Black Cherry Iced Tea

I found the most wonderful Asian Food blog called Apetite for China. This recipes comes from Diana Kuan's kitchen. Check out more of her culinary delights at http://appetiteforchina.com/

Black Cherry Iced Tea

2 quarts water
1 pound fresh black cherries, rinsed and pitted
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 whole star anise
5 bags black tea, steeped in 2 cups water
Mint sprigs for garnish

Bring water to boil in a medium-sized pot. Add cherries, sugar, lemon juice, and star anise. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cherries are almost falling apart. Turn off heat, mix in black tea, and let stand for 1 hour to cool.

Strain liquid through a fine mesh sieve, mashing the cherries with a wooden spoon to extract more liquid. Discard solids. Transfer liquid to a pitcher and refridgerate until ready to serve.

Scandinavian Cold Raspberry Soup

A very elegant and flavorful meal suitable for a romantic dinner or a very hot day.

Scandinavian Cold Raspberry Soup

2 (10 oz.) pkg of frozen red raspberries in syrup, thawed
½ cup orange juice
¼ cup lemon juice
¾ cup chablis or dry white wine
orange sections
sour cream (optional)
1 tablespoon cornstarch

In a blender, puree 1 package of raspberries; strain and remove any seeds. Put orange juice, lemon juice, puree and cornstarch in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until thickened. Cool.

Stir in remaining package of raspberries and chablis. Add orange pieces and a dollop of sour cream for garnish.

Chilled Peach and Blueberry Soup

For that not so normal day when you need something different for a meal. Great for tea parties.

Chilled Peach and Blueberry Soup

2 ½ lbs. very ripe peaches
2 tablespoons honey
½ cup orange juice
½ teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 cup vanilla yogurt (or soy yogurt)
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
grated zest of ½ lemon
juice of 1 lemon
1 cup blueberries (washed if frozen)

Peel peaches, remove stones and chop. Reserve 2 cups. Place remaining peaches, honey, orange juice, yogurt, ginger, almond extract, zest, and lemon juice into a blender. Process until very smooth. Pour into a bowl and stir in reserved peaches and blueberries. Refrigerate until well chilled.

Calico Tea

Another light social afternoon drink, especially for cool weather or children's tea parties.

Calico Tea

5 cups boiling water
1 family sized tea bag
½ cup orange marmalade
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Pour hot water over the tea bag, cover and steep for 5 minutes. Remove tea bag and stir in remaining ingredients. Strain the mixture before serving. Makes roughly 5 cups.

Afternoon Apple Tea

A very easy and quick church social or afternoon visiting drink. Good for long porch talks and hot days when hot tea or coffee isn't a good idea.

Afternoon Apple Tea

3 cups boiling water
4 cinnamon apple tea bags
1 tablespoon sugar
1 6 oz. frozen apple juice, undiluted
2 cups cool water

Pour boiling water over the tea bags, cover and steep for five minutes. Remove the tea bags and stir in the sugar, apple juice and cool water. Stir well until mixed and chill before serving.

Earl Grey Tea Cookies

I've found a bunch of people claiming to have invented this cookie. I didn't. I adore tea and cookies and cookies that crumble well in tea. This is like the shortcut. Apparently the dough also freezes very well.

Earl Grey Tea Cookies

500 ml (2 cups) flour
125 ml (1/2 cup) sugar
125 ml (1/2 cup) powdered sugar
6 Earl Grey teabags
1 tsp vanilla sugar or vanilla extract
1 tsp water
200 g butter substitute, unsalted

Use a food processor, and blitz the tea from all teabags with the sugar, powdered sugar, vanilla sugar if using, and flour. If you're using vanilla extract, add this now, with the butter and water. Let the machine work it into a nice dough. If it's too dry, add another teaspoon of water, if it's too wet, add a little more flour.

Shape into tubes, wrap in plastic, and leave in the fridge or freezer to firm up for at least a 6 hours, or overnight.

Bake at 180°C for about 10 minutes.

Easy Chai Tea

When you have diabetes it's hard to find anything to drink that isn't laden with Splenda or equal. Since I can't use either it's hard to have anything on hand that you don't make yourself. Our systems from blood to bronchial and even digestive all perk up to certain spices, many of which you'll find in chai tea. If you hold out the milk you can store it in your fridge very easily and serve it cold or hot. I like to drink it as a dessert some days or use it as the liquid base for oatmeal.

Easy Chai Tea

2 cups of water
4 black tea bags
2 cups of fat free skim milk (or milk substitute)
2 tablespoons of honey
1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
pinch of black pepper

Heat the water to boiling. Add tea bags, reduce heat to medium. Simmer for two minutes then remove the teabags.

Stir remaining ingredients in and return to high heat for a good boil. Beat with a wire whisk to make the milk foam and serve.

Makes 4 (1 cup) servings.

1 serving = 80 calories, 65mg sodium, 4g protein, 16g carbs, 0mg cholesterol, 0 fat, 0 saturated fat, 0g fiber.

Food Exchange = 1/2 fruit; 1/2 skim milk

Tea and Honey Crisps

I wish I could think up nifty recipes like this. It came from Gourmet Magazine.

Tea and Honey Crisps

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 cup mild honey
2 1/4 teaspoons decaffeinated Earl Grey tea leaves (from 2 to 3 tea bags)
2 large egg whites
1 cup all-purpose flour

Special equipment: disposable Styrofoam plates; a small sharp knife such as an X-Acto; a 17- by 11-inch nonstick bakeware liner such as Silpat; a small offset spatula

Draw desired shape of cookie on a Styrofoam plate, then cut out shape with X-Acto knife and discard shape. If desired, cut out additional shapes from same plate. Trim plate, leaving a 1-inch border around stencil(s). Make more stencils with more plates if desired.

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with nonstick liner.

Beat together butter, confectioners sugar, honey, and tea leaves in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until combined well. Add egg whites 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low, then mix in flour until just combined.

Place stencil on liner and spread batter with spatula over stencil to completely cover opening. Carefully lift stencil from liner and stencil more cookies in same manner about 1 inch apart. Bake until edges are deep golden brown, 6 to 9 minutes. Cool cookies 1 minute on sheet, then transfer with spatula to a rack to cool completely. (To curl cookies, drape while hot over handles of wooden spoons or rolling pins to cool.) Stencil and bake more cookies with remaining batter.

Makes about 6 dozen (4-inch) cookies

Tea Time Peach Soup

Sometimes a refreshing cold soup can be the center piece of a delicate luncheon. This soup is perfect for a ladies day or a civilized tea.

Tea Time Peach Soup

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup fresh orange juice
6 ripe peaches, pitted
Spare water for boiling
1 tsp. water

Peel peaches, drop them into briskly boiling waterfor one minute. The skins will slip right off. In a blender or food processor, puree peaches, orange and sugar until smooth. Add water and chill. Serve cold.

Cardamom Meltaway Cookies

I love having tea. And any civilized tea party has cookies. These crisp wafers melt in your mouth (or your tea cup). I tend to give them as gifts around Christmas time.

Cardamom Meltaways

½ lb. soft butter (can substitute soy butter)
1 cup all purpose flour
½ teaspoon cardamom
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
½ cup cornstarch

Preheat oven to 325°. Cream the butter with the flour and cardamom. Sift together the sugar and cornstarch. Add all of the ingredients together and cream well. Divide into two equal portions, roll into logs and wrap each in foil. Store in the fridge for 8 hours but no longer than overnight.

Remove one log and shape it into balls about the size of a marble. Place balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet 2 inches apart and flatten with the floured tines of a fork. Bake for 20 minutes or until delicately browned.