Real Peach Tea

I made some real peach tea to ponder over some summer travel plans.  Real peach tea is easy to make and it was a bigger hit in my house than the blackberry tea I made a few weeks ago. 

First, start with fresh peaches ripe and in season.  I had been waiting for peaches and they weren't in our groceries yet but, we went out of town this past weekend and I scored some fresh peaches from Georgia!

Ingredients:

4 cups of hot black tea (such as orange pekoe or Darjeeling)

1 cup of peaches peeled and sliced

honey to taste or 3/4 cup of sugar

• In a medium pot combine the hot tea with the peaches and simmer for 10 minutes. Getting the peaches soft brings out the most juice and flavor.
• With the back of a wooden spoon, crush the peaches in the tea and then pour through a fine strainer into a pitcher.  I crushed mine again in the strainer.
• Add honey to taste or use sugar.
• I then pour this warm tea over a half of pitcher of ice.
• Chill for at least 2 hours and serve.

Yield: 4-5 servings 

Does anyone remember Banana Republic before the Gap bought it?  It was one of my most favorite stores!! They had such imagination and creativity.

I never think of summer adventures without thinking of the old Banana Republic and their travel and safari clothing.   Pictured here is an original Panama hat from the old original Banana Republic in Hawaii.  My husband got it on our honeymoon.

Shown here is the Banana Republic Guide to Travel and Safari Clothing.  This guide tells the origins of so many classic pieces of clothing that never go out of style.

Teddy Roosevelt made the Panama hat a sensation when shown here overseeing the building of the Panama canal.  In 1906 this visit was the first time an American president ever set foot outside of the country during his term in office.  Every American man wanted to be as adventurous as Mr. Roosevelt.

Sherry

I will link this to: 

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Friday Food at Mom Trends

Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum
On the Menu Monday at Stonegable 

A Return to Loveliness  at A Delightsome Life

Tea Time Tuesday at Rose Chintz Cottage

Tuesday Cuppa Tea  at Antiques and Teacups

Your Cozy Home Party  at Cozy Home Scenes

Table Top Tuesday  at A Stroll Thru Life

Your Gonna Love It Tuesday  at Kathe With an E

Home Sweet Home #67

Hello and welcome to Home Sweet Home!  Today I am going to show you around my little herb garden.  I have always enjoyed cooking with fresh herbs.  I have had a garden right out the back door for a long time; but, four years ago we remodeled and it was destroyed.  Just this year it is finally getting back to having a good variety of herbs in it for cooking.

These are the top 7 herbs I use the most.  You could choose any 7 but, these fit in with the foods I cook most often and I will tell you why.  

Rosemary has needlelike leaves and a piney scent.  Best used with meats and especially when grilled.  May also be used with mushrooms, roasted potatoes, stuffing, olive oil, and on breads.  One of my favorite recipes to use rosemary in is Butternut Bisque.

Thyme has tiny leaves and a minty, tealike flavor.  There are many varieties such as lemon, orange, English, and French thyme.  It is a essential herb of bouquet garni.  It is excellent with fish, shellfish, poultry, mushrooms, potatoes, and summer squash.  My favorite recipe with it is Thyme-Sauteed Pork Chops.

Parsley is crisp and has a faint celery flavor.  The two varieties are Italian flat leaf and curly, pictured here is the Italian flat leaf, it has a stronger flavor.  Curly parsley is most often used for a garnish.  Flat leaf works well in soups, stock, cream and tomato sauces, salads, dressings, in pesto; as well as with poultry, meat, fish, shellfish, dried beans, and vegetables.  My favorite recipe to use Italian parsley in is Lasagne.

Basil has a sweet clovelike taste.  The varieties include sweet basil, small-leaved bush basil, lemon basil, and opal basil, which has a gingerlike taste.  Fresh leaves are best torn and cut then pounded to release the flavor.  The leaves on the top of the plant are the sweetest.  It is an essential herb for Italian cooking, most often used in eggs, tomatoes, pasta, chicken, fish, and shellfish.  This basil just came out of a 4-inch pot and will reach a height of over two feet in my garden this year.  One of my favorite recipes to use basil in is Spaghetti with a tomato and fresh basil sauce.

Mint is refreshing and cool to taste.  The peppermint plant produces the oil they use in candy and gum.  There are more than 30 varieties of mint, best known is the peppermint and spearmint.  Lemon, orange, and apple mint have distinctive fruit tastes.  Used in yogurt, salads, peas, beans, corn, and potatoes; also in jellies, fruit salads, desserts, and in iced tea.  My favorite way to use mint is as a garnish with fruit or tea like I did here. 

Dill has a delicate caraway taste.  Dill should be fresh and just added before serving.  It is used for pickles, eggs, fresh cheeses, yogurt, seafood, chicken, cucumber, green beans, potatoes, tomatoes, and beets.  Two of my favorite recipes for using dill are Chicken Noodle Soup and  Pecan Chicken Salad.

Sage has a powerful flavor, it is musky and slightly mentholated in flavor.  It aids in digestion when mixed with fatty foods.  Most know for it's use in poultry stuffing at the Thanksgiving table.  It is also good in chicken, duck, goose, pork, sausages, cheese, eggplant, and dried beans, soups, and stews.  I use this in my meatloaf and, I  have used it in Herbs de Provence.

Okay, if you were counting that was seven, but I can't really quit talking about herbs so, I will show you one flower that is considered an herb that you can cook with.  Lavender, can also be used; as I did here, in this recipe for herbs de Provence .  Or, if you grow enough you can fill sachets with them like here.  Herbs cost about $3 per 4-inch pot and many of them are perennial and will come back year after year.  They are also very hardy and easy to grow, that makes having a few fresh herbs around an easy way to cook fresh for summer.

Now I would like to highlight some of the posts that caught my eye last week at Home Sweet Home.

Gayle at Behind the Gate had a fantastic post for Mother's Day called Mothering Love.

Lynn at Shabby Story showed off a lacy potting table!  Do we need to say more!  Gorgeous!

Courtney at French Country Cottage showed off her lilacs in her bicycle basket.  Too beautiful for words!

Mary Ann at Classic Casual Home showed off her spring to summer look in her living room.  Loved it! 

Thank you to all who join me at Home Sweet Home!   It is wonderful to have you here!  There were a lot of great posts last week, makes it hard to pick a few.

Sherry

I will join these ladies today:
Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground 

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Home and Garden Thursday  at A Delightsome Life 
Creative Things Thursday  at The Vintage Farmhouse
Cottage Garden Party  at Fishtail Cottage
Say G'day Saturday  at Natasha in Oz

 Guidelines for Home Sweet Home Party:

Attention: To link up with inlinkz you must have a permalink back to this party in your post or they will not allow you to link.  

Link up anything in your home or garden.  I love seeing neat shops too!

My button is on my sidebar for the party, if you want to use it.   If you are new here I hope you will become a follower. Please don't link up more than two posts.  No Etsy link ups or direct advertising, please.  Please visit some of the other blogs and get some great inspiration.  Thanks.:)

Now let's see your beautiful homes!

Time to Chill...

...This might possibly be me checking out/ signing off for a little bit.  I'll either be back with baby news or back because relaxing's not always in my nature & it's hard for me to keep quiet for very long. ;)

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Sweet Summer Treasures

My favorite summer eye candy to decorate with is sea shells and starfish.  I put them everywhere.

What is your favorite thing to decorate with in the summer?

Sherry

I will link this to: 

Wow Us Wednesdayat Savvy Southern Style

White Wednesday  at Faded Charm

What's It Wednesday   at Ivy and Elephants 

Message Center Bulletin Board

Every Mom knows you have to have a place to organize all the things that go on in your kids life.  When they start school you need it just to keep up with their life.  This was my message center.  It had been this way for 4 years.  It was very ugly and outdated.  My soon-to-be 2nd grader no longer needs to practice the calendar and it just sorta morphed all over this door.  It was time for a makeover of my message center.

I found these cork tiles and it gave me an idea.  They are just four single cork tiles you place stick and peel fasteners too and put right on the surface.

I had a beautiful toile print leftover from a project and it was just enough to transform my tiles.

I cut the fabric to fit and hot glued it to the back of the cork.  I placed the fasteners to the cork tile.  I peeled the gold backing off and put the cork tiles right on my kitchen door.

And here is my new message center, much improved over the old one.  And, best of all it was thrifty!!   The cork tiles are at Walmart and they were $5.94!

  Sherry

  I will join:

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Metamorphosis Monday  at Between Naps on the Porch 

Its So Very Creative  at Its So Very, Cheri

Making the World Cuter Monday at Making the World Cuter

Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage 

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm
Your Cozy Home Party  at Cozy Home Scenes

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage