Wednesday, August 4, 2010

daily rituals....sweet tea

~When I was growing up the Georgia woods just west of Atlanta, we always had a pitcher of sweet tea in the fridge. It was actually part of the daily doings; to be sure that pitcher was never empty. At some point in the eighties we switched from sugar to saccharine tablets( eeewww) and that eventually helped me develop my disdain for all beverages "diet", heck I can't even use saccharine toothpaste as an adult.
However being blessed with impeccable resume in the service industry I found my way back to sweet tea years ago. Sweet Tea might even be one of the reasons I wrangled me a Texas boy's heart. I find my self making sure that tea stained plastic gallon pitcher is never empty just for him the way I used to do for my daddy and it brings a little joy to my heart.

SWEET TEA
water
one gallon pitcher
6 family style tea bags( I use lipton usually)
1-2 cups sugar

bring 2 quarts of water to a boil.
Steep tea bags in hot water at least 15 min
add sugar 1-2 c sugar to pitcher ( more /less to your taste) I just eyeball this
add hot tea to sugar and stir fill rest of pitcher with cold water or ice if you want it cold in a hurry

We drink our tea with lemon 'round here. Actually we use lemonade and make Arnold Palmers . everyday,everyday,everyday....

7 comments:

two vegan boys said...

Mmm, I love sweet tea. I make it for my husband, who is a Yankee. He never had sweet tea or homemade lemonade nor okra for that matter until he moved to Texas. I told him that was just crazy talk. I also introduced him to homemade biscuits and gravy.

I too cannot stand artificial sweeteners. Yuck!

Unknown said...

My husband and I are Texans. We lived up North in Maine and Connecticut for a couple of years, because home is where the Navy sends you. Up there, there they have never heard of sweet tea, Dr. Pepper, or biscuits and gravy. A waitress actually asked us what that was one time. Well, it's biscuits with gravy on top. She thought we were nuts! They also think Taco Bell is Mexican food and we all ride a horse to work every day.

belle said...

isn't it funny how many people outside of the south have never heard of sweet tea? its like some sort of secret that people are forced to foget once they cross the mason dixon line! hi~ larious

imperfectly natural mama said...

Awwww so cute! I have never really had sweet tea, might have to try it. I only drink Earl Grey, I wonder what hat would be like cold and sweet?

Candance said...

You make your sweet tea exactly like I do. Same number of tea bags and everything. Cause we were raised right and junk.

belle said...

candance, you know it is so true. loooong lost sisters seperated from our birth mother ;dolly parton

Aiyana Sphere said...

At the place I work at up North we sweeten our tea&lemonade with *GASP* Maple Syrup! It's awesome because we can make them up fresh each time&not have to worry about melting the sugar as well as keeping it local.