2/5
August 18, 2009
I had five (maybe technically six?) wee to dos on my list and crossed two off the list this past Saturday: I made iced tea and banana bread.
I C E D · T E A
I looked online briefly for instructions on how to make iced tea, and I was intrigued by one recipe that said you should leave the plastic container full of teabags and boiling water outside, in the sun, for 24 hours. Sadly I don’t have any direct sunlight coming into my house, and I wasn’t ready to be labeled as the “crazy lady who brings bottles of murky liquid to the front lawn as offerings to her alien ruler, we think”, so I used my own recipe (which I came up with as I went along, and which, I suspect you would have come up with too without any trouble):
- boil water
- add boiling water to teabags, sugar and lemon
- let steep for exactly ‘a while’
- remove tea bags
- chill tea in fridge
I made a video of the experience because I had nothing better to do and I wanted to try out the built in video camera. I’m clearly a natural since I only did one take (yes, that’s it).
The verdict:
Once chilled, it was a very refreshing drink, especially since this weekend was so hot and humid! There isn’t enough of the brewed tea flavour that I love so in my drink. More tea bags will be used in the future. It also wasn’t quite sweet enough, but this might be a good thing for me.
B A N A N A · B R E A D
I have made countless loaves of ‘nana bread because I don’t like eating mushy bananas and I love banana bread (no nuts or raisins in mine please)! My only complaint with the recipe I use (which is quite delicious!) is that the batter always seems to settle while baking so that the bottom half is a bit darker than the top. It certainly doesn’t affect the taste at all but you know how it is when you want something to be perfect.
I came across this recipe via the Pioneer Woman today, and you can see from this picture that her bread doesn’t seem to suffer from settling of any kind (except, perhaps settling in the tummies of banana bread lovers like me). I must try it.
A commenter suggested I freeze my ripening fruit and I think that will be the fate of the peaches…I’d like them in a smoothie more than in a crisp, I believe.
you bread looks great. Who cares if it a bit slumped, if it tastes good, that is all that matters.
I will wait till I get home to watch your tea making video.
At least you are hitting your to-do list pretty hard.
This it the first Live Action Jummy I have seen! Fun!!
A lot of people made that tea in the sun when I was growing up. We called it Sun Tea! I don't think the water has to start out boiling. It just takes much longer. You can also make it in the fridge (starting with cold water) and I do that sometimes in a sun tea jar I have (It has a little spout at the bottom :).
I love iced tea and banana bread, too!
I haven't watched the video yet (oh,but i will!). I think my brother used to take one of those giant ocean spray juice bottles put like 6 tea bags in fill it with boiling water and then put it in the fridge over night. But I totally could've made that up.
Have you tried the half/half? Half icetea half lemonade? I highly recommend it.
You've never made sun tea before? Seriously!? It's super-easy, and you don't even have to sit it in the sun. :-) Though I do have fond childhood memories of the big jar of tea steeping in the sun on our front porch. But if you dont' want to leave it outside, you can just stick however many teabags into a pitcher/jar/container of water, and let it sit at room temperature. The tea will steep even in cold water, it just takes longer.
I always throw my brown bananas into the freezer to use for banana bread later. I think I have about a half-dozen in there right now! When you want to use them, you can either microwave them for a minute or two, or just leave them on a plate till they unfreeze enough to squish out of the peel.
I don't like chunky nuts in my banana bread, but I love grinding them up and putting them in – all the taste and none of the texture!
I love your video – you're way cuter than I imagined! :D
►Rhona
Thank you! You're right: it was quite yummy.
I hit the list hard but I've slacked off since. I need to get my act together.
►Emma
lol the video is very me, that's for sure.
Thanks for the info on sun tea and no making tea in my fridge. I just had this feeling that tea must be steeped in hot water to actually be steeped.
►Deidre
Oh, I must try this iced tea/lemonade combo!
►bethany actually
Nope, never made sun tea! I hadn't even heard of it before googling it. Thanks for the tip on steeping tea, even in cold water.
That banana tip is very very handy – thank you!
►Amy
I love nuts but I too hate chunky nuts…grinding it up is brilliant. Thank you!
And you're kind to call me cute…I appreciate it!