sweet mint tea

My friend Ashley from back home, a good friend since we were in 3rd grade, just posted this sweet tea recipe at her blog and it's a good one, I wanted to put it here.

Sweet Tea always reminds me of visiting my grandmother in Texas and I LOVE it! I'm a loyal Southern girl! Now that I think about it, my other grandmother in Louisiana typically served Coke in frozen metal cups. That was fun, too!

So, here's my Sweet Tea recipe made with a hint of mint....

Bring fresh, cold water to a rolling boil in a pan.
Fully submerge 2 Luzianne Family Tea Bags and 2 Plantation Mint (single serving) tea bags.
Cover and steep for 5 minutes.
Squeeze excess out of tea bags and remove.
Pour in 1/4 cup of sugar. (My grandmother probably used a full cup of sugar. Use whatever sweetener you prefer: Stevia, Splenda, or Sweet n Low.)
Pour into container and add enough cold water to make it total 2 quarts.
You can float fresh mint leaves on top if you are having guests or just for fun!

I try to keep tea in the fridge and was making some this morning, so I thought you might like the recipe.

Chocolate-Sour Cream Cake aka "the chocogasm"

This is the most amazing chocolate cake in the history of the world and anyone who eats it will never forget it as long as they live.

2 eggs
1 ½ cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ cup shortening or butter
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1 cup (8 oz) sour cream
1 cup milk
1 recipe Fudgy Frosting (see below)

Heat oven to 350 & grease/flour two 9-inch pans. Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, & salt. In another bowl beat shortening and sugar till combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla till combined. Beat in melted chocolate and sour cream. Alternately add flour and milk; beat on low after each addition just until combined. Spread batter in prepared pans and bake 25 minutes or until tops spring back with lightly touched. Cool in pans (I stick them in the fridge or freezer to get them to cool faster because you cannot frost a warm cake! Crumb disaster).

Fudgy Frosting

In large pan over low heat melt and stir one 12-oz package of semisweet chocolate chips and ½ cup butter. Cool 10 minutes and then stir in 1 cup sour cream. Stir in 4 ½ cups (1 lb) powdered sugar till smooth.

strawberry bread

This is like banana bread, except it's strawberry. It's better than bad, it's good!

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp cinnamon
3 eggs, beaten
16 oz frozen strawberries, thawed
3/4 cup oil

Mix together the dry ingredients, then combine with eggs, strawberries and oil. Pour into two greased & floured pans (or 3 coffee cans if you want to be really southern). Bake at 325 for 1 hour 10 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in the pants, then cool on racks. Slice and serve warm with cream cheese.

piecora's house salad

This isn't southern but it's my favorite salad, from Piecora's on Capitol Hill. It's just

green leaf lettuce
artichoke hearts
olives
salami
canadian bacon
mozzerella
tomatoes
mushrooms
peppercinis

pasta carbonara

Oh my gosh, the best. Just the best.

1 egg yolk
1 tbsp cream (can use half & half or milk)
1 tbsp butter
a few slices of pancetta (bacon will do if needed)
4 ounces pasta (like fettuccine)
1/4 cup grated parmesan, romano or pecorino cheese
1 tbsp chopped parsley

Set out the egg, cream and butter before you start so they can reach room temperature. Cook the pancetta till crispy and drain. Then cook the pasta, drain it, then return it to the saucepan and put it on low heat. Toss the butter in the pasta. Beat the yolk and cream together, then toss with the pasta. Add pancetta, cheese and parsley and toss some more till well coated. Serve it right away, serves 3 or 4. [Or one hungry man and a regular girl.]

the best pancakes in the world

I'm snobby about pancakes and I can tell when they're made from a mix, from scratch, and with or without buttermilk. Actually anyone can tell this if they have had buttermilk pancakes before, it really, really makes a difference. This is my father-in-law's recipe and it's the best I've ever had. It even replaced my Great Aunt Kak's recipe that I'd always used before this one.

2 cups flour
2 eggs
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
buttermilk to consistence (2 to 3 cups)

Heat skillet on medium high. Flip pancakes when they start to bubble, but don't wait for the bubbles to burst before you flip them (the bubbles are what makes them fluffy, for real).

devilled eggs

I love the dickens out of some devilled eggs. They're at every picnic, church potluck, funeral, Easter and 4th of July. I've tweaked this to my version of perfection by pouring some relish or sweet pickle juice into the yolk mash. I also pour the paprika into my hands and then dust it over the entire tray to make it fall all perfectly powdery, but it's really hard to screw these up. Just make sure you salt the yolk mash enough. [Oh - and I think using Miracle Whip is much better than mayo but people from the "true" deep South will beg to differ.]