Apple Cider Tea

Ok so in all the hoop la of the season, I have found my new favorite tea to drink!!!  It is a process to make it but oh My word so worth it!!!!  Apple Cider Tea, now I have had lots and lots of teas in my day but this is probably the best I have ever had!!! 

Like I said it is a long process that could probably be broken down by using store bought Apple cider but making it is so easy!!! 

Apple Cider

1 gallon Apple Juice, I used Martenellis because that is my favorite
4 Cinnamon sticks
2 Star Anise
2 Cardamon
6 whole cloves
peel of one orange(very little white part)

Put everything into a crockpot and let steep on low for 4 hours.  Strain and let cool then put back into juice bottle for storage.  Let sit in fridge overnight.  The next day add a simple syrup...

Simple Syrup

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup water

put sugar and water in sauce pan and simmer until sugar is dissolved.  Let cool completely then add to juice.  Mix well.

Apple Cider Tea

To make the tea mix half a cup of the Apple Cider with one Black pearl tea bag and fill your tea cup up with boiling water... the cold cider makes it the perfect temp for drinking right away!!!

By half a cup I mean half the size of your tea cup!!

Now the cider is awesome by itself, but you add that black pearl tea and it is awesome!!!!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday and that you receive all of your wishes!  Thanks for looking

Blesses Be

Yummy No-Bake Cheesecake

Ok so this cheese cake was thought up out of the need to get rid of some holiday cookies!  You know the ones I'm talking about, those butter cookies that come in the decorative tin!  Yes they are quite tasty by themselves, but we all know we have loads of tins each year.  Wether we buy them ourselves because we want them or wether they are given as gifts.  So I came up with a way to use them in my favorite dessert form!!! AND the best thing about this is I already have the items needed in my house, ESPECIALLY around the holidays as I do a lot of baking!!!!!


So I took these cookies:

and made this cheesecake (which the hubby and kids got into before I remembered to take a picture)

Heres what you need: 

For crust

1 12oz tin of danish butter cookies

1 1/2 sticks of butter

For filling

2 8oz pkg cream cheese softened

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 8oz tub of creamy cool whip

zest of one lemon

juice of 1 1/2 lemons

To prepare crust melt 1 1/4 sticks of butter in sauce pan.  In food processor pulse the cookies until they are crumbs and resemble sand.  With 1/4 stick of butter grease the sides and bottoms of a 9 x 13 glass pan.  When cookies are crumbled, pour melted butter into them and pulse until just combined.  Press into bottom and just a little up the sides of pan.

To prepare filling:  In large bowl, cream the cream cheese with a hand mixer or by hand.  Add the zest of the lemon and mix well.  Add the juice and mix well.  Mix in the condensed milk.  FOLD in the cool whip so it doesn't deflate.  Pour onto crust and chill for at least one hour!  Serve!!!!!

IT'S VERY VERY YUMMY!!!!!

Hats for Nephews

So its been a while, but here I am with a couple of Hats that I made for my nephews in their school colors.  Which just happen to be my favorite College football teams colors too!!!!  LOL  Anyway, I was talking to my sister one night about what to do for the boys because I wanted to keep it a mostly handmade Christmas this year.  I asked if they would wear scarves and she said no... We went through a long list of maybe's when she said can you crochet a Mohawk hat.  So of course not knowing for sure if I could, I said yeah if I see a picture of it!!!  So we searched for pictures and this is what I came up with.... I hope they like them!

Similar yet different... It's hard to make them completely different when you only have 2 colors to choose from and the samy style project to make!!!!  So Now I am off to wrap these up, along with the goodies I made for my sister and brother-in-law!!!