Sunny California Sweet Tea

I love a tall glass of seriously cold and sweet iced tea in the summer.   Especially on days when the temperatures hover around the 100 degree mark.  Which is more often than not around here.  On these days the last thing I want to do is turn on the heat whether it's the oven or stove.   So boiling a pot of water to make traditional Southern Sweet Tea is not going to happen_today at least. 

But I do want a glass of iced tea.  I could always  go out and buy a bottle of sweet tea from the store.  However,  that stuff is always too sweet!  It tastes more like sugar water than sweet tea.  Not to mentioned if you aren't careful you may be buying a  brand that is made with High Fructose Corn Syrup! Ick!  ...so I decided to resort to the ol' standby...and make a mason jar of sun tea.

There are two things that make tea Southern Sweet.  Sugar and baking soda.  In order to fully dissolve the sugar and baking soda into the tea it needs to be hot. So when I went outside and retrieved the mason jar of sun tea it occurred to me that the tea might be warm enough to dissolve the sugar and baking soda.   I was right it was!

So here is my version of Sweet Tea.

Oh, one more thing.  In case you are wondering why "the pinch of baking soda"?  It is to smooth the bitter taste of burnt tea.  Don't laugh! I've seen people just pour water over tea bags in a pot and boil them on the stove.  Ever leave a cup of tea to sleep too long?  I found it also helps me to use less sugar in my sweet tea.

Sunny California Sweet Tea

   10 regular black tea bags
   1/3 to 1/2 cup of sugar*
   Pinch of baking soda

Put tea bags in 8 cup/ half gallon mason jar and fill with water.  Add lid and shake to make sure tea bags are moistened.   Place outside in the sun for 2-3 hours.  There have been days when it has been hot enough and only taken an hour!  Bring back in the house, remove tea bags and add the sugar.  Stir to dissolve.   TASTE for sweetness (add more sugar if it isn't sweet enough)  and then add pinch of baking soda.  Put lid on and shake to make sure all is dissolved.  Place in refrigerator to chill.  Pour over a tall glass of ice and enjoy!! 

Note:  I use 10 tea bags to make the tea dark so that when I pour it over ice it isn't too diluted:-) I have made this with just 8 when in a pinch.

*Depending on how sweet you want your tea,  I would suggest adding a third of a cup first and taste before adding more. I use a third of a cup when I make mine.  

Coconut Rice Pudding

In general I'm not a big fan of leftovers.   The exception for me is rice.  I intentionally make more than I need because I know that I will either make fried rice or my fav...Rice pudding!

     This recipe came to be being one night for two reasons.  One, I had a dish of leftover Jasmine rice in the fridge and two I was craving the pudding more than fried rice.  Problem was I had the rice but no milk, cream or even half & half.  It was late and I am too lazy to just drive out for milk.   I didn't even have a can of evaporated milk on the pantry shelf.  But as I was putting the dish of rice back in the fridge I saw an opened can of coconut milk I had left from another recipe.   I thought to myself "why not?" And took both the rice and coconut milk out and made dessert.

     The rice I had on hand this time was Jasmine but I make my rice puddings with Arborio and brown as well.  So it doesn't matter which you use just make sure to use rice that is already cooked.

2 cups cooked rice
1/3 cup of sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 cup coconut milk

Put the rice in a pot and heat to warm the rice.  Add the sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt.  Stir over medium-low heat for a minute and add the coconut milk.   Bring to a boil and remove from heat.  Stir and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.  Makes 4 servings.

Note:  This recipe was even better the next day cold from the fridge.   The coconut milk makes a thick cream.  Next time I make it I will use a whole can of coconut milk for a more creamy pudding.  As the picture shows it's more rice than pudding but it was all I had...leftovers:)