) or anytime of the day.

For the recipe go to Cream Scones.

Cranberry-Orange Scones

I am finally back home after visiting family for the last week. You may have noticed if you follow me on social media that I have been posting a large number of West Virginia photos. My family had a great time going on hikes, parades and visiting parts of the state that we had only been to a few times previously. Now comes the chaos of school starting next Monday. I can't believe how fast this summer has gone. My oldest is nervous and excited about starting first grade, I am just looking forward to being back down to one child during the day. So this is the week that we are getting our breakfast and sleeping routines back in order. I have gotten much better about at least eating something for breakfast everyday and this morning I tried a new recipe for Cranberry Orange Scones from the July issue of All You magazine.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes 25 minutes of prep and 15 minutes of bake time and makes 12 scones. This recipe was very straight forward and I made very few modifications. I have switched over to using organic butter and that is what I used in this recipe. For the orange juice I used fresh squeezed, the flavor is better and the price is low. I did make a few changes to the baking. Before the scones went into the oven I brushed the tops with heavy cream. I always do this with scones, it helps to brown the tops and gives the scones a nice flavor. I found that my scones took the full 15 minutes to fully brown on the top and bottom. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I am a huge scone fan. My mother loved going to high tea when I was in my teens and the tradition has rubbed off on me. I love baking fresh scones and sitting down with a great cup of coffee (or tea). Even if I only get to relax for a few seconds, I relish those moments. This recipe has a nice orange flavor without being overpowering and my two boys loved the scones. They ate the entire batch before dinner. I love how easy these are to put together and shaping the scones in a cake pan was a great idea! This is a recipe I would make again for tea, breakfast or any time of the day.

For the recipe go to Cranberry-Orange Scones.

Raisin Scones

I have a serious soft spot for scones. It steams from my mother who collected antique tea pots and tea cups. When I became a teenager we would go to high tea at the Four Seasons hotel in downtown Seattle. We would go all out, it wasn't jeans and t-shirts, I would dress in vintage Gunny Sack dresses (which are great if you have never worn one, love them!) and we would make a whole day of the event. Once I started working I decided to take my mom to Victoria, BC and to the Empress Hotel. She had read about their high tea for years and she was so excited. We had a great time and the weekend that we spent is one of my favorite memories. When my mother passed away my oldest was only nine days old and I was unable to go home. One of my aunts saved my mother's two favorite tea cups before they were scooped up by other family members and carefully shipped them across the country to my house. I am forever grateful to my aunt for this act. You can see the two tea cups on the corner of the photo. With all these memories tied to high tea and my mother scones are one of my greatest reminders of these times. Last week I tried a new recipe for Raisin Scones, which looked very simple and perfect for an afternoon tea at home with my two boys.

This recipe has 8 ingredients. It takes 25 minutes of total time and makes 12 to 14 scones. I did make a few modifications. I have never used a pastry blender or two knives for my biscuits or scones. Instead I use my hands, making sure to only break the butter into pea size pieces and not to overly handle the dough. Over-handling the dough results in tough scones that stay flat when baked. When cutting out the scones make sure to twist the biscuit cutter. This twisting allows the edges to bake correctly in the oven. Avoid having to re-work the dough frequently; try to space the scones close to one another when cutting them out to avoid making the dough tough. To brush the top of the scones with the egg wash I use a silicon pastry brush. I love using silicon brushes, they are great for a variety of baked goods and make a beautiful finish on scones and bread.

My two boys ate three of these scones as soon as they were out of the oven. They have a nice taste, without being overly sweet and are very simple. I would recommend eating these scones within a day of baking. Scones really are best when warm and go stale quickly. This is definitely a recipe I would make again!

For the recipe go to Raisin Scones.