Notes of a Middle Child

Nana Besig's Russian Tea

I gave up coffee last November (sniff...), but had allowed myself "special occasion" coffee which I loosely defined as:

a) after an expensive meal in a restaurant
b)  on major holidays
c) costing more than $4 in a shop. 

However, in the past few months I'd started slipping down that slippery coffee slope and having a half cup most mornings.  I have nothing against coffee except I didn't like that I'd become somewhat addicted.  I didn't need it to get going in the morning the way my groggy husband does, but I enjoyed the morning ritual of making it and, of course, loved the taste and aroma.  But I found that if I skipped it I would get a terrible headache around 3-4 pm.  This bothered me.  So I figured I could either make sure I NEVER missed my morning cuppa or I could give it up altogether.  Since I plan on getting pregnant one of these days I figured I may as well just forgo it in anticipation of wanting to ease up on caffeine during my "baby years." 

As far as I know, Grandma "Nana" Besig wasn't Russian, but she made Russian tea every winter for my mom and my mom, in turn, made it for my sisters and I.  I have found that it perfectly satisfies my usual craving for coffee.  I did some Google searches for other recipes, but they all seemed to involve instant tea mixed with Tang and/or lemonade crystals.  That sounds pretty good too, but I think it's worth sharing the real version.  At least dearly departed Nana Besig's version.

Nana Besig's Russian Tea

Make 1/2 gallon of very strong black tea (8 cups water w/4 tea bags steeped at least 5 min.)

Boil the following for 10 minutes:

2 cups sugar (or less)
2 cups water
1/2 tablespoon whole cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
grated rind of 2 oranges & 2 lemons

After about 10 minutes, remove the cloves and add the above to your tea along with the juice from your oranges & lemons as well as a 6 oz. can of frozen orange juice.  Heat until tea is warm - about 5 minutes, longer if you like yours very hot.  Will keep in the fridge for about 2 weeks.

The above is the traditional recipe, but I do make a few of my own tweaks which you may or may not wish to follow. 

- I use less sugar, closer to 1.5 cups.  You could even try a cup to start and then add a little more to taste.
- Instead of ground cinnamon I use one cinnamon stick which I remove with the cloves. 
- I use less zest - from 1 orange and 1 lemon.  It sinks to the bottom and you end up with a big mouthful of zest at the end which I'm not a fan of.  You could also use all the zest while cooking and then strain it out for drinking.

Enjoy!!

Finally Fall

Greetings from a lackadaisical blogger!  It's been a few weeks since I checked in, but I assure you it's just been a busy, busy time, but all is good.  I'll fill you in on a few of my adventures.

In mid-October my husband, sister and I headed out of the city to the Finger Lakes region of New York State, near where I grew up.  I try to get back every fall and usually miss the peak foliage, but this year we were a bit early as most of the leaves were still green.  Since I usually bring my husband home only for the holidays when there are lots of structured events and obligations (whoops, I mean traditions), we decided to make this a low-key weekend without any real plans.   Above is the view of Keuka Lake from the winery of Dr. Konstantin Frank where we met a few friends for a wine tasting.  "Dr. Frank" is known for Rieslings which are one of my favorite wines to drink.  After our tasting we headed into the small town of Hammondsport and were lucky to run into a fall festival with a cool little bluegrass band.  It's a cute town with a little square and all the businesses on the square competed in a scarecrow decorating contest.  Here's my favorite:

The rest of the short weekend was spent with my mom and walking around town.  One night after dinner we took a little amble around the neighborhood and were literally stopped in our tracks by the sight of an 8 foot bear - stuffed - in the front window of one of the grander homes in town.  We knew the house had changed hands recently, but can't believe gossip of the bear hadn't reached us.   The bear was lit up and in a sort of menacing pose and I could see a bunch of other game hanging on the walls.  I so wish I had a better photo to show you so you could appreciate the...ridiculousness, I guess...of this bear.  In one sense it was rather beautiful and looked like a panorama from the Museum of Natural History, but, come on (!) who puts a bear in their window??

That's it for now.  Who knows, maybe I'll be back with some sewing projects soon.  Dare to dream!