Southerner's have been using Luzianne Tea for as far back as I can remember. So I use their tea bags now. Southern Iced Tea 3 Family size tea bags 2 c. cold water 1 c. sugar Place two cups of water in a pot along with the two tea bags. Bring to a boil, but do not continue boiling. Remove from heat and let it steep. After steeping pour into empty pitcher. Fill remaining of the pitcher with cold water.

This is no fail sweet tea the way I make mine. Sweet Southern Iced Tea ( my favorite) 3 Family size Luzianne tea bags 1 1/3 c. sugar pinch of baking soda (a bare 1/4 tsp) Bring several cups (3 or 4) of water to a boil. Add a pinch of soda to the water along with your tea bags. (the soda takes away any bitter taste and darkens your tea. It doesn't change the taste of your tea). Remove from heat and allow to steep for 15 minutes. Pour into a gallon pitcher and fill remaining of the pitcher with cold water. Place in fridge.

Iced Tea Syrup

This is really good tea. It never ends up bitter. MAKES A LOT. If you have some left over and you know you won't be using it, just stick it in the freezer until ready to use. I have used this syrup when it was 10 days old in the fridge and it still tasted fresh. Boil 4 cups water; turn off heat.

Add 11 regular-size tea bags; let steep 5 to 7 minutes.

Remove tea bags AND DO NOT SQUEEZE THEM

Add 1 1/4 cups sugar

Store in refrigerator.

TO USE: Put ice in glass. Add 1/4-cup tea syrup & 1 cup of cold water. Stir.

Lemon Iced Tea

For 2 quarts of water:

use 3/4 c. sugar

2 oz. lemon juice

2 bags of black tea

The lemon juice really should be fresh, but bottled juice will work.

Drop the two tea bags into the water and remove from heat. Cover with a lid and allow steeping for at least 1 hour. Although, in general, black teas should not be steeped for this long because of the excessive release of bitter tannins, this did not seem to be an issue when brewing this much tea with only two bags. Using more bags with a shorter steep time generates a different flavor profile that doesn't blend as nicely with the lemon juice.

Once the tea has been sufficiently steeped, remove the tea bags and add the sugar and lemon juice. Stir until the sugar completely dissolves.

Pour tea into a pitcher and add ice cubes until the volume has returned to two quarts.

Refrigerate until completely chilled (at least four hours) before serving.

Gingerbread Spiced Coffee Syrup

This is delicious spicy syrup that you can use to
   spice up coffee, tea, apple cider, you name it, it's all
   good! Add a tablespoon to your favorite beverage, or use it
   in whipped cream, or brush it on cakes.

Drizzle it on
   yogurt, oatmeal, or pancakes - the possibilities are endless!
   Prep Time: approx.

Makes 1 cup (16 servings).

1 c. water
1 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. honey
1 (1 inch) piece fresh ginger
   root, sliced
1 cinnamon stick, broken broken into large pieces

8 whole cloves

1/2 tsp. whole allspice berries

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg



1 In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine water,
   sugar, and honey. Stir in ginger, cinnamon stick, cloves,
   allspice, peppercorns, and nutmeg; bring to a boil. Reduce heat,
   cover, and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool for 20
   minutes, then strain through a fine mesh sieve, or double layer cheesecloth.

***For Chai flavors, you can add 6 green cardamom pods and 2
   stars of star anise.

Brown Sugar Lemonade

6 lemons, juiced

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. ice cubes

In a large pitcher, combine fresh lemon juice and water. Stir in brown sugar until it dissolves. Stir in ice cubes.

Old Fashioned Fruit Punch 1 c. boiling water 1 c. sugar 1 qt. grape juice Juice of 6 lemons Juice of 6 oranges 1 pt grated pineapple 1 pt. ginger ale 1 pt. tea (optional) Mix the boiling water and sugar. Cook for about 5 minutes to make syrup. Mix juices, pineapple, ginger ale and tea. Let stand for about an hour. When ready to serve, sweeten with the sugar syrup, and dilute with chilled water. Garnish with slices of orange and lemon.

Simple Coffee Punch 1 1/2 pt. vanilla ice cream 4 c. hot coffee Pour coffee over ice cream and beat with a mixer tunil ice cream is partially melted. Pour into punch cups and sprinkle with nutmeg.

Tea Punch 1 c. hot tea infusion 1 c. sugar 3/4 c. orange juice 1/3 c. lemon juice 1 pt. ginger ale 1 pt. carbonated water For tea infusion use 2 teaspoons tea and 1 1/4 c. boiling water, following directions for making hot tea. Strain tea over sugar. As soon as sugar is dissolved, add the fruit juices. Strain over ice in a punch bowl. Just before serving, add ginger ale, carbonated water and slices of orange.

Golden Wedding Punch (Serves 100) 3 gal. orange juice 4 No. 5 cans pineapple juice 1 No. 5 can apricot juice 1 No. 5 can grapefruit juice 1 c. lemon juice 1 c. sugar 1 gal. sherbet (orange, pineapple, apricot or lime) Combine first 6 ingredients, chill. Pour over ring mold in punch bowl. Just before serving, float sherbert. Makes apporximately 7 gallons

TRIPLES with EMMA