Lemony Iced Tea

It's a hot summer day and you want something refreshing. Everyone has there own idea for this, but for me Lemony Iced Tea, just hits the spot.

So lets make some Iced tea, not the powdered stuff or anything like that but the real thing.

Ok, I just happen to have a Mr. Coffee Iced Tea Brewer, but that doesn't mean you have to run to buy more equipment. we are going to make 2 quarts of mild tea. Just strong enough to be refreshing. I use loose tea, Lipton sells Loose Tea in a half pound box, but you can use any brand, and it doesn't have to be loose, it can be in tea bags. Luzianne makes a blend in extra large tea bags just for brewing Iced Tea. If you use this Luzianne blend, just follow there instructions. The Blend I use contains Orange Pekoe and Pekoe Cut Black Tea. This mixture will give a nice blend to the tea. I will leave it up to you to brew the tea, but we want to end up with approximately 2 quarts of tea.

To sweeten the tea, I use 1/2 cup of sugar, I dissolve the sugar in hot water, can be tap water or you may want to heat it on the stove to dissolve the sugar. This extra liquid should be part of the 2 quarts and not an extra, so you might want to start with this step first. Add this sugar water to the tea. I also use ice as part of the 2 quarts, so that the tea will cool as fast as possible.

The last step I do is add the lemons to the tea. I take the juice of 2 lemons and add this to the tea. I also add the lemon rinds to the tea. I think it just gives you the impression that this was made with real ingredients and helps to keep that lemony flavor in the tea. If the Lemony Iced Tea needs some more chilling, then put it in the refrigerator for awhile.

Enjoy.

Herb Bread

The base recipe is from Bake Your Own Bread And Be Healthier, by Floss and Stan Dworkin, copyright 1972.

This bread is a quickly made bread one rise bread.

2 Tbs Dry Active Yeast or 2 Pkts Dry Active Yeast or 1/2 oz yeast cakes
1 Tsp Dill Seed
1 Tsp Savory
1/2 Tsp Dill Weed
1 Tbs Sea Salt
2 Tbs Honey
2 Cups Hot Water(about 110F)
2/3 cup Skim Milk Powder
4-1/2 Cups White Bread Flour or 2 Cups White Bread Flour & 2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour

Mix all ingreients together, except Flour. Add flour 1 cup at a time. Mix the dough right in bowl, squeezing the dough through your fingers or use a beater to mix together. Dough hooks work really good here.

Grease 2 loaf pans 8-1/2" x 4-1/2" x 2-1/2". Divide dough between pans getting the dough evenly spread in the pan. Rise the bread in a warm place for 20 minutes or so. Be sure to cover the pans with a clean cloth.

When risen place in cold oven, bake at 200 F for 10 minutes and then 40 minutes at 350 F. Test for doneness. Cool on wire rack. Eat while still warm.

You can also experiment with other herb combinations, such as, 1 Tsp Basil, 1 Tsp Oregano and 1/4 Tsp Tarragon.

Enjoy

Bake Your Own Bread and Be Healthier

If you had been following my other blog, you would have seen I lost most everything in the Flood of 2007. Well almost everything, I saved a book written by Floss and Stan Dworkin., copyright 1972. It is the best darn book for cooking bread of all types.

But as the flood goes, the book, even though saved was contaminated by the flood waters, so because of this, the book cannot be used for everyday cooking. I will be extracting recipes out of it that I thought were awesome and putting them online here. Credits will be given to the original authors, etc., but most of the write ups will be mine. Please note these recipes come from a time when Bread Machines did not exist, so the recipes might not be compatible with these newfangled machines of mind boggling complexity.

Hey, I have a mixer with a dough hook, so what better way to make the old fashioned recipes, than with a little automation. I can't knead the dough as well as the machine can. But the results of homemade fresh bread coming out of the oven is awesome and doing it with all the supper ingredients that Floss and Stan used is just awesome.

Hearty Breakfast Sandwich

I have been making this awesome sandwich for some time now and wanted to share it with you, my dedicated audience.

First, we will start with Hash Brown Potato Pattie. depending on the size and shape you may want to fry 1 or 2 patties. If I buy them from one store they are usually long and narrow so I usually fry up 2 patties. I use a stickless pan, cephalon, so I do not use any oil for this step.

Next, in a separate frying pan I fry up enough bacon, ham or sausage for the sandwich. I prefer bacon, but you can use whatever you want or go meatless if you want the sandwich to be vegetarian. For vegan we would have to use an egg substitute, but we are planning to use eggs.

At this time I toast 2 slices of bread on the toaster. Use whole grain bread for the extra nutrition, but you can use whatever pleases you.

While the toast is cooking I take 2 eggs and prepare them for an omelet, I use 2 eggs nothing added, except maybe some herbs for extra flavor. I use an herb mixture called Omelette Blend, which contains Parsley, Dill, Chervil, Chives, Garlic, Onion, Celery Seed and Veggie Pepper. The Omelette Blend is from Mustard Seed Workshop formerly located in Portsmouth , NH. They are now located in Nottingham, NH and the blend can also be bought over Internet, see http://www.mustardseedherbs.com/index.html
for further info. The Omelette Blend is located under Herb & Spice Blends. I use about a teaspoon of the blend for 2 eggs. I melt some butter in my omelette pan and cook the omelette in the traditional french style. when the omelette is almost done I fold it in half on top of itself. I can now turn the omelette over so both sides get properly cooked.

While I am doing all this cooking, I am also assembling the sandwich. The Home Fried potato pattie goes on the toast. I then put a slice of American Cheese on the potato pattie. Next will go the omelette and finally the meat which you have cooked for it. Last the top slice of bread. Enjoy.

Cooking in the New Place

Moving to a new place meant, I would finally have a gas stove. No more of this electric business. The kitchen is large and open. With those large windows there is a feeling of a bright and cheerful kitchen.

We are in the process of redoing the entire place, so much is not done and yes, the overflow finds it's way into the kitchen. But even so, one can get the idea of the openness and charm this kitchen will afford in the future.