Alphabet Soup

I recently professed my love of coffee and fancy coffee drinks.  After the success of the Peppermint Mocha , I decided to tackle the Cinnamon Dolce Latte, another one of my favorites.  According to the Starbucks website, it has flavors of "cinnamon, butter and brown sugar".  Well, I covered the cinnamon and brown sugar components, but left out the butter.  And you know what, I think it turned out quite well, if I do say so myself!  I honestly wasn't sure if the cinnamon flavor in the syrup was going to be strong enough, but it was.  I will admit to being impatient and not letting it steep for very long, so the cinnamon flavor might develop more if you do actually let it sit and cool off first.  If you wanted it to be even stronger, you could always add a tiny bit of cinnamon oil to it as well.  But be careful -- a little of that goes a long way! How much to make depends on how much you'll actually use.  I just made a single batch this f...

Let me just get this out of the way and say that I love coffee.  I do.  I also love fancy coffee drinks.  It's a fact.  And in the winter, that means peppermint mochas.  But I don't really want to pay upwards of $4 for one every day, so I've come up with own little version to make at home.  I must say that it tastes very good, and is actually quite easy to make.  I know that several companies make flavored creamers, but I'm not a fan.  I have never liked the non-dairy creamers.  I've even tried the newer ones that are supposed to be made from milk and cream, but they didn't do it for me either.  This recipe is what works for me.  Feel free to adapt it to your tastes {obviously}.  I don't have an espresso machine of any kind, so I just use strong brewed coffee.  I have a Keurig machine and love that I can make one cup at a time, and each cup can be different from the next.  No, I was not paid by the company to s...

This is something that I've been drinking forever. My grandmother has made this hot tea mix for as long as I can remember. I've seen recipes calling it Russian Friendship Tea, but I always just called it Spiced Tea. This is great for gift-giving, or just for keeping in the cabinet to drink on cold days!! Spiced Tea Mix 1-1/2 cups sugar 2 cups instant orange drink mix (Tang) 3/4 cup unsweetened instant tea powder 1 envelope unsweetened lemonade mix 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground allspice 1/2 tsp ground cloves Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container. To use, fill a mug with boiling water and stire in 2-3 tsp of mix, to taste. Enjoy!! :)