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With New Years Eve upon us, I thought this would be a great time to bring you an old fashioned, super simple punch recipe that is suitable for everyone. If you are hosting a party, having this punch on hand in addition to your other preparations would be a very gracious and welcoming gesture.

You see, not everyone drinks alcohol. I think that is kind of a given but more and more I find myself at places where people just assume everyone does. This is especially true, in my personal experience, with wine. I realize wine is a big thing right now. I realize it has been a “big thing” for centuries, but that doesn’t mean everyone enjoys it. Chitlin’s have been a “big thing” for centuries, too, but I’m not gonna put a plate of them up in your face when  you come to my house for a party and expect you to eat them.

There are a whole slew of reasons why someone might choose not to drink alcohol,  and those folks are surely happy with a glass of water, but it is always a gracious gesture to have an alternative to alcohol at a gathering.

So this is a recipe that is easily customizable and I’ve been making it since I was a teenager. Today I’m going to show you how to make it using Splenda and Sprite Zero. This significantly cuts out the sugar and leaves the only remaining sugars to be the natural sugars in the pineapple juice. You can also use full sugar Sprite (or 7-Up, or the like) and real sugar if you like, or an artificial sweetener of your choice (I love Ideal brand sweetener when I can find it).

Now let’s talk about New Year’s Eve. I can tell you right now that I’ve got BIG plans with a capital B!

You see, my mother always said that whatever you were doing at midnight is what you’d be doing all year long. So every year, like clockwork when that ball dropped in Time’s Square, I knew exactly where my hard working mother could be found: Snoozing away, dead asleep in her bed.

My Mama has always been a smart lady. I’ve been out at midnight a handful of times in my life and have yet to find an experience that brought me more joy than avoiding the traffic, drinking, rawkus crowds and just snoozing away in the peace and warmth of my bed.

So guess where I’ll be when 2011 rolls into 2012? Yup. Dozing away.

OH! I forgot to tell you, the beauty of this punch is that you can change the flavor or color of it simply by changing one ingredient, and all that is required to make it is just pouring the ingredients into your punchbowl and stirring together. I served it on Christmas day to my entire extended family and everyone enjoyed it – not a drop was left!

Speaking of punch bowls, if you don’t have one now is the time to grab one in the stores! They are sometimes difficult to find throughout the year but pretty much every department and discount store stocks them around the holidays. You can generally get a pretty glass one with a ladle and eight glasses for under twenty dollars. Of course, if you’d like a more high end punchbowl, they’re certainly available. I’ve always wanted a pretty stainless steel one that looks like silver (without the maintenance) but I’m not ready to invest that much money in a single serving piece at this point in my life. A glass one suits me just fine

So you could head out today, buy the ingredients for this punch and a brand new punch bowl set for about $25.00.

You’ll need: Sprite Zero, Pineapple Juice, Splenda or sugar, and 2 packages of Kool Aid (or generic Kool Aid, like I’m using)

Nothing but the cheapest for my family! ~Grins~

You can also use 7-up or Ginger Ale if you like. I can’t drink ginger ale because it doesn’t like me

Pour your pineapple juice in a bowl. Add Kool Aid.

Add sugar (or Splenda)

Stir well.

Pour in Sprite. Gently stir again.

At this point, you can add an ice ring if you like. Instead of an ice ring, I just refrigerated all of my ingredients so the punch was good and cold. To make an ice ring, I’d make some kool aid ahead of time in whatever flavor you are using for the punch and put it in a jello mold or bundt pan. Freeze until firm and then dip just the bottom into warm water for five seconds before releasing it into your punch bowl.

 Can serve over ice, with an ice ring in it, or just serve cold!

“What we do today, right now, will have an accumulated effect on all our tomorrows.”

– Alexandra Stoddard

Submitted by Christy Ryan. Thanks Christy (love your name)! Submit your quote by clicking here. 

A lot of folks have asked me how I make my sweet tea so today I’m bringing you a video showing you exactly how I do it. Hope you’ll join me for a glass!

This is how we make our sweet tea but everyone has their preference. If you prefer a weaker tea, use fewer tea bags. If you like it sweeter, taste it and then add more sugar to suit you. Note: Most restaurants use a much more sugar than this . We always go through a full gallon a day (at least) but if you have any left you can just store it in the refrigerator and enjoy over the next day or two!

Sweet Tea

• 5 Tea Bags*
• 3/4 Cup sugar (more if you prefer)
• Water

Remove tags from teabags and place in small pot. Fill up pot most of the way with water (exact amount doesn’t matter as long as the tea bags are covered and then some). Place on medium to medium high heat and bring just to a boil. Remove from stove eye and prepare your pitcher.

Fill pitcher halfway (or so) with cold water. Add your sugar**. Add hot tea. Stir until sugar is dissolved and fill remainder of pitcher with cold water. Serve over ice.

*We use Orange Pekoe tea but you can experiment with making iced tea with other teas as well. Earl Grey makes a delicious iced tea!

**I prefer to use Splenda or Ideal Sweetener in my tea but use the same amount as I would were I using sugar.

The trick to having a good smooth tasting tea is to avoid adding hot tea directly to the sugar or sugar directly to the hot tea. This scorches the sugar and creates a very bitter taste in your tea. To avoid this, place cold water in your pitcher first, add your sugar to that, and then pour in your hot tea.

If you have a traditional coffee maker, I talk about how to make sweet tea in that in this post.

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

Funny Family Stories of Sweet Tea

One time my mother was watching a television talk show and they were talking about how much Southerners love sweet tea. The host said “Well it’s no wonder, they’ve probably been drinking it since they were four!” Mama took objection to this and huffed “Four? I was putting it in your baby bottles by the time you were two!” ~giggles~

My Grandmother Lucille spent a great deal of time at the elbow of my Great Grandmother (Mama Reed) after she was married learning how to cook. A lot of the daughters in law and mothers gathered at Mama Reed’s house on Sundays to help prepare the big meal. Shortly after Grandmama joined the clan she was given the task of making the Sweet Tea. Back then it was made in a large glass recycled pickle jar. Grandmama poured the hot tea directly into the jar and set to stirring it up vigorously with a long handled metal spoon. A few clinks later and the jar shattered, sending sticky sweet tea all over Mama Reed’s clean kitchen floor. Everyone had a good and gracious laugh about it but Grandmama said “I liked to never got the sticky off’n that floor!”

How young were you when you started drinking sweet tea?

Do you have any special or funny memories of Sweet Tea in your family?

I’ll pick one of the comments below to win a Luzianne Prize Pack

Winner announced on this post and notified tomorrow evening. Giveaway closes at noon central time Friday, July 1st.

This Giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Joan Whitaker! I’ve been in contact with Joan and given her directions on how to claim her prize. Have a great day and thank you!

Disclaimer: This post was not sponsored by Luzianne nor was I compensated for doing it. I just think it’s awfully good tea. I also think y’all need to go make some right now.

“Don’t wait for people to be friendly, show them how.”

Submitted by Jenny (thank you, Jenny!). Submit your quote or read more great quotes by clicking here.

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2011/06/how-to-make-iced-sweet-tea-video.html/feed 166 http://www.southernplate.com/2010/08/orange-juice-special.html http://www.southernplate.com/2010/08/orange-juice-special.html#comments Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:40:05 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=10744 Pin it

My family loves smoothies. Our reigning favorite is still the Bananarita Breakfast Smoothie, but this one holds a close second. The hubster says it tastes like one of the old Orange Julius but  I think it tastes more like a Dreamsicle to me. Concentrated orange juice is the secret to that burst of flavor while the milk and vanilla make it nice and creamy. Although Ricky and I disagreed on what it tastes like most, we both agree that it is worth repeating whenever we get a chance!

I’m working on getting my tour dates ready to announce as well as several other big announcements. Since we’re in the home stretch leading up to the book release, I’ll be doing an update post about once a week to let you know something new and exciting that is going on for the Southern Plate Family. I can’t wait to “give” you all of the surprises we have in store over the next few weeks, including some REALLY big ones! ~squeal~

In the meantime, while I work on the back end of things, get in there and make your family a smoothie . Love you all. Gratefully, Christy

You’ll need: Frozen orange juice concentrate (still frozen), milk, vanilla, and sugar. I am using Ideal Sweetener* in place of the sugar. You can use real sugar or your favorite substitute.

*Ideal is a natural sugar substitute that can be baked with just like sugar. I’ve fallen in love. Lots of local grocery stores carry it but none of the ones near me. You can order it off of Amazon.com though. I dearly dearly love it in my iced tea.

Place your frozen orange juice concentrate in a blender.

Pour in your milk.

Add your vanilla

And your sugar or sugar substitute.

Note: there is still a lot of natural sugar in that orange juice but this does cut matters somewhat.

BLEND!

(I just felt like yelling that)

Serve in a glass over ice if you like. This makes about four.

Orange Juice Special

• 1 Cup of frozen orange juice concentrate
• 1 Cup Milk (I used whole)
• 1 tsp Vanilla (give or take, I eyeball it)
• 1/2 Cup sugar (more to taste if you like)

Place all ingredients in blender and mix until frothy. Pour over ice to serve. Makes about four.

To handle yourself ,use your head

To handle others use, your heart.

~Donald Laird

Submitted by Elaine Raye. Thank you to everyone who submits quotes! I love waking up to the bits of inspiration y’all leave for us all there. To submit your quote please click here.

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]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2010/08/orange-juice-special.html/feed 34 http://www.southernplate.com/2009/12/old-fashioned-stovetop-hot-chocolate.html http://www.southernplate.com/2009/12/old-fashioned-stovetop-hot-chocolate.html#comments Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:36:13 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=6779 Pin it

I’ll never forget the first time I had homemade, real, hot chocolate, made on the stove and not with a mix. Although we made our own mix from scratch (and it was delicious) there was just something about that extra chocolaty decadence of classic hot chocolate, with that little extra bit of cocoa lingering for the last sip that had me hooked.

A while back the folks from Domino sugar contacted me to ask if I’d like to feature Domino sugar on Southern Plate, they asked if I’d use one of their recipes on their handy dandy recipe site as well. I had planned on bringing y’all homemade hot cocoa for a while now but I usually make it without a recipe and had yet to take the time to measure everything out. Lo and behold, Domino did that for me so why mess with perfection? After you make this a time or two with their recipe, you’ll likely settle into just eyeballing it like I do. Either way you go, though, you just can’t beat a cup of homemade hot chocolate!

Special thanks to Domino for sending me a gift card to gather up all of the supplies I’d need for this post, including some Domino sugar in their new little canister! Be sure to check out their recipe website for plenty of yummy holiday recipes, including mixes and printable tags!

We’re gonna need: Cocoa powder, whole milk, and sugar.

Vanilla and marshmallows are optional but don’t try telling that to my kids!

The little canister of Domino sugar sure is handy. I like it when food companies get innovative with their designs.

Oh! Family, meet Kayleigh. Kayleigh, meet my Southern Plate Family.

Kayleigh is our friend and a brilliant babysitter if you are ever trying to write a book for Harper Collins and find yourself under a deadline at Christmas time, while taking care of two kids, a blog, assorted newspaper columns, and have a house to look after.

Not that I know anyone like that but I’m jes’ sayin’….

If I ever did, Kayleigh would be my best friend.

Here is my best friend pouring sugar into a sauce pot

Add your cocoa powder.

Pour in 1/2 C milk.

Stirry, stirry! It will look kinda like a paste.

Stirring constantly, bring it to a boil.

Remove from heat and pour in remaining milk.

Stir that up well and return back to stove eye set to medium.

Pour in a little vanilla if you’d like.

Continue stirring over medium heat until heated through.

Once it is heated through, pour into cups.

Add marshmallows if desired…

As for my kids, Marshmallows are very much desired!

Brady is a big fan of his Star Wars mug.

Kayleigh liked my Pyrex flamingo pink ones.

Yummmmmy!

Old Fashioned Stovetop Hot Chocolate

The link to the original recipe may be found here. I’ve modified this one slightly.

• 1/2 cup – Granulated Sugar
• 1/3 cup – unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 1/2 cups Whole Milk
• 1/2 teaspoon – vanilla (optional)

In medium saucepan, combine sugar, cocoa and 1/2 C milk. Stir constantly over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Add milk and heat; do not boil. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla if desired. Serve hot, with marshmallows. Makes six servings.

“Blessed is the season which engages

the whole world in a conspiracy of love!”

Hamilton Wright Mabie. Submit your quote here.

Most of us have folks in our families who can’t tolerate sugar like they used to ~raises her hand~. They usually end up being left out in the cold when it comes to serving up treats. This drink changes all of that for sugar intolerant folks but also impresses everyone else as well – in a big way.  The most difficult part of making and serving this is going to be convincing everyone it doesn’t have sugar in it. Honestly, even though I’m the one making it, I still find myself pausing and feeling guilty for drinking it – it tastes that good. This is the most delicious drink, sugar free or otherwise, that I have ever had.

I’ll get on to telling you about how to make this incredibly easy and delicious drink in a minute because right now it’s tangent time. ~grins and rubs her hands together~

These are the glasses my Mama Reed used for her tea at every meal. They were considered very fancy glasses but Mama Reed never put them aside for special occasions. She considered each meal to be special and worthy of her best. “Always set your table like the President is coming to dinner” is her often quoted saying.

For their fiftieth wedding anniversary, all of the kids went in together and bought her a set of fancy china, ivory plates edged in gold. Most folks would put them in a china cabinet on display and bring them out on holidays, but not Mama Reed. From then on out, those gold edged plates were eaten off of at least three times a day, every day of the week. She had a lot of wisdom to share in that one simple action. Even if its just grilled cheese sandwiches and chips, when your family is together at the table, you have something to celebrate.

The day after my mother’s parents were married, my Papa Reed woke up and said “Well, I guess we’ll have to go get some breakfast somewhere because we don’t have anything to cook here yet.” That was when it occurred to my grandmother that she had never learned how to cook!

She went straight to her new mother in law, Mama Reed, who was known near and far for the delicious table she laid out. Sundays proved to be wonderful for such lessons as many women would gather in the kitchen to help Mama Reed prepare the largest meal of the week. Grandmama got right in there, doing her best where she could to help with what little knowledge she had. On one of those Sundays, she decided to try to fix the tea for everyone. Mama Reed had brewed it already and poured it into a large glass jug she had already added sugar and water to. Grandmama got a long handled metal spoon to stir it with. She said she was just a stirrin’ on that tea, determined to show she knew what she was doing. Until the metal spoon hit the side of the jug real good and the entire thing shattered, sending a gallon of sticky sweet tea pouring all over the kitchen floor.

Oh my, a tangent within a tangent! Alright, back to tangent #1…

The interesting thing about these glasses is that they weren’t acquired in a fancy store or even the kitchen department at Dunavant’s or JCPenney, they came from the grocery store, filled with peanut butter. With ten children and all of the other folks who came by on any given day, Mama Reed amassed quite a collection (no doubt she had good use for all of that peanut butter, too!). I don’t have any of her original ones but I’ve managed to come across enough to use them at my table, although I only do so from time to time.

My kids love drinking out of these and I helped them understand the history behind them by finding an old  advertisement for the glasses and peanut butter, which I have framed on my kitchen wall here at Bountiful. This ad is dated June, 1957.

Big Top glasses were plentiful in the South and for this reason are still pretty easily acquired at antique malls and on Ebay (see the bottom of this post).

This glass still has the original sticker, it’s a prized possession of mine and only cost me about $6.00. I usually try to spend my money on something with a meaning and a history to it rather than something new whenever I can.

Now what was I supposed to be posting about? Oh yeah…StrawberryAde.

And we’re off!~zoooooom~

You’re going to need: 16 ounces (or two cups) fresh strawberries, and a tub of pink lemonade Crystal Light.

That’s it. Honest.

Oh alright, some water as well but you should have that on hand.

You can also use generic sugar free pink lemonade mix such as Wal Mart brand.

You know my motto: “Go for the cheap!”.

Wash and cut the tops off of your strawberries. If a few make it into your mouth, I won’t tell.

Toss them into your blender.

This is my old Hamilton Beach blender. I’ve had it since they made dirt and it’s still going strong.

Puree that until it’s all good and liquified.

Put a few inches of water in a two quart pitcher.

I really wanted a glass pitcher for this tutorial but I don’t own one. I put off doing this for a few weeks as I looked every time I went out, hoping to find a deal. In the end, I didn’t find one for less than $8.00 and I felt guilty buying it (seemed frivolous) just to take a prettier photo of Strawberryade. So here we are, doing a tutorial in my usual plastic pitcher.

Jes’ keepin’ it real, y’all!

Add your Pink Lemonade mix to the water…

Stir that up til it is dissolved.

Stir in puree.

Fill the rest of the way with cold water and stir.

Serve over ice.

If you make this a few hours before, the seeds will fall to the bottom. If you serve immediately, you can strain the seeds out or just leave them like I do. It makes it look more authentic and fresh ~grins~.

This reminds me of a Strawberry Julius (from the old days) with a bit of a zesty kick to it! Strawberry is definitely the dominant flavor!

Fresh Strawberry-ade

• 16 ounces fresh strawberries
• 1 Tub Crystal Light Pink Lemonade

Wash and remove tops from strawberries. Place in blender and puree until fully liquefied. Fill two quart pitcher halfway with water. Stir in drink mix. Add strawberry puree and fill the rest of the way with cold water. Stir well. If strawberries aren’t sweet enough, you can add ¼ a cup of Splenda or to taste. I’ve never had to add Splenda!

Serve cold, over ice.

Happy Fourth Of July!

Thank you to everyone who has fought for our country. Our debt to you can never be paid but that won’t prevent us from attempting to. If you have a loved one serving overseas, these two cookie recipes are ones that ship exceptionally well. I’ve sent them a few times and despite it taking a month for my package to reach it’s destination, they still arrived fresh and were gobbled up with tons of praise!

M & M Oatmeal Bars (these received the HIGHEST praise)

Dishpan Cookies (these stay fresh for a very long time).

Gratefully,

Christy

“Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.”-Harriet Van Horne

Submitted by Amelia. To submit your quote (and make my day), please click here!

Find out more about Mama Reed on these posts:

Mama Reed’s Southern Style Rice Pudding

Mama Reed’s Tea Cakes

I love my coffee, especially when its strong and rich with a bold flavor minus the acidity which, in my mind, detracts from the flavor.

Now for those of you not from ’round here, the South is said to have four seasons: Almost Summer, Summer, Still Summer, and Christmas. Based on this, you can imagine that there are times of the year when a iced coffee is relished far more than hot.

If you’ve ever tried to make iced coffee at home, you know that its not as easy as pouring coffee over ice. You end up with a watered down version of coffee which becomes even more watered down and weak when you add milk or sugar. Still, there has to be a better option than heading out and paying someone $5 for a few minutes of divine caffeinated pleasure – and there is. ~smiles~ Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate.

I’ve been making this “home brew” for over two years now, much to the delight of myself and Mama. She recently started making her own but until then I’d brew up extra and share my “special recipe” with her as well. I can only imagine what the neighbors thought when Mama’s car pulled up to my driveway and I’d run her out a mason jar and send her on her way. Come by either of our houses at any given time and you’ll find pint sized mason jars of “the recipe” in our refrigerators ~giggle~. I feel just like one of the Baldwin sisters….

Cold brew coffee is brewed in cold water on your counter top for a period of about twelve to fifteen hours, depending on the strength you prefer. Coffee brewed using this method has significantly less acidity and far more full bodied flavor than coffee brewed with the traditional hot method.

One of the pitys of coffee for me has always been that it never tastes as decadent as it smells. Cold brew brings you closer to this flavor than any other method I have come across. Whats more, cold brew coffee made at home rivals anything bought in a coffee house at a tiny fraction of the price – I actually like my cold brew better!

This concentrate is not just for iced coffees though, you can easily use it to make hot coffee in the morning without the fuss of brewing. This is perfect for those who have problems with traditional coffee being too harsh on their stomachs. Simply mix equal parts concentrate and water (or vary proportions to taste), heat and go!

This concentrate will easily keep a month or more in your fridge with no change in flavor and you know if I’m showing you how to do it, you aren’t going to need any fancy schmancy equipment either.

You likely have all you need at home already. I prefer to grind my beans fresh but you can certainly use pre-ground coffee. However, if you’re looking to amp up your coffee experience, I strongly suggest buying beans and grinding it fresh before each brewing, be it cold brewing or hot. You’ll find the difference is extraordinary! A grinder such as this one can be picked up for around thirty dollars or so. This is my Hamilton Beach one, of course!

I use a quart sized (32 ounces) canning jar to brew my coffee in and then store it in pint sized jars. You can use a plastic pitcher or container for this as well if you prefer. I like to brew mine in glass as there isn’t the risk of tainting my coffee with another flavor this way.

• Container to brew coffee grounds in
• Strainer
• Coffee filters (largest size you can find)
• Coffee beans and grinder or pre-ground beans
• Bowl to strain coffee into

You’ll need 1 cup of ground coffee.

Place grounds in jar

Fill jar with water.

I leave about an inch of head space at the top.

Place lid on jar and give it a little shake to make sure all grounds are wet.

Now just sit the jar on your counter for at least twelve hours.

Once the time has passed (I usually brew mine at night and strain it in the morning), place your strainer over a large bowl. You can also use a collander for this if you prefer.

Line strainer with a coffee filter. These are the type for twelve cup coffee makers, the largest I could find.

Pour coffee in the filter and let it strain through a little at a time.

This is after I’ve strained about half of my concentrate. I usually go through two filters when I do this. Throw your first filter away and replace with a clean one before pouring the remainder of your concentrate. It will take some time for all of your concentrate to strain out. I usually let it sit for about half an hour before pouring the remainder so it takes me about an hour to have my concentrate all strained and ready.

Using this method, a quart sized jar yields about a pint and a half of concentrate. Now mixing it up is purely a matter of taste but I am going to show you how I make mine purely as a point of reference.

Four ounces of concentrate…

Four ounces of milk…

Skim, Whole, 2%, whatever cranks your tractor.

Fill with ice and add three packets of Splenda and I’m a happy gal!

Honestly, this beats any iced coffee I’ve ever had away from home. Its rich, flavorful, and completely decadent.

Cold Brew Coffee

• 1 Cup ground coffee
• 32 ounce container (1 quart)
• Strainer
• Large basket type coffee filters

Place ground coffee in container, fill with cold water. Cover and let sit for twelve to fifteen hours. Place strainer over large bowl and put coffee filter inside. Slowly pour over about half of the coffee and let sit until strained. Replace filter and repeat.

To make regular coffee: place equal parts coffee concentrate and water in cup and heat.

To make iced coffee: Place equal parts concentrate and milk in glass. Add ice, sweetened as desired. You may find my preference for iced coffee a bit strong for you so leave room to add some water to weaken it if need be!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This has been a very busy week at home with the kids and their activities. I hope to get caught up on emails and comments this weekend! Thank you all and have a fabulous Friday!

Gratefully,

Christy

A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on a detour.

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2009/03/todays-home-brew-secret-to-great-iced-coffee-without-great-expense.html/feed 238 http://www.southernplate.com/2008/12/sugar-free-cappuccino-mix.html http://www.southernplate.com/2008/12/sugar-free-cappuccino-mix.html#comments Thu, 11 Dec 2008 20:09:28 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=1287 Pin it

This mix is special for two very important reasons.

1. It is a coffee drink!!

2. Thanks to sugar free products, I can actually drink it!

What a perfect gift for that person who is dieting or has to watch their sugar. At last, something for us!

Most of you don’t know that I have issues with sugar. I have to really watch it and generally avoid it altogether except in very small amounts. Come January, after all of our holiday eating transgressions are over, I’m going to bring you some special recipes I use when I want a special treat. Low sugar, no sugar, and a weee bit healthy – but don’t let that scare you, they are all still gonna be awful good, I promise you!

Tomorrow I will draw a name from the comments left on each of my gift mix posts and mail them one of each of my gift mixes in one of those red plastic dishpan that I love so much! To enter, simply comment on any gift mix post. One entry per comment!

You’ll need: Instant coffee, No Sugar Added Nesquik (or any brand no sugar added chocolate drink mix), Powdered coffee creamer, cinnamon, nutmeg, and Splenda (not pictured). I use generic splenda.

Now personally, I don’t care for nutmeg and I never have. However, I bought it just to use for this recipe and decided I’d put it in as the original recipe called for. I figured I’d change my mind and perhaps realize that I hadn’t given nutmeg a good chance before. Guess what? I learned that I just really don’t like nutmeg. If you do, that’s great! If you don’t, I would encourage you to leave it out and add more cinnamon in its place.

Put all of your ingredients in a bowl in the quantities listed in the recipe below. I have tweaked this recipe a bit as I felt it didn’t have enough creamer in it.

Stir that up well and you’ve made cappuccino mix!

Of course, I am doubling this because y’all know how I like to double things!

I just put mine in a little half pint jar and cut a circle of Christmas fabric with pinking shears to put under the screw on ring. I have tags available as well to put on this!

Sugar Free Cappuccino Mix

(makes about 3 1/2 pints of dry mix)

• 1 1/4 Cup powdered coffee creamer
• 1 C no sugar added chocolate drink mix (I used Nesquik)
• 2/3 C instant coffee granules
• 1/2 C splenda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg (if you don’t like nutmeg, use more cinnamon)

Mix all together and store in airtight container. To prepare, place 3 T in a cup and add 8 OZ hot water. Stir.

To get printer ready tags for give giving, visit this link.

For other gift mixes visit here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nothing, I mean nothing, is more Southern than sweet tea. We drink it at almost every meal (yes, iced tea for breakfast is quite good, actually), we make it daily, and we even put it in our baby’s bottles.

Dr. Phil once jokingly mentioned that Southerners started drinking sweet tea at age three, but Mama and I looked at each other in complete confusion as we knew perfectly well all of us had started on it by age one!

Go to any southerners home and the first question they ask after sitting down is “Ya wan’ some tea?” These days I make my sweet tea with Splenda, but it tastes just as good. Sweet Tea just makes the meal. Mama did these photos for me so you get to see more of her beautiful sun room. I’m also including the email she sent me where she put some writing ideas for the post!

Mama Says, “The drink that puts the drawl in our speech and the pep in our step. It has been known to be fed to our babies in their bottles as soon as they can have something other than formula. Do you remember when you came back from Gusty’s and was so surprised that they served milk at supper??? You had never seen anything other than tea served at suppertime. Just thought I would give you a few things to write about.”

She’s right. I was sixteen the first time I had dinner at a friend’s house and they served glasses of milk with their supper. I had never seen nor heard of such a thing in all of my life. To my sixteen year old self, they could have just as well had walked right out of a flying saucer and started playing the bagpipes and it wouldn’t have been any stranger than seeing milk on a dinner table!

You’ll need tea bags, sugar (or Splenda), water, and either a small sauce pot or a coffeemaker. There are many tea brands on the market. Mama prefers Luzianne but I usually use Tetley or Red Diamond. Just make sure you get a general blend or “Orange Pekoe” tea. Orange Pekoe is a generic term for a basic, medium grade black tea.

METHOD 1There are two popular ways of brewing tea. The one Mama and I use the most right now (this may change when the wind changes direction) is the saucepot method. For a half gallon of tea, put five regular sized tea bags in a pot. Cover with water. You want about three inches of water in your pot.

You don’t have to worry over taking the tea bag labels off as Mama says “In a pot, bring tea just to a boil and then remove from heat and turn off eye.

Your tea is now ready to be mixed.

METHOD 2

The other thing you can do is place your 5 tea bags INSIDE your coffee pot and just run a cycle of water through the coffeemaker. Once the cycle goes through, your tea is done and ready to be mixed.

Be careful if you do this, though, to remember to remove the coffee grounds from your basket. Many times growing up Mama would have supper on the table looking all wonderful and we’d take a sip and discover we were having “Coffee-Tea”. Hehe, we always had fun with her when that happened!

No matter which method you choose, in a matter of minutes you will have brewed, concentrated tea.

Take your pitcher and fill it about 1/2 of the way full with cold water, add your sugar (or splenda). This is a VERY important step because if you add your sugar to the hot tea, it will scorch the sugar and you’ll have terribly bitter tea.

So, we want to put some cold water in and place the sugar in there BEFORE adding our tea. .

The hot tea being added will then warm the water enough that the sugar will easily dissolve.

Add hot tea.

Stir

Serve over ice!

Mama adds:We always drink the tea fresh.  It can be kept in the refrigerator but  southern people prefer their tea fresh.  I always throw out the leftovers and start fresh the next day.  I don’t personally like lemon in my tea.  If I add anything, it is a slice of orange.”

Sweet Tea

5 tea bags

3/4 cup sugar

Makes 2 quarts

Place tea bags in sauce pot or coffee maker (down in the coffee pot). If using coffee pot, run a cycle of water through to make tea. If using a sauce pot, fill about three inches and bring just to a boil, then remove from heat.

Fill pitcher 1/2 of the way with cool water and add sugar. Stir. Add hot tea, stir. Add more water, if neccesary, to make two quarts. Serve over ice.

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Sweet Tea: The Elixir Of The South

Ingredients

• 5 tea bags
• 3/4 cup sugar
• Makes 2 quarts

Instructions

1. Place tea bags in sauce pot or coffee maker (down in the coffee pot). If using coffee pot, run a cycle of water through to make tea. If using a sauce pot, fill about three inches and bring just to a boil, then remove from heat.
2. Fill pitcher 1/2 of the way with cool water and add sugar. Stir. Add hot tea, stir. Add more water, if neccesary, to make two quarts. Serve over ice.

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Thank you for reading Southern Plate!! Have a GREAT Day!

~Christy

I use Luzianne tea because I hate to take all the little envelopes off the tea bags.  I even leave the tags on them when I brew the tea.  It hasn’t killed me yet.  I guess it adds fiber.”

Today was my son’s first day of third grade. He has a fabulous teacher in a fabulous school so there were no qualms about summer ending at this house! Of course, my readers don’t have the benefit of knowing Brady, but he is a character if there ever was one. Brady is our little politician. He is a brilliant little boy who has never met a stranger and is just as comfortable addressing two hundred people with a microphone as he is addressing one person across the breakfast table.

A few weeks ago I was brainstorming different ways I could get my website known to more people. Despite the amazing growth, I’m always looking for ways to bring Southern Plate to a wider audience. I said “I need a gimmick, something I can give away with the web address on it.” Brady grinned and quickly chimed in “I got your gimmick right here, Ma, its me!”.

Today I found out that he wasn’t kidding. I got such a laugh out of seeing this worksheet he brought home from school today! Essentially, its purpose was to help the teacher learn more about her students through their own words. After answering various questions about themselves, each student got a chance to ask the teacher a question about her.
My son wrote “My mom has a website called Southernplate.com. Can you see it?”
That’s M’boy!(A scan of the worksheet is at the bottom of this post)

I always think of these smoothies when school starts back for a very funny reason. When I first made them, they were called Virgin Banana Margaritas. I started making them, fell in love, and always referred to them as “Banana Margaritas”. I would make them for breakfast when I had bananas getting too ripe and the whole family just loved them, especially Brady.

Shortly after he had started kindergarten, I made them for breakfast one morning. Brady drank his share and then some, filling up on the tangy smoothie and bragging about how good it was. I didn’t give it another thought until after I had already gotten home from dropping him off. Then it occurred to me that Brady would likely continue bragging once he had gotten to school, boasting on his Mama’s “cooking” and how he had a Margarita for breakfast. I was mortified. I made a hurried phone call to his teacher’s cell phone. My worried explanation was met with laughter as she said he had mentioned them but she figured there was something more to it and had known to give me the benefit of the doubt!

So here you go, one more way to use up ripening bananas, another way to keep cool, and a quickie breakfast on school mornings!

You will need: Milk, Sugar, Bananas, Lime Juice, Ice

Fill your blender up about halfway with ice cubes.

Add lime juice

It will look like this now…

Banarita Smoothies

4 bananas
1/2 Cup milk
1/4 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup lime juice
Ice

Fill blender halfway full of ice. Add other ingredients. Blend until frothy. Serve!

This is one of my mother’s all time favorite drinks in the summer. Of course, when you live in the south, anything served over ice quickly becomes a favorite. This drink, however, is different. Think mint juleps beneath a big oak shade tree. Now place a nice stemmed iced tea glass of my Mama’s French Mint Tea in your hand and you’re on your way!

In a pot bring to a boil the tea bags, mint and enough water to cover well.

Remove from heat and let steep covered for 30 minutes

Put approx. 1 quart water in pitcher and add oj concentrate

And sugar….

And lemon juice.
(You’d never know by my sentence structure that was an English honors student in college…)

Strain tea and mint into pitcher and add enough water to make one gallon. Stir. Refrigerate.