Summertime...

and the living is sweaty! Ugh, disgusting, in fact. It was 100 degrees here today, with a heat index of well over that. I swear I can get sunburned just walking the few steps from my car to the building where I work, and watching all of the plants struggling to live is painful. Also, the hotter it is the worse the smog is, and we've had Code Reds for the air quality more days than not. *sigh*

In "celebration" of these awful temperatures (which might end by September, if we're lucky), I'd like to share a recipe for a Tallulah House favourite: green iced tea with sage. A friend of mine's husband shared it with me and it is right up there with cucumber water, lemonade, Happy's iced coffee, and Atlanta Brewing Company's Double Chocolate Oatmeal Porter in my Most Loved Beverages list :) It is light and refreshing, and not too sweet unless you're heavy handed-- this is NOT the syrupy mess that you'll sometimes find masquerading as iced tea!


Ingredients

• Two teabags of green tea (if you have a favourite, use it! I like Celestial Seasonings decaffeinated green tea)
• Sugar to taste
• One bunch of fresh sage, bruised

Directions

• Set cold water to boil
• Put the sugar, bruised sage, and tea bags in the pitcher (Hint: Leave the teabags attached to each other to make it easier to remove them later. Easy removal is also why I suggest cutting a single bunch of sage, rather than individual leaves)
• Once your water has reached an enthusiastic boil, pour it into the pitcher and give the mixture a few stirs to encourage the sugar to melt. (Hint: I like to fill the pitcher only halfway with the boiling water; once the sugar's melted and the tea is as strong as you want it, add cold water so that you can drink it faster)
• Remove teabags and sage
• Fill a tall glass, add ice cubes, and enjoy!

(I must add that this glass is a piece of Depression glass in the Cubist pattern and that I am very fond of it! I have a set of twelve and they're our everyday glasses-- so incredibly sturdy).

I had a successful day of junking with Frances last Friday and I have some lovely treasures to show you-- found some perfect things for the planned spring re-do of our bedroom. I'll try to get those posted this week.

Here's a thought I'd like to leave you with (saw it on a card recently and thought it was perfect!) :

"Everything will be okay in the end.
If its not okay, its not the end."

If you're discouraged, I hope these words help. If you're hot and miserable, I hope you'll try the tea. If you're happy, cool, and comfortable, I hope that you're thankful for your blessings ;)

Thanks for stopping by,
Kimberley