We all love our sweet tea in the South. It's just one of the many things that makes us proud to be Southerners. One of the things that Lacy-Jay misses the most living up north is sweet tea. She can make it at home, of course, (we raised her right) but in restaurants most meals just cry for sweet tea.
I LOVE culinary nostalgia. One of my sweetest memories is iced sweet tea on Sundays. I was only allowed tea on Sundays, it was milk for me every other day except my birthday, which was Coke with meals day. Mother made the very best tea. Not that she did anything special, just the opposite. She did all the things that would make proper tea conoisseurs take the vapors. Like boil the water before adding the tea bags. Modern wisdom says bring your water just to the boiling point. Mother never used any gourmet Tazo or herbal teas either, I'm not even sure they sold those in Marion then, actually I am quite sure they did not. Our tea was "Dixie Home" brand, (orange and black pekoe at it's best). If you remember from earlier posts Mother did not buy store brands often, but this was one exception to the rule. This tea was the store brand at what our family called the "Dixie Store".
Sidetrack: As a junior high school idiot I remember being so embarrassed that my parents called it "the Dixie Store". Everybody knew it was the Winn Dixie didn't they? What I wouldn't give to have my Mother and that "Dixie Store" back today.
Anyway back to Mother's sweet tea. Mother not only boiled her water but she let the tea bags steep until she got around to finishing it up. Then she would take a spoon and press the tea bags with the back to get all the flavor from the tea. Lawdy Mercy all that bitterness.......................
Yeah right, all that bitterness right in to the best tea I ever drank. Another rule Mother had was never make tea in plastic. She was a few years ahead of modern wisdom here. We had a green 1950's Fiesta Ware pitcher that endured the generation. Bought at Sears long before I was born.
I wish I knew her tea to sugar ratio, but like so many other things she never measured her sugar in tea.
Cravin Melon said it best:
Don't try to offer me anything
What it comes right down to baby
Don't tempt me; I'm where I wanna be
Cause on the eighth day, God made sweet tea
Certain things in life I like to savor
Watchin' clouds and waitin' on the rain
If you ever question my behavior
Just a taste will make you feel the same now
Watch and enjoy................
So, until tomorrow.............
S~~~
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