Since the beginning of summer, our family has been go-go-going nonstop with a house-boating trip to Lake Powell, Disney Cruise to the Bahamas followed by the Disney parks in Orlando, home for a blink to watch the season finale of Big Little Lies (Oh PLEASE tell me there will be another season!!! I love all of these characters!!!) and finally a trip to our mountain retreat in Sunriver. We are now finally home, working into a summer routine which is never really a routine but we so desperately try to keep SOME SORT of regularity in the household. (I kind of laugh as I am typing this…seeing I have asked my son to go READ for the past 2 hours!!!). I did finally create a daily “summer check off” list to keep my kids from asking me “What can I do?” every 10 minutes. I’ll try to post the JPG for y’all to print if you’d like!
After returning from the downtown Portland Farmer’s Market Wednesday with some of the most beautiful peaches I have ever tasted, combined with seeing my longtime friend Laurel this past weekend (“I LIVE for your cocktail posts, Melissa!”), I decided to mix up a new and sassy sipper for the Summer of 2019!!!
Ice Tea
I have always been a fan of ice tea. After my mom quit her Tab habit in the 80’s, (do you remember TAB?!!!) my family never had soda in our house. Even when we went out to dinner, we would either have water or order ice tea. It is not only refreshing, it’s usually unlimited refills and super light on calories!
The discovery of Cold Brew Lipton Ice Tea came a few years ago when I went over to my girlfriend, Tania’s. She offered me a tall glass of ice tea out of a beautiful glass pitcher. I thought that tasty goodness had been baking in the sun all day to get that fresh herbal flavor. “Oh no!” she said. “5 minutes and the tea is ready!” O-M-G. I was sold!
Honey Peach Ice Tea
Now that we are home for a while, I thought I’d mix up a pitcher of this quick and super easy beverage. But instead of just the standard tea, I thought I’d throw some of those fresh peaches from the farmer’s market in for a lil’ something different! (Plus, the recipe on the side of the box inspired me 😊) Serves 8
Ingredients:
- 2 Lipton Instant Ice Tea bags
- 1 ripe peach
- water
- 1/4 cup honey
- Optional: Jack Daniel’s Honey Whiskey
Directions:
Steep 2 tea bags in 8 cups of cold filtered water for 5+ minutes (I like it strong, so I steep it for closer to 10 minutes).
With a long spoon 🥄, I smashed the teabags on the side of the pitcher to extract all the flavor then discard the tea bags.
Heat up honey in the microwave for about 1 minute, just to thin it. (Do NOT let it bubble–then it will harden in the tea). Pour into the pitcher.
Slice 1 peach and plop into the pitcher.
Fill your drinking glasses with ice, pour tea over ice, add 2-3 peach slices and you are ready to sip away your afternoon!
Adult Version
If you’re feeling SUPER southern and maybe a lil’ frisky, like many of us are during those hot summer afternoons 😉, add a splash of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey Whiskey (approx. 2oz.) on top, stir and sip merrily singing “Cowboy, taaaake me away! Fly this girl as high as you can into the wild blue.” Oh my. This stuff is heaven! The perfect balance of earthy and sweet, but not too sweet.
Now, WHO’S COMING OVER?!!!
xo, y’all!
melissa
Melissa K Manos Designs 