Hot tea a delicious drink for winter

I’m not a coffee-drinker, but in the last several years I’ve really enjoyed hot teas.

Last month, I overheard a conversation about a woman’s recipe for a spiced tea. It sounded very similar to the very popular and very delicious Russian tea that so many people make with powdered drink mixes. I love that tea!

But this tea was simmered on the stove and featured such yummy things as pineapple juice, orange juice and some of my favorite spices: cinnamon, cloves and allspice.

She and I talked a bit about her tea, and when I got home, I searched for similar recipes.

After considering all my options, I decided to brew some tea and start adding things until the tea tasted like I wanted!

I chose two fresh oranges and didn’t include lemon, although many recipes do. I also brewed my tea with the cinnamon stick in the water for extra flavor. 

Instead of using cheesecloth to hold my whole spices, I decided to let them simmer loose. Once the tea was ready, I poured it through a colander with small holes and strained the spices.

The key to making this tea is to include your favorite flavors. Taste it as you go along, and don’t let the spices simmer with the tea for too long or it will be bitter.

I poured my tea in a pitcher and left it in the refrigerator for a few days. Whenever I wanted a cup, I just pulled out a favorite mug and warmed up a single serving for me. 

The tea accompanied me to work several times in my Tervis cup, which I warmed in the break room microwave. What a treat to have this delicious tea for my morning break!

I made my tea on the stove, but I’m sure it would work well in a slow cooker, too.

lisa@wilsontimes.com | 265-7810

Spiced Hot Tea

3 family-size ice tea bags

6 cups water (divided)

1 stick of cinnamon

1⁄4 to 1⁄2 teaspoon whole cloves

1⁄4 to 1⁄2 teaspoon whole allspice

3⁄4 cup sugar

2 12-oz. cans pineapple juice

Bring 3 cups water to boil in large sauce pan. Add tea bags (I use decaffeinated) and cinnamon stick and simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat and steep for 10 minutes. Remove tea bags. Add remaining spices, sugar, pineapple juice and remaining 3 cups water and return to heat. Simmer on very low heat for 10 to 15 minutes. Taste all along and adjust ingredients as necessary.
Strain tea to remove spices before drinking.

Can store leftovers in the refrigerator and heat up later.

Pineapple and chicken

We’re on a grilling kick at my house, largely because our son, Robert, has been trying new recipes and cooking for us.

Our latest experiment was an adaptation of a recipe I ran across for a grilled chicken sandwich. Robert said it looked like the chicken version of an aloha burger he loves.

So at lunch time one recent Friday, he and I went to the grocery store and got what we needed to make pineapple grilled chicken sandwiches.

I got frustrated right off the bat because my grocery store didn’t have the thin chicken breasts I had wanted to use with this recipe. They are perfect for sandwiches. I ended up buying boneless chicken breasts and pounding them to an appropriate thickness. (If you haven’t done this before, I put the chicken breasts in a gallon zippered bag and pounded them. I don’t have a mallet, so I used a can of vegetables, which I dented.)

I mixed the marinade in just a few minutes and poured it into the bag with the chicken, moving around the contents to make sure the breasts got covered with the thick sauce. The chicken marinated in the refrigerator all afternoon; when I got home from work, I flipped the bag so the marinade could evenly distribute.

Robert cooked the chicken on low heat on the grill, and at the point where he turned the breasts, he added pineapple slices to the grill. We had two for each chicken breast.

The original recipe suggested topping the chicken with Swiss cheese, but I used Provolone instead, along with the grilled pineapple. Instead of sandwich buns, we used multi-grain sandwich thins. Lettuce and tomato are also options.

This sandwich was delicious! The sweetness of the marinade gives the chicken a wonderful flavor, and the added bonus of a pineapple slice makes it even better. The chicken was so juicy that it ended up making a messy sandwich, but that’s OK.

We had leftover chicken, which would be delicious sliced in a salad or served in a sandwich.


Hawaiian Chicken Sandwich

• 8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (5-6 ounce)
• 16 canned pineapple slices
• 8 Sandwich Thins rolls
• 8 slices Swiss cheese
• 8 lettuce leaves
• 8 tomato slices

Marinade:

• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon garlic, minced
• 2 cups pineapple juice
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger

Cover chicken with plastic wrap and flatten with mallet to about 1/2" thickness. In a small bowl, combine marinade ingredients. Place chicken in a container and cover with 3 cups of marinade. Cover and chill in refrigerator for 4 hours. Place pineapple slices in another container and add 1 cup of marinade. Cover and chill in refrigerator for 4 hours. Any remaining marinade can be heated on the stove top for 10 minutes over medium heat until thick and used for sauce on sandwich.

Preheat grill to medium heat. Remove chicken from marinade and discard marinade. Grill over medium heat for 4–6 minutes per side to 165°F. Remove pineapple from marinade, place on grill over medium heat and cook 2-4 minutes on each side. About 1 minute prior to removing the chicken from the grill, place a slice of Swiss cheese on top of each chicken breast and cook until melted.

Brush Sandwich Thins rolls lightly with oil and place cut side down to toast lightly. Spread the glaze that was heated from the remaining marinade on the inside of buns. Place lettuce on bottom halves of buns. Follow with chicken. Top chicken with sliced tomatoes and grilled pineapple. Add bun top and serve.

Sam’s Club

Notes: I varied this recipe, cutting back on the oil and soy sauce and also using the pineapple juice that was in the can of pineapple I bought. We did not have as much marinade, of course, but it was enough. We did not heat the marinade to use as sauce on the chicken; it was plenty juicy without it. And we did not brush the marinade on the pineapple. Also, we turned off the grill without heating the buns, so we warmed them in the toaster.

Simple cake

Last year, my readers told me how much they like the simple cake made with a chocolate cake mix and a can of cherries.

Well, I’ve got another one for you that’s even easier. It’s a pineapple cake with two ingredients: an angel food cake mix, which is naturally fat free, and a can of crushed pineapple in its own juice. I’m not kidding. That’s all you put in this delicious cake.

While looking for a “light” dessert recipe, I ran across this super-simple dessert recipe. I couldn’t wait to try it, because, as I’ve said before, I love to experiment with recipes that intrigue me. And I was intrigued by a two-ingredient cake!

I made the cake for dinner one night and topped it with a dollop of light whipped topping, and we loved it! My husband, Reggie, and I are pineapple fans anyway, so I knew it would be a hit. My 3-year-old granddaughter even had a slice and liked it!

We kept the cake on the counter for several days, and Reggie and I didn’t feel guilty about having a slice of it for a snack.

If you like pineapple and want a quick and easy treat, give this recipe a try!


Pineapple Angel Food Cake

• Angel Food cake mix (I used Betty Crocker)
• 14.5 oz. can of crushed pineapple in its own juice (un-drained)

Add cake mix and pineapple to bowl and combine with a mixer for about 2 minutes.

Use back of box instructions for type of greased pan you use and bake accordingly. The cake box might say to use ungreased pan, but I greased the pan for this recipe.