Gifts In a Jar - Friendship Tea

We have some family friends that don't have a kitchen.  I'm serious.  They had an incident with a house fire more than a year ago and the kitchen still hasn't been completed.  Due to this situation, gift giving on our end was a little more difficult.  I wanted to make them some of the various Gifts in a Jar the girls and I have been gifting to friends and family.  Unfortunately, a kitchen is required for the baking or partial prep of the chosen gifts.

So, while brainstorming for ideas, Dad mentioned that their friends both drink tea and not coffee.

WOOT!

I HAVE my idea!

Friendship tea!  This yummy tea would be perfect in a jar, and only needs hot water - something I know our family friends DO have in their home!

And, due to the friends having given my girls many gifts and treats over the year, this would be a cute gift my girls could make for them as well.

There are many, many recipes for this tea online - Search for Spiced Tea, Christmas Tea, Friendship Tea and even the poorly named Russian Tea and you will be bombarded with recipes.  Some have sugar, some have none, some have lemonade, some only lemon flavoring, the combinations are endless.  Find a few that interest you.  Give a little and take a little.  Make it your own!  Then, make another batch, toss it in a jar and give it as a gift.  Your friend will love you for it!

Our batch of tea was the perfect size for one of my now emptied and run through the dishwasher Jewelry In Candles jars.  Due to the candle being soy, the recycled jars are perfectly acceptable to be used for food storage!

Friendship Tea
1 cup Tang
1 cup Lemonade (presweetened)
3/4 cup unsweetened, decaf tea crystals
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves

In a food processor, place all ingredients in bowl.  Pulse until mixed.  Store in airtight container.

When ready to serve, place 1 - 2 Tablespoons of mix in hot water.

This can also be made by placing all ingredients in a bowl and stirring.  I use the food processor as it makes the mix a little more fine and powdery and less of a mess when there are helpers in the kitchen.  Just imagine an open bowl, a spoon and a fight between a five and seven year old over who gets to stir.  Yes, pressing "pulse" on a food processor is a lot less mess!

Again, the sugar is 100% optional.  And if you can't find the presweetened lemonade, go ahead and buy two packets of unsweetened kool aid (the kind that will make 2 quarts a packet).  Then, just add some sugar to your liking, up to a cup, I would say.

Minnie Mie's Milk

Miss Mia loves our Cuisinart Coffee Maker almost as much as her Mommy does.  When we get ready for work, she 'makes' my tea by replacing the coffee filter with my KCup insert, pressing rinse and then, pressing the hot water button.  She especially likes making hot cocoa for herself.  Unfortunately, I won't permit her to have cocoa after noon because there is just enough caffeine in.the chocolate to mess with her sleep patterns.  So, i had been feeling like bad Mommy until I found this recipe on a Christmas craft suggestion.  Yes, this has sugar in it, but for a special treat in the evening, this works well.  Miss Mia is able to make her hot drink just like her Poppa and Grandma when they come up for a visit.

Aisey is now starting to enjoy this drink as much as her older Sissy!

Minnie Mie's Milk
~ adapted from Craftaholics Anonymous

1 c powdered milk
1/2 c french vanilla creamer
1/2 c sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon

Mix 3 teaspoons with hot water.

Enjoy!

If you can't find french vanilla creamer, about a teaspoon of good vanilla extract mixed in with regular creamer can be substituted.

Chai Tea Mix

I love tea.  Well, I should be more specific and state that I love tea like my Goobie makes . . . a lot of sugar . . . a lot of milk . . . leave the Lipton tea bag sit in it as well as the teaspoon to stir the tea every-so-often for maximum absorption of sugar.  So when I found this recipe, I knew it was for me.

Chai Tea Mix
adapted from USIS Cookbook


1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1 cup powdered non-dairy creamer
1 cup French vanilla powdered non-dairy creamer
2 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups instant unsweetened tea (i use decaffeinated)
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves      

In a blender, combine all ingredients.  Blend 1 cup at a time until mixture is a fine powder.    Store in airtight container.

Add 3 heaping teaspoons to 1 cup boiling water.

Pumpkin Latte Mix

Yes, we got a Cuisinart that takes K-cups for Christmas.  BUT . . . I'm too cheap to buy the fancy K-cups.  This is one of the reasons I've been searching for mixes.  This one was made to appease the Hubby since he likes coffee and not any type of cocoa or tea . . . For me, I HATE coffee, so this has too much of a coffee flavor.  I may make it again, and reduce the coffee to 1/4 cup and increase the sugar (bad, I know!) to 3/4 cup.

Pumpkin Latte
~ adapted from allrecipes.com

1 1/3 cup powdered vanilla creamer
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 c instant coffee
1/2 c white sugar

Place in blender and blend until fine powder.  Mix 1-2 T in 1 cup hot water.

Hot Cocoa Mix

There are tons of recipes out there for hot cocoa.  Heck, I'd mentioned to a friend that I was looking to make my own mix so I wouldn't have to use the powdered store bought.  By the end of the day, I'd received emails from three other people with their versions of hot cocoa mixes. 

Here is the one I made.  I think I might do some more tweaking.  It was good, but not perfect.  It was certainly creamy, something I did like.  BUT I want it more chocolate-y.  Therefore, I'll be adding even more baking cocoa next time!

Hot Cocoa Mix

6 2/3 cup nonfat dry milk
1 cup instant chocolate drink mix
1 5 oz package cook and serve chocolate pudding mix
1/2 c confectioners sugar
1/4 c sugar
1/2 c vanilla powdered non-dairy creamer
3/4 cup baking cocoa

Dump all ingredients in blender.  Blend until powdery.  Mix approx 1/3 cup of mix in one cup boiling water. 

Spiced Cider Mix

Miss Mia loves to feel that she is a grown up.  This includes making tea or coffee in our Cuisinart.  Unfortunately, caffeine and a three year old are just not something Mommy wants to mix.  So, I searched and came up with a spiced cider recipe.  It's also referred to as "friendship tea" on various websites and older cookbooks.  From reading, it appears this can be served hot or cold.  We've only tried it hot.

It's not too bad.  Of course, we've reduced the amount of sugar . . . yet another thing Mommy doesn't want a three year old to have too much of during the day!

Spiced Cider
- adapted from various old cookbooks and websites

3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup tang
1/2 c instant tea (unsweetened)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves

Dump all ingredients in blender.  Mix until fine powder (be warned, it will create a large dust cloud, so you may want it to settle before removing blender lid).  Store in airtight container.  Add 2-3 T to one cup hot water.