I love coffee. There is a stand at the Hanover Market that specializes
in flavored coffees, dried fruit, trail mixes and crunchy snacks. My
husband and I usually have an ample supply of the assorted coffee beans
in our refigerator. Two coffee recipes follow. These recipes are from
the Pan American Coffee Bureau.
6 ounces fresh brewed coffee
2 tablespoons chocolate syrup
1 tablespoon maraschino cherry juice
whipped cream
shaved chocolate or chocolate chips
maraschino cherry
Combine coffee, chocolate syrup and cherry juice; mix well. Top with
whipped cream, chocolate shavings and a cherry.
dash of cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon fine sugar
1/2 ounce grated chocolate
whipped cream
Combine first three ingredients together and divide between two mugs. Top the coffees with seasoned and sweetened whipped cream and grated coffee.
I also love tea of all kinds. Two of my favorites are peppermint and
jasmine: peppermint for a nice "pick-me-up" in the morning and jasmine
with honey for a relaxing "end-of-the-day" drink. The first tea recipe
below would make any rabbit happy, since it makes use of clover blossoms.
1/2 cup clover blossoms, fresh or dried
4 cups boiling water
Pour boiling water over clover blossoms in a teapot. Allow to steep for 5 minutes. Strain and serve.
Serves 2
2-1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon dried fenugreek seeds
1 small dried hibiscus flower
1/ teaspoon powdered cardamom
1/4 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
Bring water to a boil in a glass or stainless steel pan over high heat.
Add the fenugreek, reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered for 5
minutes. Place the cardamom, cinnamon and hibiscus into the teapot. Pour the fenugreek concoction over the herbs, cover the pot and steep 5 minutes. Strain and sweeten with honey to taste. Serve hot, or chill and serve over ice.
The hibiscus flowers have a pleasant but sour taste that combines well
with the sweet spices
Place herbs or tea bags in a large glass jar, add an appropriate amount
of water, cover tightly and place jar in a spot outdoors where it will
receive 3 to 6 hours of direct sunlight. Test the tea after 3 hours and
let it steep longer if you want a stronger flavor. When the tea is
brewed to your liking, strain off the herbs and refrigerate the tea in
a closed glass or container. Serve cold, with or without ice.
Remember that if you intend to serve tea iced, it needs to be brewed
slightly stronger than if you were serving it hot, since melting ice
dilutes the flavor in the glass.
4 cups boiling water
6 tea bags
1/2 teaspoon mint flakes
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup pineapple juice
Pineapple spears
Pour boiling water over tea bags and mint flakes in heated teapot.
Cover and steep 5 minutes. Strain; combine with sugar, lemon juice and
pineapple juice; mix well. Serve over ice and garnish with fresh
pineapple spears. Makes 1 quart.
Honey generally wins the contest hands-down. Two particular herbs
deserve special mention for their sweetening abilities: licorice is
said to be 50 times sweeter than sugar and stevia is sweeter even than
that. These two herbs can be used to provide sweetness, but use a light
hand. The flavor of stevia can be cloying if too much is added.
This sounds like a yummy good punch!
1 cup mild flavored honey
1/2 cup hot water
2 cups fresh orange juice, chilled
6 cups cranberry juice cocktail, chilled
1 can(12 ounce)pineapple juice, chilled
1 bottle(28 ounce)lemon-lime carbonated beveraged, chilled(optional)
Thoroughly combine honey and hot water until well blended. Add fruit
juices and chill until ready to serve. Pour over block of ice in punch
bowl. Add carbonated beverage, if desired. Garnish with orange and
lemon slices. Makes about 24 punch cup servings.