Many years ago, my friend Charlotte, shared this tea with me on the way to school. I thought it was great and she gave me the recipe for “friendship tea.” I made it a few times and forgot about it.
Years later, I was given the recipe for “Russian Tea” from Mom McGuire. We played with the recipe and made it in a variety of ways. Adrian has always enjoyed it. He thought it was called “Rotten Tea” and that is what we call it at home more often than not.
We found this recipe a few years ago and I can not remember where. It is a favorite topping for popcorn. We often double or triple the batch so we have it on hand.
When we tried making some eggrolls, one of the recipes called for Chinese Five spice. I did not have any and did not want to run to the store for a small amount.
While ground spices work for this recipe, using freshly ground is much better!
If you do not have many recipes that uses Chinese Five Spice, I read to try it in your favorite ginger or molasses cookie recipe.
Pasties are popular in Calument where Daddy spent a lot of time growing up. He said that Petila’s taxi in Calumet would often take his family to McLain park and then come back at a prearranged time to take them home. His grandmother made them also. There are many recipes for pasties, but all are similar.
Feel free to experiment with the basic recipe. We often make the pasties with cubed meat instead of ground. Be careful not to over stuff the crust, it is much better to have leftover filling! If you can find it, replace part–or all– of the carrots with rutabaga for a more traditional taste.
When serving, I like them best with a little extra butter. Some people serve them with gravy. My mom eats them with ketchup.
Once sourdough is made, it needs to be fed occasionally.
You can find many good sourdough recipes to make if you were not given any from a friend. I recommend the recipe from Artisan Breads Every Day by Peter Reinhart.
Curry with naan is a favorite dinner. While plain naan is good, garlic naan is even better! I recommend doubling the recipe if you want more than one piece of naan.
We usually make a tomato based curry. Our friend, Kristi Sellers, gave us this recipe in 2009 after introducing us to a different type of curry. This is different, but just as good as the curries we are used to.
The recipe originated from a Ywam missionary friend from Thailand.
Aunt Kristi gave Andrea this recipe. She also included the directions for making a huge pot for camp 🙂 This is one of Andrea’s favorite ways to eat noodles.
If desired, add some cooked chicken pieces. Serve with garlic bread and a colorful salad.
This is also great on zucchini noodles or your favorite steamed vegetables.
The first time I remember ever having these was for our wedding rehearsal dinner. We have enjoyed them often over the years.
I never had ginger beer until we lived in Swaziland. It was a great drink for hot days, but we did not make it often. The recipe our friend gave us was very good but required the mix to ferment a few days before drinking. We rarely planned far enough ahead, or we let it sit too long, so enjoying ginger beer was rare.
Then we discovered this recipe. We often make extra base to freeze. It defrosts quickly and is a nice beverage to enjoy on lazy summer days.
We prefer this with sugar, but it also tastes good with raw honey.
Another version that we enjoy is replace the water with very strong peppermint tea that has been cooled and strained.
