Coffee Break at CoffeeandTeaTime.com

Shish kabobs are easy to make, taste great and mean very little clean up which is a big plus during the summer. I just finished getting my shish kabobs ready so that later all I have to do is fire up the barbecue.  This is a very simple recipe for shish kabobs that everyone loves from picky kids to meat loving husband.

Ingredients for Shish Kabobs

• beef cubes (about 1″ squares)
• white meat chicken (about 1″ squares)
• fresh cherry tomatoes
• fresh onion sliced thick
• green or red pepper (about 1″ squares)
• canned whole potatoes, drained and large potatoes cut in half
• teriyaki marinade or other marinade

Marinate chicken and beef in marinade overnight or for minimum of 2 hours. The longer you let it soak the stronger the flavor.

About a half hour before you are ready to assemble your shish kabobs soak the wooden skewers in water. This will help to prevent them from burning during grilling.

On each skewer place tomato, beef or chicken, onion, pepper in repeating pattern. Don’t cram everything together, leave a little loose to help cook evenly and completely.

Skewer potatoes on separate skewer and sprinkle potatoes with a little seasoning such as  garlic herb. Either wrap skewer in foil or skip the skewer and place potatoes in tin for easy grilling. I keep the potatoes separate because I find they have a tendency to fall apart. It’s also why I wrap them in foil or use a tin. I use canned potatoes because I don’t have to peel them and raw potatoes never seem to keep properly.

Place all on barbecue and grill until cooked through.

When done serve immediately. I serve with some raw fresh baby carrots.

Everyone loves shish kabob night. Never any left overs and never a mess to clean up.

As much as I love a hot cup of coffee, I have to admit that some days it is just too hot for coffee. Days like that are perfect for iced coffee. It is not hard to learn how to make iced coffee. This simple recipe for iced coffee allows you to brew a glass in just a few minutes.

Brew a pot of coffee a little stronger than usual; for example use around 6 or 7 tablespoons coffee to 1 1/2 cups water. After it has finished brewing allow it to cool a bit and simply pour it into a glass filled with ice. Add a little milk or cream and sweeten to taste. I prefer to use a little whipped cream instead.

When making iced coffee it is important that the coffee be brewed stronger especially with this recipe since it will dilute when poured over ice. If you find your iced coffee is too strong, just add a little cool water to your glass.

If you are looking to save a little money, try using your leftover coffee. If you have coffee left over in the morning, pour it into a pitcher and refrigerate. When you are ready for a glass of iced coffee simply pour it into a glass with a little ice and milk. Since the coffee is chilled it will not dilute as much and will still have a nice flavor.

With summer fast approaching it’s time to start thinking about iced tea. Iced tea is no longer only tea with lemon flavoring. Many variations are possible. As we mentioned in How to Make Iced Tea freshly brewed iced tea is better than store bought. Iced tea with sparkling water is easy to make at home or in the office.

This sparkling raspberry iced tea recipe is a refreshing change of pace on a hot summer day. Use freshly brewed tea which has cooled to room temp or is chilled. As with most iced teas, it is best to use only chilled ingredients to prevent excessive dilution when pouring over ice. This raspberry tea recipe uses sparkling water. Since the ingredients are in proportion, our sparkling raspberry iced tea recipe can easily be doubled or halved.

Ingredients for Sparkling Raspberry Ice Tea

• 2 cups chilled sparkling water
• 2 cups chilled raspberry juice
• 2 cups of freshly brewed tea (room temp or chilled)

In large pitcher mix all ingredients. Pour into glasses filled with ice. If desired you can garnish with slice of lime or lemon, a raspberry or sprig of fresh mint.

Cool nights and Viennese coffee are a perfect match. Perfect for after dinner, it is a nice change of pace and simple to prepare. Impress your guests and serve Viennese coffee or just treat yourself. We present two versions both of which can be made with regular or decaffeinated coffee. Viennese coffee, like any after dinner coffee drink adds style and finesse to any meal whether formal or casual. Viennese coffee and Viennese Coffee with brandy are both elegant and a charming way to end an evening. Whether you choose the Viennese coffee with brandy or the non alcoholic viennese coffee, your guest will be impressed.

Viennese Coffee Recipe

• 11-12 tablespoons coffee
• heaping teaspoon cinnamon
• 46-48 ounces water
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• heavy cream or milk

Place coffee in filter basket and sprinkle cinnamon on top. Brew coffee as usual. While coffee is brewing place sugar in your coffee carafe. If you do not have a carafe or insulated serving container you can put the sugar in the coffee pot before brewing or simply add sugar to taste during service. When brewing has finished pour coffee into carafe and stir. Serve. To each cup add heavy cream or milk to taste and add additional sugar if desired.

Viennese Coffee with Brandy

• One pot freshly brewed coffee
• Brandy
• Whipped Cream
• Chocolate Shavings
• Sugar (optional)

Brew one pot of coffee. Be sure to see How to Brew A Perfect Pot of Coffee for proper brewing techniques. After brewing pour into serving cups. To each cup add 1 jigger brandy (~ 1 1/2 oz) and a generous dollop of whipped cream. Sprinkle with chocolate shavings. If desired add sugar.

Our slow cooker pot roast recipe is delicious. This is one of our favorite crock pot recipes, adults and children love it. It is very easy to adjust this recipe to suit your tastes. Serve with mashed potatoes, rice or broad egg noodles. Also try with 1-2-3 Biscuits Recipe. Slow cooker pot roast even tastes great when made with chuck roast because the cooking will tenderize and flavor the beef. Like most slow cooker recipe little supervision is required. See Slow Cookers and Crock Pots for more information on selecting and using a slow cooker. Start the pot roast in the in morning, then forget about it and it’s done for dinner. The finished beef will equal that of the best quality roast, no one will be able to tell it was a less expensive cut. Freeze leftover meat for a second meal or use sliced meat the next day for hot or cold sandwiches.

Shopping list for Slow Cooker Pot Roast

• 3-4 pound chuck roast
• 4-5 cubed fresh potatoes
• 5-6 sliced carrots
• 1 envelope dry onion soup mix
• 1-10¾ ounce can cream of mushroom OR cream of celery soup
• ¼ cup water
• 3-4tablespoons flour (to thicken gravy)

Directions for Crockpot Pot Roast

Brown meat in skillet in small amount of oil.
Place potatoes and carrots in bottom of slow cooker. Add meat. Sprinkle onion soup mix on top of meat. Pour the chosen can of cream soup on top of meat and vegetables. Add 1/4cup water.
Cover. Cook on low 8-9 hours, do not remove cover during cooking.

Once meat is cooked remove meat and potatoes and carrots, cover and set aside. To make gravy take about 3 tablespoons flour and mix with small amount of cold water until paste forms. Mix in the remaining liquid from the slow cooker. Heat in small saucepan, stirring until smooth.

You can substitute 2 beef bouillon cubes and a thinly sliced onion in place of the dry onion soup mix. Also try adding a can of diced tomatoes in place of canned soup. Many other variations are possible, so experiment.

This quick and easy orange smoothie recipe is a favorite of both adults and children. It uses frozen orange juice so when you see that on sale buy a few extra to store in the freezer. You can use either regular, low fat or no fat ice cream or frozen yogurt and whole or low fat milk. We found it tastes equally good so the lower fat option will be the way to go if you are watching calories. An orange smoothie is a nutritious and healthy snack. It is a healthy drink that is also a filling healthy snack, great for after school treat.

Ingredients and Directions for Orange Smoothie

• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
• 1 quart vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt

Place all ingredients in blender. Cover and blend at medium speed for about one minute. You will need to stop blending once or twice to scrape sides of blender to ensure even blending. If desired we found it easier to thaw the frozen orange juice concentrate a little before using, it is easier to blend.

For a great variation on this, you can use frozen fruits such as strawberries or blueberries. Substitute the frozen orange juice concentrate with about 3/4 cup frozen fruit.

This basic biscuit recipe has been in my family for a while. It goes back a few generations as my mother got it from her mother, who in turn, had gotten it from her mother. It also uses basic ingredients and is easy on the budget. It results in a versatile biscuit that can be served in a variety of ways. It can be used as is for a delicious biscuit to accompany a cup of tea or coffee, or served along with dinner or lunch.
Like any basic biscuit recipe it has many uses and can be easily adjusted by addition of another ingredient. Add parmesan cheese for cheesy biscuits or use for your favorite fruit cobbler. Like many recipes that are passed down in families, some of the ingredients are approximate amounts. If you want to add grated parmesan cheese try adding a generous handful. You may need to add slightly more flour. After your first batch you will get an idea if you need to do so. This recipes makes about 15 biscuits. Do not cut the recipe in half if 15 is too many. Instead, freeze uncooked biscuits on a cookie sheet to bake another time. Freeze up to 4 weeks. This biscuit recipe takes only 30 minutes start to finish.

Ingredients Needed for Making 1-2-3 Biscuits

• 2 cups whipping cream
• 4 teaspoons sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups flour

Directions for Biscuits

Step 1 - Mix the DRY ingredients together. Preheat oven to 375° F & grease 2 cookie sheets.
Step 2 - Add whipping cream to the dry mix and stir with spoon or fork just until combined.
Step 3 - Using large spoon, drop mounds of dough 1″ apart on cookie sheet. Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown.
(If the biscuits are frozen prior to baking increase baking time to about 18 minutes)

These biscuits are great served warm with a little butter or margarine. They can stand alone but are also perfect to serve with soup or main course.

Iced tea is a refreshing drink any time of the year. With our basic iced tea recipe it is easy to brew quality iced tea. Iced tea brewed fresh at home has a far superior taste to bottled iced tea. We did a little research to find the origins and history of iced tea and were surprised to find that it most likely began right here in the United States. According to the Joy of Cooking by Rombauer & Becker, iced tea was first served during the Saint Louis World’s Fair in 1904. Due to sweltering temperatures, hot beverage sales were very bad. A gentleman by the name of Richard Blechynden had a tea concession in which he had invested a lot of time and money. Desperate for sales he began to offer iced tea to the public. It quickly caught on and sales were brisk. Iced tea has since become the beverage of choice during hot summer months as well as year round.

Iced tea is simple and fast to make at home. As with all tea it is best when brewed fresh at home. For variety add a strawberry, lemon or orange slice or sprig of mint. Follow the same general brewing guidelines as for brewing hot tea. In general the only difference will be in the strength of tea brewed. When brewing tea for use as iced tea you will generally want to make it double the strength of hot tea to allow for dilution when served over ice cubes. Remember use clean equipment and start with fresh good tasting water. Review additional brewing tips at How to Brew Tea. Below is our simple recipe which can easily be adjusted to make more.

Basic Iced Tea Recipe

• 2 teaspoons loose tea or 2 teabags per cup of boiling water
• boiling water
• Optional - one of the following - sprigs of fresh mint; lemon slice; orange slice or strawberry
• Optional - sugar to taste

Boil desired amount of water. Add boiling water to your tea and let steep (about 5 minutes for black teas or 3 minutes for green teas). Strain and allow to cool to room temperature. Pour into glass filled with ice. Add sprig of mint, a strawberry or slice of lemon or orange. Sweeten with sugar to taste.

As a general guideline for one quart of boiling water you will need 6-8 teaspoons of tea or 6-8 teabags. We suggest starting with 7 and if desired, increase or decrease amount of tea in the next brew. If the resulting brew is too strong, simply dilute with a little fresh water. We prefer using loose tea but quality tea bags will also yield a quality iced tea. Some tea companies will have tea blends specifically created for iced tea.

Spice up your tea with a hint of anise. Once you know how to make anise tea, you’ll find it a nice way to add variety to your tea break. This is a quick and easy recipe to add a little extra to your regular or decaffeinated tea. The anise seed gives even the most ordinary tea an extra bit of flavor. I find this recipe a good way to make use of some tea that is not as fresh or flavorful as I would like. Anise adds a licorice flavor. Anise tea is actually a mix of equal amounts of tea and anise flavored water. You can use any type of tea, black tea is traditional but both black tea and green tea are good.

Ingredients for Anise Tea

• 2 teaspoons whole anise seed
• 2 cups boiling water
• 2-3 cups of tea, average strength

Boil two cups of freshly drawn water. Add 2 teaspoons of whole anise seed and boil 10 minutes. While anise seeds are boiling prepare 2-3 cups of average strength black tea steeping 5-7 minutes. Remember if using green tea steeping time is 3- 4 minutes. Time this so that as anise brew is finishing your tea is ready. Strain anise seeds out of the anise brew pouring the anise brew into tea. Discard the anise seeds. Mix your brewed tea and anise brew and serve. Makes about 4 servings.

I have to confess to having too many coffee cups in my kitchen cabinets. This morning as I opened the cabinet and reached for my favorite coffee mug, I had the fleeting thought of thinning my supply of coffee cups. The thought quickly left as I realized I cannot part with any of them. Each cup or mug is important. Unless I have company, I usually drink from one of four favorite mugs (2 - 16 ounce glass coffee mugs and 2 -16 ounce ceramic mugs). I also have my second favorite mugs which are 12 ounce ceramic mugs from Hershey Park.

The rest of my mugs are for company or cups that I hold onto for sentimental reasons. There are eight cups that match my dinnerware. My children use these cups for their hot chocolate and when they want to dunk cookies in milk. I will also use them when I have company for dinner.

Of course I also have a couple of cups that my children have given me, that I will always keep, but there are other sentimental cups in my cabinets. These cups belonged to my mother.

There are two sets and I keep them because they bring back many different memories. Even though these are not the same cups I remember growing up, since these cups belonged to my mom they bring back childhood memories. The original coffee cups from my childhood are long gone, broken and discarded many years ago. I treasure my mom’s last two sets of coffee cups . Though she didn’t buy theses cups until I was an adult the last sets of coffee cups still bring back many years of memories.

I remember as a young child I loved to dip a piece of buttered bread in my mom’s cup of coffee. She never seemed to mind the butter that melted off the bread and floated in her coffee. I remember when my grandparents lived with us and how they and my mom sat in the kitchen drinking coffee. I remember how proud I was the day I was able to make a pot of coffee for my mom.

Once I began drinking coffee as a teenager we always seemed to enjoy time together over a cup of coffee. Almost every day when I got home from school and mom came home from work, we took time for coffee. It was always a time we could talk and relax. My friends and I also enjoyed going to the diner for burgers and coffee, all long before Friends and Starbucks. When I went away to college, my mom and I continued to drink coffee together though separated by hundreds of miles. When we called on the phone we always seemed to catch each other just as we sat down with a cup of coffee. I also looked forward to my trips home and once again sitting down to coffee together.

After the birth of my children my coffee breaks when they were babies were often spent on the phone with my mom, my sister, brothers or friends. I also looked forward to my weekly visits with my mom. We always had a cup of coffee. Those coffee breaks with mom were great for both of us. We enjoyed the time spent together and she enjoyed seeing her grandchildren.

No matter what was going on in my life, I could count on those cups of coffee to bring a little sanity back into my life. Through tough times and happy times, a cup of coffee just seemed right.

Through the years my mom and I shared many cups of coffee. As my mom’s cancer progressed, she still looked forward to that cup of coffee. During her final day as I sat at home with her I put on a pot of coffee for us. I poured her a cup in her favorite Yankees mug even though I knew she could not drink it. I sat and spoke just like we used to, knowing she could hear me.

When my mom passed we put her favorite mug in with her, it just seemed right. I kept her other coffee mugs. It’s almost five years since my mom passed away, yet it seems like yesterday. On certain days when things get a little hectic, I have coffee in one of her mugs. When I’m done I wash it by hand and put it back in the cabinet.

Those coffee cups hold much more than a cup of coffee, they hold memories. I can’t throw away memories, can you?