Summer Don't Go!

It has just occurred to me that autumn is just around the corner. I know, I know! But still. Apples, turnips, pumpkins, pencils, books... school ... that's just a stone's throw away and while I do look forward to crisp sweater-weather, warm comforting stews and a brand new school year, I'm not ready to let go of summer just yet. So what should we do? Simple! Fill up our days with all the summer-y fun things and enjoy every last moment. Like what, you ask? Having brunch with friends in the warmth of a weekday summer morning, watching matinee movies, staying up late on Sundays, walking everywhere, enjoying summer berries and fresh local veggies, going camping, taking day trips and ... making and enjoying iced tea.

I've always loved iced tea. As a non-alcoholic-drinker, iced tea has always been my old friend and standby. I first tried making it earlier this year for a little tea party I was having with my students. Since then, I've tweaked it a little to suit more grown up tastes -- not that a recipe for iced tea can be tweaked too much. It's very very simple and gives you refreshing, satisfying results. And what about those cherries in the picture above? Ah .. those are sour cherries. When kickpleat wrote about them on ReadyMade, and I saw them sitting innocently in a basket at the fruit market, I just had to try them. I pitted a little basket and froze them right away as we were going on vacation. When I came back, they welcomed me by giving me a little sweet-sour super cold treat to munch on. BUT .. they are even BETTER when you use them as little fruity ice cubes in this iced tea. I used a combination of an inexpensive fruit tea that came in bags and rooibos tea that I bought loose at a health food store. Feel free to just use teabags or loose tea (I would say that 1 teaspoon of loose tea would equal the amount in a teabag).


Please go make some iced tea. If you do it and I do it then maybe, just maybe, summer will hang around a little bit longer ...

Fruity Rooibos Iced Tea

6 cups of water
3-4 bags of fruity herbal tea
1 tablespoons of rooibos tea
3 tablespoons of sugar (or more or less to your taste)
the juice of half a lemon
frozen fruit to serve (optional)

1. Bring the six cups of water to a rolling boil. Turn off the heat and dump in the tea. Cover and let it steep for about 10 minutes.

2. Strain the tea into a different pot using a strainer lined with cheesecloth or empty teabags. You can skip this step if you're not using a loose tea like rooibos that's got a lot of little bits in it. I'm sure green tea and black tea leaves will strain fine with just the strainer.

3. Let the tea cool for about 5 minutes. Add sugar and lemon juice and give it a big stir. Adjust the sugar/lemon amounts to your taste.

4. Allow the tea to cool completely before to pouring into a jug or in my case, and empty juice container, and storing the fridge. To complete the experience, pour yourself a glass, drop in a few pieces of frozen fruit and toast to summer not being over just yet.