Christmas in July iced tea!

 

Recently on Instagram I noticed a giveaway for Christmas in July cranberry hibiscus iced tea.  I was intrigued!  Although I didn't meet the criteria for entering the giveaway, I absolutely had to visit the Republic of Tea website and check it out.

It's a limited edition -- only available while supplies last! -- and this is the description: "This juicy caffeine-free herbal blend has a base of sweet-tart ruby hibiscus and cranberries and finishes with a touch of yuletide spice."

These are the ingredients: Hibiscus, cinnamon, ginger, carob bits, apple bits, sweet blackberry leaves, cardamom seeds, natural flavors, chicory root, pepper, cloves, cranberry bits and star anise.  

What an amazing blend of flavors!  It sounds so delicious for a hot July day, don't you agree?

Caramel Brulee Latte Syrup -- an easy DIY

 

 Here's another great recipe from Mad About Food -- a Caramel Brulee latte syrup.

I haven't tried this one yet, but I'm sure it will be just as delicious as the Gingerbread Latte Syrup and the Peppermint Mocha one that I blogged about last year.

It also has simple ingredients: brown sugar, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and sea salt in addition to water.  The process is an easy stovetop one, and the syrup can be stored in your fridge for up to a month.  

Madeline gives directions for making a caramel brulee latte as well as a caramel brulee cold foam.  She notes that it can also be used as a syrup or sauce to drizzle over special desserts or even ice cream.

I'll be trying this recipe soon!

A very unique Advent calendar

 

 Recently I found this amazing-looking tea at Ocean State Job Lot,  a discount store my hubby and I like to visit.   They always have some very nice teas so I usually check out the selection.  This tea Advent calendar by Clipper, with 24 "teas and infusions", was under $3.  There were two boxes left so I bought them both.  The "best by" date was the end of December 2023, but I've found those dates don't really matter when it comes to tea.

The 12 flavors of tea (there are two of each) include Happy Mondays, Berry Burst, Rise & Shine, Hibiscus & Raspberry, Calmer Cameleon, Orange & Lemon, Love Me Truly, Snore & Peace, Green Tea & Lemon, White Tea & Raspberry, Lemon & Ginger, and Nighty Night.    There are descriptions for the more unusual names -- for example, "Love Me Truly" is a cinnamon chai.

I've tasted Clipper teas before, and have enjoyed the ones I've tried.

This would make a fun gift for a good friend who enjoys tea.  You could pair it with a mug, like this one I recently found at the thrift store:

Or just keep it for yourself.  It's a fun idea, however you choose to use it.

And now, for a gingerbread coffee syrup

 

The other day my hubby and I enjoyed a gingerbread coffee in the cafe at our local grocery store.   This is a flavor we tried there last Christmas season and we liked it so much, we made a note to go back this year -- hopefully more than once.  And we would love to sip a similar flavor at home, too!

After our peppermint mocha syrup was such a success, we decided to try a gingerbread syrup from the same site, Mad About Food.  

Mr. T made this up on Christmas morning and it really is delicious -- I'd say equally as good as the peppermint mocha one.  He thinks he likes the gingerbread even better.  Definitely worth a try if this is a flavor you enjoy!

A festive flavor: Peppermint Mocha

 

Image by Terri Cnudde from Pixabay

 Mr. T and I so enjoy this festive flavor, but we hadn't had the opportunity to have it this season.  We usually buy a bag of the peppermint bark flavored coffee rather than using a flavored creamer -- it seems healthier -- and just enjoy this coffee with regular half and half.  But this December we haven't been able to find the flavored coffee in our local supermarkets.  

Back in November I had made a homemade pumpkin spice latte mixture that we really liked.  So considering that, I decided to do a search and see if I could find a recipe for Peppermint Mocha syrup.  And after a little bit of looking -- Yes!  And it has really simple ingredients like coconut milk (I substituted evaporated milk, as the recipe said could be done), baking cocoa, brown sugar, peppermint extract, and salt.

My hubby made up a batch on Saturday night and we tried it out in coffee on Sunday morning.  Excellent!  We found that just an iced-tea spoon full of the syrup (it really looks more like a thick sauce) is enough for a large mug of coffee.  We then add half-and-half to taste, but it doesn't take much since there is already milk in the syrup.

I recommend this recipe if, like us, you are a fan of peppermint mocha flavor in coffee.  (I realize many people are not!)  It can also be made into a latte, but we are just using it as I described.  Hope you enjoy this if you try it!

7-Up Punch!

 

Here is a fun vintage advertisement that just might inspire a beverage option (or 3) for your holiday entertaining!  The advertising blurb reads, "Which one will it be?  They're all delicious tasting.  And they're all different.  But they have this in common: 7-Up -- that gets them off to the best possible start.  Seven-Up -- with the fresh, clean taste that accents (never covers!) the flavors of the other ingredients.  Seven-Up -- that adds the sparkle.  Spring a surprise on your holiday crowd ... Remember!  You'll want plenty of 7-Up for drinking 'as is', too!"

And, as you look at these recipes, you'll see that you will also want plenty of 7-Up for filling ice cube trays -- for two of the recipes require 2 trays of 7-up "ice cubes" each.

The first is 7-Up Red Satin punch.  It calls for apple juice and cranberry juice in addition to 7-Up.

 Next, Santa's 7-Up Surprise looks interesting. It calls for pineapple juice, orange juice, 7-Up, maraschino cherries, and --- peppermint extract?!  Just not sure about that combination.

And lastly, there is 7-Up Evergreen Bowl, which is pretty and calls for only 2 simple ingredients -- 7-Up, and lime sherbet!

This ad is from 1962 -- so, over sixty years ago!  These punch recipes do still sound good,  so you may wish to file them away for December use -- or, try them out now, in summer!  But I think I would skip the peppermint extract.

Chocolate Cherry Hot Cocoa

Image by candoyi from Pixabay

If summer follows in spring's chilly footsteps, it's even possible we could have some snow this month.  There was snow on Mother's Day weekend, so anything is now officially possible!  History tells us that one year in New Hampshire, there was a frost in all twelve months.  If we happen to get a cool evening in July, that would be a good time to try out a new cocoa recipe well in advance of Christmas hospitality.  

This wonderful-looking hot cocoa recipe comes from A Cultivated Nest and is for Chocolate Cherry Hot Cocoa.  It reminds me of the long-ago days when my mother would make hot cocoa for us and our friends after a chilly afternoon sledding out in the sloping fields of my childhood.  She usually stirred it up from scratch in the same way that this recipe is made.  We always had marshmallow fluff on our cocoa, however, which would be much too sweet in this recipe.  The whipped cream is the perfect topper!

Photo from A Cultivated Nest

Why not give this recipe a try on a cool summer evening -- or just file it away until the holiday season?  It would be a festive treat to share with friends!

Some fun new ideas for kitchen gifts

If you've read here for long, you already know that I just love making and giving kitchen gifts at Christmas time!  You can click "kitchen gifts" in the label cloud to see some of the foods that I like to prepare and gift. 

Today I have some fresh inspiration to share with you all regarding kitchen gifts.  Snow Day Drinks and Treats gift sets, from Courtney at Pizzazzerie will give you some great ideas for your kitchen gifting.

This post includes recipes and free printables -- so sweet.  There are printable labels for the coffee bags in which the drink mixes would be packaged, and tags for the bags you'd package the sweet accompanying treats in.

You can choose from three beverage mix recipes:

🎄"Bundle Up Blend" -- a cinnamon spice ground coffee
🎄"Cuddle Up Cocoa" -- a homemade hot cocoa mix
🎄 Quiet Time Tea -- a spiced chai instant tea mix

And then you can choose from the following treats (recipes provided!)

🎄 "Candy Cane" Homemade Marshmallows
🎄 Winter Spice Tea Cookies
🎄 Vanilla Almond Biscotti

Obviously, the biscotti is intended to be paired with the coffee; the cookies with the chai tea mix; and the marshmallows with the hot cocoa.

Or, you could gift any of these separately.  But the sets are just so cute!  I'll show one example, below.  You will want to head over to Pizzazzerie to see the rest.

Photo from Pizzazzerie

What lovely kitchen gifts these would be for the friends and neighbors on your list!  These ideas have certainly inspired me.  How about you?

Welcome to my Christmas kitchen!

Come on in!

It's a delight to have you here!  Although I won't be serving up pancakes like this vintage Vermont Maid ad (and I wouldn't be serving fake syrup if I were), I hope that you can almost smell spiced cider simmering on the stove and the fragrance of fresh-baked Christmas cookies!

What I will be serving up every day in December is a daily helping of Christmas joy in one form or another.  It could be a poem, a recipe, a decoration or ornament to craft, a handmade gift idea ... maybe even a few thoughts on Christmas-related Scriptures.

Today, I'm just going to share how I make hot spiced cider.

MRS. T'S HOT SPICED CIDER

 1 gallon fresh cider
1 teaspoon whole cloves plus several more cloves
1 teaspoon whole allspice
1 teaspoon broken cinnamon sticks in small pieces
Coffee filter and string for making spice bag
1 orange

Transfer the cider to a large kettle and place it on your stovetop over medium heat.

Place the 3 teaspoons of spices in the center of a coffee filter.  Gather it up to form a little bag and tie it securely closed with string.  Add the spice bag to the cider.

Wash the orange, then cut it into quarters and stick 2 or 3 whole cloves into each quarter.  Add the clove-studded orange quarters to the kettle of cider.

Heat until the cider comes to a simmer, then reduce heat to low (or transfer to a crock pot and set on Low) until you are ready to serve it.

And I recently found that this can be made in a large electric coffee percolator as well.  Just put the cider into the percolator and place the spice bag and the orange quarters in the basket where the coffee would normally go, then plug in the percolator.

So easy!  And so delicious.  Why not pour yourself a mug right now?

Mulled Cranberry=Orange Juice

Here's a warm, delicious holiday beverage!  I just made this again for our simple cookie swap on Tuesday evening.  As you might guess by the above image (which I found on the ever-helpful Pixabay), I failed to take a picture of it.  When I mentioned this drink in my post about the cookie swap, a reader asked for the recipe.  I had to go back and look: it was 2007 when I posted this.  So in my view it is high time for a repost.  Here it is, with an update or two:

MULLED CRANBERRY ORANGE JUICE

1 orange
12 whole cloves
a cinnamon stick
1 cup water
2 quarts cranberry juice cocktail -- I used the kind without sugar that is 100% juice.  It includes other juices, obviously, but that's preferable to sugar.
1/2 cup golden raisins (optional) -- I have never used these
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom -- again, can be optional if you don't have it.  I didn't. 
3 Tblsp. fresh lemon juice (bottled will work)
3 Tblsp. brown sugar

Use a vegetable peeler to peel off thin strips of orange peel from the orange. Set the orange aside. Put the peel in a small saucepan with the cloves, cinnamon stick and water. Bring this mixture to a simmer; cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.

In a larger saucepan combine all of the remaining ingredients. Cut the orange in half and squeeze the juice into this larger saucepan. Using a strainer, strain the liquid from the spice/peel mixture into the larger saucepan as well. Add the lemon juice and brown sugar.  Heat the mixture in the large saucepan over low heat until it is hot. May be kept simmering over very low heat and ladled out as needed.

(For the cookie swap, I tried making this in a slow cooker and it worked beautifully.  About 2 hours before serving I put the cranberry juice into a 3-quart slow cooker and set it on high.  Then I proceeded to peel the orange.  I simmered the peel with the water, cloves and cinnamon stick for the 20 minutes as specified.  Then I strained this mixture into the slow cooker and added the juice of the orange, the brown sugar and the lemon juice and let it all cook on high until ready to serve.  Then I turned off the slow cooker and it stayed plenty hot enough.)

If you want to be fancy, pour the mixture into mugs and top each one with an orange slice with a whole clove or two stuck in the rind.

Save the cranberry juice bottle to store any leftover beverage.  It reheats well by the mug in the microwave.

This recipe came from Cook & Tell, my favorite cooking newsletter. I discovered this beverage recipe a dozen years ago and it became an instant favorite of mine to serve to guests at holiday time.  I still love it. 

Pink Hot Cocoa Mix (and other beverage mixes)

I always enjoy making hot drink mixes to share as part of a gift basket or just along with some cookies, etc. It's something I do every year. The hot chocolate mix

is on both of my blogs, but I'll link to it again here for those who'd rather not take time to search for it. I've also made a spiced tea mix which is a favorite with some folks.

This year, I tried something new. It's called Holiday Hot Drink Mix but I renamed it "Pink Hot Cocoa Mix" and gave it to several girls (and a family with lots of girls) on my Christmas list.

Unfortunately, I didn't have any left over so I could taste this hot drink for myself. I had asked two of my granddaughters how they liked it, but their reply -- that they liked it, but it just wasn't their favorite -- didn't really tell me much about its flavor.

Today I decided to make up a mini-batch for myself and test it out. I divided the recipe in fourths to produce only a small amount of mix -- it made a cup or more of the dry mix. Then I boiled up some water and poured it over 1/3 cup of the mix in a mug as directed.

It's actually quite good and I would likely make it again. The only thing I thought I would change would be to up the strawberry flavor a bit. (The recipe contains strawberry-flavored Quik®. I would try enhancing the strawberry flavor by adding a bit of unsweetened strawberry Kool-Aid® powder, the type in the little envelopes.

A favorite fruit punch

Here's my pick for an easy fruit punch to serve at a Christmas open house.

FAVORITE FRUIT PUNCH

2 12-ounce cans frozen cran/raspberry juice cocktail
2 1-liter bottles chilled orange-flavored carbonated water* (the raspberry-lime flavor is great, too)

Mix together in a large punch bowl or -- for a picnic -- in a gallon-size insulated jug or a jar. Serve with ice. For a punch bowl, a fruit-filled ice ring is a nice touch. We used this punch for 2 weddings but have also used it for open house at Christmas or New Year’s. It is so easy and delicious! Of course, you may multiply the ingredients for more servings.

Yield: 20 servings.

* Note -- be sure to get the flavored club soda and not just the flavored carbonated waters which are so popular. The flavored water contains aspartame or splenda and makes the punch much too sweet.

A Fabulous Eggnog Recipe

EFFORTLESS EGGNOG

1/2 gallon cold milk, divided use
1 pkg. (3.4 ounces) French vanilla instant pudding mix (vanilla will work)
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

In a large bowl, whisk 3/4 cup milk with the pudding mix until smooth. Whisk in the sugar, vanilla, and spices. Stir in the remaining milk. Refrigerate until serving, and be sure to refrigerate any leftovers.

Yield: 2 quarts

I first tried this wonderful recipe from Taste of Home magazine at Christmas 2005. It is so easy, and there’s none of the worry or mess of using raw eggs. This is delicious! Most people tell me that if I hadn’t revealed the secret of the instant pudding mix, they would never know this wasn’t “real” eggnog!

Mulled Cranberry Orange Juice

MULLED CRANBERRY ORANGE JUICE

1 orange
12 whole cloves
a cinnamon stick
1 cup water
2 quarts cranberry juice cocktail
1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
3 Tblsp. fresh lemon juice (bottled will work)
3 Tblsp. brown sugar

Use a vegetable peeler to peel off thin strips of orange peel from the orange. Set the orange aside. Put the peel in a small saucepan with the cloves, cinnamon stick and water. Bring this mixture to a simmer; cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.

In a larger saucepan combine all of the remaining ingredients. Cut the orange in half and squeeze the juice into this larger saucepan. Using a strainer, strain the liquid from the spice/peel mixture into the larger saucepan as well. Heat the mixture in the large saucepan over low heat until it is hot. May be kept simmering over very low heat and ladled out as needed.

If you want to be fancy, pour the mixture into mugs and top each one with an orange slice with a whole clove or two stuck in the rind.

This recipe came from Cook & Tell, my favorite cooking newsletter. I discovered this beverage recipe a couple of years ago and it became an instant favorite of mine to serve to guests at holiday time.

Sunset Orchard Spiced Tea Mix

Here’s another favorite kitchen gift of mine. It works well in a gift basket of teatime goodies, or just tucked in a brown paper bag with a half-dozen scones or muffins.


SUNSET ORCHARD SPICED TEA MIX

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup dry orange drink mix (like Tang®)
2/3 cup dry unsweetened instant tea
2 envelopes instant spiced cider mix

Combine all ingredients thoroughly in a bowl. I use a slotted spoon for mixing -- makes it easier to see how well the ingredients are blending. Place in jars or tins for gift-giving.

Include these directions: In a mug, place a heaping tablespoon of tea mix. Fill mug with boiling water and stir well; let steep 2 minutes.

Mulled Cider Mix

Mulled Cider Mix

It's fun and easy to make little packets of mulling spices for gifts. They produce some very yummy cider and make wonderful small gifts. I often include them in gift baskets for our neighbors or in care packages to faraway family and friends. Here's what you'll need to make these:

* Cinnamon sticks

* Whole cloves

* Allspice berries

* Coffee filters (I like to use the natural unbleached kind)

* Plain white string

Break the cinnamon sticks in 1-inch pieces. For each packet of spices, place 1 tsp. of cinnamon sticks, 1 tsp. of whole cloves and 1 tsp. of allspice berries in the center of a coffee filter. Gather the filter up into a little bundle and tie securely with string.

To package these, I use an idea I found in a Gooseberry Patch book -- Place each bundle of spices in a small brown paper bag. Fold the top of the bag down securely.

Make a tag on card stock or half of a file card with these instructions: "Mulled Cider Mix. Place spice bag in large saucepan with 1 quart to 1 gallon of cider. Heat through and enjoy." If you like, you can draw and color an apple on the tag, or add an apple sticker.

Then position the tag at the top of the bag and use your sewing machine, threaded with red thread, to sew the tag to the bag, sewing the bag closed in the process. These look so cute and festive!

Gram's Hot Chocolate Mix

Here is the recipe for my grandmother's hot chocolate mix. She would mix up a giant bowlful of this (sometimes enlisting the aid of a younger grandchild or great-grandchild), then transfer it to jars for gift-giving. We always were happy to see a jar of this arrive at our house. It's richer and creamier than my own homemade hot chocolate mix, but I think mine is a tad healthier. If you do try this, though, you're sure to enjoy it.

GRAM'S HOT CHOCOLATE MIX

1 pound Quik chocolate drink mix
1 11-oz. jar Coffee Mate
1/2 to 3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
8-quart size Carnation instant dry milk

Mix all ingredients very well in a very large bowl. Transfer to jars
to give to your family for Christmas. When serving, use 1/3 cup mix in
each large mug; fill up with boiling water and stir very well.

My own Hot Chocolate Mix

My grandmother often made a huge batch of hot chocolate mix at Christmas time. She divided it into jars and gave them to her married grandchildren and other folks. Her recipe (which I'll share here at a later time) is a bit too rich for my taste, although it is delicious. I've come up with my own recipe which is a big hit with those I give the mix to at Christmas. Some people even send the jars back for refills! I love the touch of malted milk flavor in this recipe.


HOT CHOCOLATE MIX

5 cups instant nonfat dry milk
2 cups powdered sugar
2 cups instant chocolate drink powder (like Quik)
1 cup malted milk powder, chocolate flavor
1 cup malted milk powder, malt flavor
1 cup non-dairy powdered creamer
1/2 cup unsweetened baking cocoa

Mix all ingredients together thoroughly and store in an airtight
containers. (I use either tins or jars.)

Include these directions with mix:
* Place 1/3 cup of mix in a large mug. Fill mug with hot water and
stir to dissolve. *