Not My Father's Tea: Hot, Iced, and Colorful

Despite my penchant for coffee, it was not served in my home growing up. Tea was the only hot beverage on tap. My father left each morning with a thermos filled with strong, unsweetened Lipton under his arm.

Scottish grocery merchant Thomas Lipton is credited with bringing his custom blended leaves to the U.S. in the early 1900s, produced from his plantation in Ceylon, now known as Sri Lanka. His claim to fame was transforming the common loose leaf tea (shown in the photo below that I purchased in Hong Kong) to convenient mass produced tea bags. Brilliant!

Today, we have a plethora of options beyond Lipton, and it is helpful to know about the various distinctions to consider when preparing a batch for your summer festivities.

One of my favorite tea brands TWG has amazing retail and restaurant destinations in Singapore and Hong Kong. Since they are now in Canada, you can follow them on Facebook to track when they will be arriving in the USA. Click here to follow: TWG Facebook page

Another option is TeaGschwendner a German firm with a shop in Chicago and their tea is shown in the photo below. You can purchase via their online store by clicking this link: Order TeaGsch here

In Asia, tea is king. Beyond savoring as a beverage, various teas provide medicinal benefits. Try not to add sweetener, but avoid adding milk as it changes the medicinal benefits completely. However, when in Hong Kong, black tea is served with sweetened milk (and sometimes from a nylon stocking), but that's another blog post!

Tea is known as camellia sinensis, and it can be broken down into 6 delicious categories:

1. Green Tea is not fermented, and it has the most authentic taste of harvested tea. It can produce yellow or green color tea. Some of the health benefits include protection of the immune system, cholesterol reduction, and anti-aging. 
2. White Tea is slightly fermented producing a light yellow, delicate, sweet liquid. Some benefits are lower blood pressure, reduced inflammation, and improved skin complexion. 
3. Yellow Tea is lightly fermented producing a yellowish green liquid. Some benefits include detoxification, antibacterial, and antioxidants. 
4. Wulong Tea is semi-fermented producing a golden brown color and a rich, sweet aftertaste. Some benefits include aiding in digestion, strengthening the immune system, and helping reduce weight.
5. Red Tea also known as Black Tea, Darjeeling or Ceylon is highly fermented producing a reddish brown liquid that is smooth and sweet. Some benefits claimed are helping to prevent Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, lowering blood sugar, and preventing coronary disease.
6. Black Tea also known as Pu-er, is post-fermented tea that is dark, rich, strong, and smooth tasting. It is known to help reduce blood pressure, lower blood sugar, and help to prevent Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. 

Given all the proclaimed health benefits of tea, this is a great summer time beverage to explore in your grocery aisle, purchase online, and order at your favorite tea or coffee shop. You can serve these colorful options hot, cold, and even to your dad!

TWG Jasmine tea, Lipton loose leaf, TeaGschwendner, and expanding Rose bud Pu-er tea purchased in Singapore.

Tricky: Rice Crispy Treats

Three ingredients, no bake, no gluten, no trouble? These crunchy, perfectly sweetened chunks of nostalgia are my go-to treats for family members avoiding gluten. Topped with a dash of rainbow sprinkles, my grandchildren look at me like the star-worthy chef that I wish I was. . .

Imagine then my disappointment when I found myself up-to-my-elbows in stickiness, as I was throwing together a quick batch last week.

Since I wanted to capture this familiar recipe for this blog, I attacked the recipe on the back of the generic box of cereal with the finesse of a seasoned inspector. The recipe cannot be easier, as listed below, and I've made hundreds of batches over the years. However, I am sharing the things NOT to do when making these All-American favorites.

Here are some useful tips:

• Never make these treats with children! The butter and melted marshmallows are extremely hot and could burn even adult cooks.
• Use a stainless steel, not too heavy, pot to melt the butter and assemble ingredients so you can lift the pot to scoop the mixture to the dish you plan to cool it in.
• Do not use a cup to move the combined ingredients to the cooling dish. See my disastrous attempt in the picture below.
• Always mix these sticky ingredients with a rubber spatula, not a wooden spoon, and use wax paper or parchment paper to protect your hands when pressing into cooling dish.
• Do not refrigerate bars when cooling at room temp for 15 minutes before cutting into bars. After they are cut bars can be refrigerated overnight as they have butter in them. 
• Always cut the bars using a serrated edge knife - a steak knife works perfectly.

Despite these warnings - these treats are loved by everyone!!

Read entire recipe and instructions first.

Rice Crispy Treats (makes 12 large bars)

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter
2 packages of miniature marshmallows (20 ounces total - a staple I purchase at the Dollar Tree store)
1 box 12 ounces of generic or name brand Rice Crispy cereal


Method:

In a large stainless steel pot melt the butter over low heat. Add the marshmallows constantly stir until melted. Remove from heat and add the box of cereal. Quickly transfer the mixture to a 9 X 13 inch pan or serving dish sprayed with no stick cooking spray. Scoop the hot mixture with the spatula and use a piece of wax paper or parchment paper to press the hot mixture into the pan. At this point top with colored sprinkles if you want.

Cool at room temp 15 minutes or longer. Cut into bars as shown in photo.

Enjoy!

Do not scoop with coffee cup! Yep, showing off my Starbucks mug I purchased  in Cannes, France!

Cool in pan at room temp before cutting.

Cut into bars using a serrated knife - DELISH!

Free! Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Cooks of a certain age remember the fake news story well. Years ago, there was a rumor that a customer at the restaurant in Neiman Marcus (serves wonderful food if you haven't been) enjoyed their chocolate chip cookies so much that she asked the chef for the recipe. When her monthly account statement arrived in the mail, she was charged $250. Well, it was not a true story, but it was so ridiculous it spread quickly.

Today, in part to dispel the rumor, the NM website publishes the recipe. You can read if for yourself at the link below (you can shop there, too!).

When Julia Child was living in Paris in the 1950s, and in the 1960s when she stayed at her home in Provence, she traveled with her favorite baking chocolate chips from the USA! They were the one ingredient that she could not find a French equivalent substitution. This recipe from NM showcases the lovely pellets of gooey, rich chocolate that Julia loved!

The cookies are delicious because of the higher content of brown sugar and the addition of powder espresso or instant coffee. As I've said before, chocolate and coffee are a perfect marriage. Baking cookies is an easy and memorable activity to do with children of any age.

One trick I recommend is to double the recipe. Bake half and refrigerate the other half of the dough in plastic wrap overnight. You can get the shape of a log by placing the plastic wrapped dough log in an empty paper towel roll sliced open as seen in the photo below. It forms a perfect shape. . . like the refrigerator cookies people purchase, but better.

The next morning, while the oven is preheating, you can easily slice the cookies and place on the cookie sheet. Even if you prepare the dough and let the children cut the cookies it will make them feel like they are baking. You can also freeze the log just defrost overnight in refrigerator when ready to bake. See my notes at the end of the recipe for changes I made to the original NM recipe here.

Yum!

Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies (from the link below)

Ingredients for 2 dozen. Double for 2 batches.

1/2 cup butter softened (one stick)
1 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon each baking powder, baking soda, and salt
1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder (I use instant decaf coffee)
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method:

Beat butter and sugars till smooth using mixer. Add egg and vanilla. Add coffee powder. The NM recipe adds dry coffee with the chips. Since espresso powder was made to be rehydrated I tested, and it blends into dough better when added to the liquid portion. Mix dry ingredients. Add to liquid. Turn off mixer and add chocolate chips by hand. Form cookies using a soup spoon for consistent shape as shown in photo.

Bake at 300 for 20 minutes. This is lower temperature than most chocolate chip cookie recipes. Cooks perfectly, but cool on silicone sheet or in pan. Moving them immediately they will fall apart.

A few tips: Let cookies cool on the silicone sheet or pan before removing. Very gooey at first. I use 1/2 chips and 1/2 chopped baking chocolate one 3.5 ounce bar (50 - 65% cocoa) as these cookies have so much sugar the combo of semisweet and dark chocolate is perfect. I also use 1/2 all purpose flour and 1/2 ground oatmeal (by grinding old fashion oatmeal in my mini Cuisinart). Always testing for perfection!


Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies Website

Cooling on mat before eating - using chips and chopped bar leaves speckles of chocolate in every bite!

Dough ribbon stage includes dry coffee before flour

Add flour and dry ingredients

Add chocolate by hand

Make log using paper towel roll for cutting cookies

Ready to refrigerate

Ready to bake 300 for 20 minutes

Cookie log slice and bake YEP using the $1 bench scraper from this post click link:
Julia Child Must Have $1 Kitchen Tool

Notre Dame

The world grieved as our Grande Dame suffered the tragic fire last month. People of all faiths appreciated her place in history and her endurance during countless social and political upheavals. I share my hommage below, the pièce de résistance of my teapot collection, in remembrance. We can all  look forward to the restoration and reopening years away.

Until that day, when we can see her memorable facade in the skyline gliding down the Seine on a Bateau Mouche, I offer a perfect tourist stop at Notre Dame in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. As seen in my postcard below, the Basilica Notre Dame garnered a gothic revival style when it opened in 1682, after 10 years of construction. Many of the original architectural features remain, as well as some improvements including a bell tower. For more information select the link below.

Like the city of Montreal itself, French is the primary language for Mass, which surprised me when I was there last spring. There isn't an entrance fee to attend church services, but guided tours are reasonably priced, and you will be approached at the door for that service. In the evenings, there is a great laser display show projected inside the church for a nominal fee.

In London, Westminster Abbey has an admission fee and St. Paul's Cathedral charges 20 euros per person. It makes sense to keep these historical buildings in good repair. Nearly 14 million tourists a year visited Notre Dame Paris. If there was a visitor fee that could have generated 280 million euros (at 20 euros a person) - a healthy sum to maintain such a treasure. I predict that when Notre Dame Paris reopens there will be an entrance fee to fund needed maintenance.

While in Montreal, you will enjoy a vibrant food scene. Be sure to make reservations ahead of time. A great place to stay is the former Hyatt Regency, now a Doubletree (link below),  a short walking distance to Notre Dame, Chinatown, and Old Montreal. It is connected to one of the wonderful underground malls and transit systems.

Montreal is a great walking city with delicious neighborhood spots, such as Schwartz's Deli, click link at end. Shown in the picture below, their famous smoked beef (like corned beef) sandwiches will make you cry - they are that good! Around each corner you will find vibrant art displays like the quirky image below on a neighborhood building.

Great food, great shopping given the conversion rate to the dollar, and a quick flight from Chicago, New York, or Florida, make a compelling case to visit Notre Dame Basilica Montreal and to keep the spirit of Notre Dame Paris alive in our hearts.

Notre Dame teapot

Enormous Smoked Beef (like Corned Beef) Sandwich 

Quirky Artwork on Building near Schwartz's

Links:

Notre Dame Montreal

Doubletree Montreal

Schwartz's Deli Montreal