Homemade Starbucks Shaken Black Iced Tea

I really like Starbucks Shaken Black Iced Tea.  Alot.  It's refreshing and delicious on a hot, sticky day.  What I don't like is parting ways with my hard earned money.  So, I decided to make my own at home!  Easy- peasy- lemon- squeezy!


It's definitely not difficult to do at home.  Just gather all of your necessary ingredients and get to it.  What you need:  a chilled strong brewed black tea (I use Steeped Tea's Irish Breakfast), lemonade, ice and a shaker- or in my case a Magic Bullet. (A simple syrup is optional).

 This is what you do for one serving of Shaken Black Iced Tea:

1.  Steep your tea strong and then place it in the fridge to cool.  I only made one drink for myself so I simply made one cup of tea but you could make a full pot so you have a whole batch of it ready in the fridge!

2.  In a shaker, pour in the one cup of tea, about half of a cup of  lemonade and some ice (you decide how much!) and shake it, shake it, shake it!  I used my Magic Bullet to shake it all together because, well, I didn't have a shaker!  (If you want to add simple syrup add it before shaking).

3.  Pour into the glass of your choice and garnish with sliced lemons!  Delish!

I think that I am going to try this with Organic Peach tea next and a little bit of simple syrup!  Or maybe Magical Mango...........   decisions, decisions :)

Where Is Summer?

I don't know about you, but I have been waiting patiently for summer to arrive.  Very patiently. It has been rainy and unseasonably cool where I live and usually, by now, we are complaining of the heat. Not this year though and  I miss it!  I want to hear the cicadas singing their songs in the trees.  I want to be able to get in to my vegetable garden (which is just a big mud pile at the moment) and plan what I am going to do with all those veggies.  I especially want to enjoy a nice cold,  iced drink out on the patio.

So I have decided that even if the weather isn't going to co-operate I am going to still enjoy that nice cold drink on the patio anyway!

This is by far my most favourite drink right now....... Lemolicious iced tea (and maybe a little vodka)!

Have you ever heard of cold steeping your iced tea?  I didn't even know this was possible until I tried it out myself and now it's my go to way of making iced tea.  It is so easy and the flavour is just perfect.  This is how you do it........

Loose leaf Lemolicious Tea from "Steeped Tea"

The loose leaf tea ready to steep in the refrigerator.

You start with your loose leaf tea, a pitcher and some water.  I use 3 tablespoons of Lemolicious tea from Steeped Tea and three cups of cold water.  Simply put the tea in the bottom of the pitcher, add the water and set it in the fridge overnight.

After it steeps overnight you need to strain out the loose tea and then pour the liquid back in to the container.    Set the tea leaves aside.  I add three to four more cups of cold water and a full can of lemonade concentrate just to give it that extra "kick".  Delicious!

I also like to add some sliced lemons and ice cubes.  Now, I am just waiting on summer!

Care For A Spot Of Tea?

So, we recently made a trip to the "big city" to buy some Irish dancing supplies for an upcoming feis.  If you aren't familiar with Irish dance, a feis (pronounced "fesh") is simply an Irish dance competition.

Anyway, we needed some new soft shoes and a curly wig and some new socks so we made the trek to the Irish shop where they carry all of those kinds of things!

While we were in the "big city" I thought it would be the perfect time to head over to the British shop just to round out my U.K. experience for the day.  I was hoping to find some special toffee for my dad for Father's Day but I found this for myself instead!  Isn't it a beauty?!

Even more exciting than the fabulous mug is the little contraption that you can use to make an imprint of the Union Jack on your toast!  Bonus! 

 I can't wait to make another cuppa English Breakfast (or Irish Breakfast ) tea and eat some MORE toast and marmalade........ what a great day :)

Tea Party Time- Oh Nuts!

I am prepping for a tea party this week and I am super excited to try a new recipe!  Usually we snack on Earl Grey cookies, chai banana bread and caramel apple dip but this time I thought that I might like to try something new.

I saw this recipe on the Steeped Tea website and thought that it sounded pretty simple so I gathered all of the ingredients.

You will need:  
1 egg white, large
1 tsp water
4 cups of almonds
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Steeped Tea Leapin' Lizards Chai

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees (F) and spray a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.  Lightly beat the egg white with the water in a large bow until frothy.  (I started with a small bowl and realized that 4 cups of nuts would definitely not fit!)

Egg white beaten.

Almonds tossed with egg white.

After you have tossed the almonds with the frothy egg white add the mixed sugar, salt, cinnamon and Steeped Tea Leapin' Lizards Chai (delish!).

Finally, spread them on the baking pan and put it in the oven for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until the almonds are browned.

Be careful!  These are highly addictive!


Now the only problem is not eating them all before the party!  Wish me luck.

Vanilla Cupcake

         ABC Friday..... V is Vanilla Cupcake 

Mmmm....... vanilla.  Mmmmm...... cupcakes.  Who doesn't like a good cupcake once in awhile. They were all the rage there for awhile.  But too many cupcakes does a number on the waistline doesn't it?

What if you could have the cupcake without the guilt?  Well, now you can!  How about vanilla cupcake in a mug? Yep, that's right you can drink your vanilla cupcakes!  (Not literally, that would be a little weird!)

One of my most favourite teas is called "Vanilla Cupcake".  It is way more healthy for you than real cupcakes but still satisfies the need for something sweet once in awhile.  

"Vanilla Cupcake" is a Rooibos tea with Bourbon vanilla and natural flavour. 

   Rooibos bushes.

What's Rooibos you ask?

Rooibos (or red tea) is a South African tea that is high in anti-oxidants and is caffeine free (and calorie free if you drink it without milk and sugar!) 

This is what the "Vanilla Cupcake" tea  looks like before you get to enjoy it in your teacup.

So, if you are someone trying to watch their waistline (like me) or you don't want to drink your cupcakes (because that would be really weird), think about trying "Vanilla Cupcake" tea (from Steeped Tea).  It's a great alternative to the real thing!

I have I told you I love tea?

So, a few months ago I reluctantly went to a home party for tea.  Yes, tea.  Who knew that there was such a thing!  I had been to some of those "other" home parties- you know the ones- with wraps to make you skinny, gadgets to make you a better cook and creams to help you look younger.  This was something different.

We tasted tea, ate snacks with tea in them, and looked over the catalogue making our choices of what we were going to buy.  Now, up until then I was an avid coffee drinker ALL DAY LONG.  But at this party I found my favourite Starbuck's go-to drink...... the London Fog latte.  I figured that this was a great way to SAVE SOME BUCKS!  So I bought some.  And became a consultant because what better way to support my now extreme tea habit than to have constant access to delicious loose leaf tea?!