Mulled Licorice Spice Tea

I talk a lot about how much coffee I drink (and yes, I do drink a lot of coffee) but honestly, I drink just as much if not more tea. Almost always herbal, sometimes a bag, sometimes loose leaf. In the cold months I probably drink 5 cups a day (well actually I drink it out of big ball jars and drink 2-3 of those big jars a day) So yeah, I drink a lot of tea too.

This tea blend is one of my favorites. Licorice is delicious. Sweet and spicy, not to mention fantastic for any respiratory ailments you might be having (licorice root is one of my go to’s for medicinal purposes) Adding all the other spices just brings even more amazing spicy goodness that will make your house smell amazing and make you face smile a smile. A perfect tea to place on the stove to sip on all day, warm your insides and hands (best cure for cold hands is a hot mug) and most likely put you in a cheery festive mood because we are in the thick of all the holidays and sweet and spicy mulled hot drinks will do that to a person.

Take a few minutes, make some tea, and take care of yourself. It will be good. Trust.

To the tea!!

The stuff. Cut and sifted licorice root, whole or hulled cardamon pods (use one or the other), whole cloves, a couple cinnamon stick, some fresh ginger, and and orange.

Not much needs to be done, just slice the ginger into a few thin pieces (you don’t even need to peel it) and peel the good parts of the orange off (avoid the white pith) then add it to a pot with the spices and that’s pretty much it.

Pot full of spices. It’s gonna be good.

And we can’t forget to add in the water cause tea needs water. Bring the pot to a nice boil on the stove for a few minutes then pull it off the heat.

Set hot tea to steep for like 10 or so minutes.

Strain steeped tea into mugs.

Pssss.. You can re-steep all the tea bits if you want. I have resteeped mine like 3 times!

Add a festive common stick and slice of orange to (squeeze the juice into the tea.

Now take in all the cozy sweet feels, sip, and enjoy.

-C

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Mulled Licorice Spice Tea

Makes 3 large cups (plus more if you want to re-steep spices)

• 2 teaspoons cut and sifted Licorice root

• 1/2 teaspoon whole cloves

• 4-5 whole cardamon pods or 1 teaspoon hulled cardamon

• about an inch and a half of fresh ginger

• An orange

• 1-2 whole cinnamon sticks

• 36-40 oz of water

Peel or zest the orange (not the white part,) and slice the ginger into a few thin pieces. Place into a big pot along with all the spices and the water. Place pot on stove and bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes then turn heat off and let tea steep for 10 minutes.

After steeping, strain into cups. Slice orange into segments and serve tea with a squeeze of fresh orange juice. IF you feel fancy, a cinnamon stick too. Feel free to sweeten tea to taste, but I think you will find that it is sweet enough.

Drin kind enjoy.

Note. After you strain the tea, place the spices back into the pot. Add more water. boil and steep again. These spices can be used for a few rounds of tea

Carob Covered Rice Cakes

 I remember long ago, when I was just a little, my mom would take me to the health food store with her to get whatever new fancy snack that she was obsessed with or to stock up on way to expensive jams and her very specific boxes of teas that she could not find anywhere else. Those were the days (when mom was buying the groceries) And I loved going to the store with here because well, bulk bins! Oh the bulk section, it had all the best stuff like sesame sticks and granola chunks.  It was a free for all,, grabbing a piece dried mango here or a handful of almonds there. (don't judge, I as just a sweet little little, I don't do that anymore...often)   This store had a pretty impressive bulk section and includedtwo bins of carob covered rice cakes. One was plain, one was mint, both freaking delicious. Up until the first time I ate one of those rice cakes I had no clue what carob was or that those rice cakes were not chocolate. I just remember that they were super tasty and that my mom always got one for me.  She wold buy a dozen and I might have gotten to eat another one of those too.  I loved those rice cakes.

I haven't seen a carob covered rice cake in years.  I think that they stopped carrying them or maybe it's because the store has changed a lot and I don't often go there anymore, but either way, it's been a while. So anyway, last week I spur of the moment bought a package of (unsalted plain) rice cakes, then realized that the mr wasn't to into rice cakes anymore (there was a long period of time where I made him peanut butter banana rice cakes for lunch everyday). But I bought them and they need to be eaten, and that's when it came to me.. Make the carob covered rice cakes from the old days. Something new and different for the mr and something super nostalgic for me.

And it helped that it has been way to freakin deakin hot and all the things that I have been wanting to bake (cherry pie, rhubarb cake, food in general) just wasn't happening. . But these sweet treats take 2 minutes to make and require no heat whatsoever (my coconut was already melted.) Can you really ask for more?

The stuff. Carob powder, coconut oil and rice cakes. I should have stuck the sea salt in the picture, but it is kind of optional..

Simple as can be. Th oil and carob powder get combined in a bowl of some kind.

Mixed together until silky smooth and BLING BLING shiny.

Rice cakes all ready to get decked out ( doing this on wax paper to make life much easier)

Smothered with the carob all over. You can do one side at a time, sticking it into the freezer to set for a minute or just get a little messy and do it all at once. Up to you. But wither way, it need to go in the freezer for just a few minute to get hard.

And right before you stick them in the freezer, sprinkled with sea salt.

Uh huh.. Looking good. And taste ever better then I remembered. (it's the salt. Salt makes everything better)

-C

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Carob Covered Rice cakes

Makes 2 (why make only 1)

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 4 heaping tablespoons carob powder
• 2 plain rice cakes
• Sea salt

In a bowl mix together melted coconut oil with the carob powder until a smooth and shinny consistency. With a spatula, smother the top and the sides of the rice cakes with the mixture. Place on wax wax paper, un-carobed bottom down, and stick in freezer for a few minutes until carob has harden. Remove, flip, and smother remaining side. (you can do both sided at once, but it's a little messier) Sprinkle salt on now and back into freezer until hard. Remove and eat.

Note. If you make two and have one left over for late, keep it in an air tight container in the fridge or freezer. It will melt just like chocolate.

Sun Tea

My flowers are coming up, I have packed away my winter jacket, and I haven't worn anything but sandals for the past week. Plus yesterday I made the first batch of sun tea and saw my first hot air balloon of the season (which lead to a heated discussion with the mister about how hot air balloons take flight. We were both kinda right, but me more than him)So yeah,  it's for real… Winter is gone and spring has sprung, or more like spring sprung then bounced cause now it's basically summer weather. Not complaining, but I hope we get a least a few more weeks of pleasant, not hot and humid weather. 

Anyway. Sun tea, one of my favorite summer time drinks. Made by infusing regular old teas with water by using the almighty power of sun.

Why do we want to make iced tea this way instead of just using boiling water? Well you can still do that, but sun tea makes a more mellow, lovely, and I find, more sweeter tea. It brings out more complex flavors that you don't get with the boiling water method.  And it's nice to know that it took zero effort on my part to make the drink (not that boiling water takes that much effort, but still)

It can be made with any variety  of teas, infused with other fresh herbs, dried spices, or even chunks of fruit. You can also make the teas and add flavors after the infusing is over. Have fun and play with flavor combos.

A few of my favorite sun tea combinations

• Any mellow black tea like orange pekoe or english breakfast with a few springs of mint
• Chamomile and mint 
• Green with a fruity tea, like blueberry or pomegranate
• Lemon Zinger with a few springs of Rosemary

These are just a few of the endless possible flavors. And you don't have to get fancy with it either, you can totally use plain old lipton tea bags (I still do that too)

Now harness the sunshine and feel awesome and fancy by making some tea!

Woo Hoo Wednesday!

-C

SUN TEA

 What you'll need

• Tea- Either bags or loose leaf
• Water- Preferably Filtered
• A glass jar with a lid
• Sunshine

I  use a ratio of 1 tea bag or 1 tablespoon loose leaf tea per 2 cups of water. And I usually make my teas in half gallon ball jars so I use 4-5 teabags or tablespoons of tea. (makes just enough tea for 4-6 tall glasses, depending on you glass size)  If it's a mint tea, I usually use a little less because I find that mint teas can become to strong and bitter so I  use 3 teas bags or tablespoons of loose.

Directions

Place tea loose or bags into jar. Fill with water, leaving about an inch for tea expansion, place lid on tight, and stick in the sun for anywhere between 3-5 hours  (depending on how strong you like your tea). When tea is infused to your liking, remove teabags or strain the loose tea and stick into the fridge to chill. Serve as is  in a drinking vessel with a few ice cubes and add sweetener if that's what you do.

Drink within a day or two, then rinse jar and make a new batch!