Weekly Wrap-Up: Flavors of the Month, Sweet Sips and A Vegan America
It’s already Friday….gotta love those short weeks! We sure hope you had a safe and satisfying 4th of July holiday weekend. Ours was quite relaxing—and of course, also quite yummy. If you missed last week’s wrap-up, we 
featured Allison’s All American Potato Salad. It’s the perfect side dish for any festive summer eats and we definitely ate lots of it over the holiday.
We’re now fully into July, which means we have new featured yummies for our Monthly Members. This month’s all-vegan, organic flavors include our peanut butter cookies, pecan brownies, and the summer must-have treat: apple pie fudge. Take them to the beach, on the trail, or bring them as a gift to any summer soirees you might be making the rounds to this month. Keep an eye out for August’s cinnamon snickerdoodles, toasted coconut brownies and our original fudge. Remember, our members save 15 percent on every order! It’s the perfect gift!
If you’re looking for a delicious way to cool down in these short-but-sweet summer months, we highly recommend brewing up a batch of our rooibos earl grey tea and serving it iced for the perfect summertime sipping.
Farm Sanctuary’s Gene Baur is traveling the country with his Just Eats Tour. You can read the full story here, but here’s one of our favorite snippets:
People are finally recognizing the profound impacts of their food choices, and we are now in the midst of a burgeoning food movement.
In the spirit of a good food movement, we hope you’ll stop by and visit us on Facebook and Twitter where we’re always talking food and sweets! We do love to share any pictures or stories you have about any of Allison’s recipes, our products or life in general, so please send them in! Enjoy the summer. Stay sweet.
Thai Iced Tea Recipe
A delicious meal at our favorite Thai restaurant recently inspired me to create my own recipe for Thai Iced Tea, which I absolutely adore, but haven’t had in years because it’s usually made with condensed milk (yuck!). So, this week I had tons of fun in the kitchen creating this vegan version using So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer and our own fair-trade tea.
As promised, I’m sharing the recipe with you here, but first, let me warn you that this is by no means a “healthy” drink. In fact, I would classify it as more of a dessert than a beverage; it’s rich and sweet, everything a great dessert should be. Have fun, be bold, indulge!
What to use…
4 teaspoons Rooibos Earl Grey
8 ounces boiling water
2 tablespoons sugar (you may try using stevia here instead, however, the amount of stevia required to equal the sweetness of sugar might be too much and turn bitter—not good!)
4-5 ice cubes
1/4 cup So Delicious Original Coconut Milk Creamer
And how…
1. Place a brewing basket in a medium-sized mug and add loose tea. Pour boiling water over tea and let steep for 7 minutes, then remove brewing basket.
2. Add sugar to hot tea and stir until completely dissolved.
3. Place tea in the refrigerator and let cool completely.
4. Add cool tea and ice to a 12-ounce glass then pour creamer on top. Do not stir, serve immediately.
For a fruity caffeine kick try this same recipe with our Mango Ceylon tea. Since ceylon is more bitter than rooibos, I recommend steeping for only 3 minutes and adding more sugar to taste. Enjoy!
If you make this at home we’d love to see pictures! Post photos on our Facebook or Twitter pages along with any changes you made to the recipe.
Let’s Drink to National Hot Tea Month
January is National Hot Tea Month, and what a perfect month it is for celebrating the warmth and comfort of my favorite winter beverage. My honey and I just moved into a new house a few months ago, that, while very charming, is not the newest. It’s sorely in need of new windows and door, so much so that when it’s windy outside, we can feel a breeze inside. Needless to say, it’s turning out to be a rather chilly winter for us, and hot fair-trade tea is one of the things keeping us going. 
Rooibos Earl Grey has become my morning staple, and in the evenings we’ve been enjoying large mugs of Rooibos Chai with lots of non-dairy milk and stevia (it’s caffeine-free, so it doesn’t keep us up all night).
For those of us trying to trim some inches after all that amazing holiday food, tea can be a deliciously sweet treat that’s healthy for you and your waistline. Drink tea for dessert!
Warmth in the Winter
I know that our winters here in California are nothing compared to many parts of the country, but it was 18º F at my house a couple of morning this week, and that is plenty cold enough for me! During this cold, dark heart of winter, when I get up before dawn and watch the sunset from my office at 5 o’clock, it can be hard to imagine that it will ever be warm and sunny again. I am helped in keeping my spirits up, and in staying warm these days, by indulging in hot fair-trade tea on a daily basis (usually with stevia and coconut milk creamer). My all-time favorite tea is our Rooibos Earl Grey, although lately I’ve been getting into the spiciness of Chai. Since I usually drink tea in the evening, I love that Allison’s rooibos tisanes are caffeine-free so they won’t keep me up all night.
What treats or practices keep you happy and warm through the winter months?
Looking Forward to… Chocolate!
Well, the new year has begun, and as the winter holidays end and we all get back into the swing of our normal lives, it’s a great time of year to look ahead and make plans for the future. In the bakery business, we’re almost always looking ahead, to next month’s flavors, an upcoming holiday, or developing that new product we’ve been craving. 
Along with Allison’s cookbook plans, which I’ve mentioned previously, we’re also using this time to dream up ideas for the springtime holidays. Believe it or not, we’re already working on unique valentine gifts for Valentine’s Day, which is only about a month away! Yay, Chocolate!
Chocolates are, not surprisingly, always very popular in February, so this year we’re hoping to offer some gorgeous Valentine-themed boxes to house our vegan chocolates (although finding elegant heart-shaped boxes that aren’t completely garish is proving to be quite a challenge).
Do you buy chocolates for your sweetie on Valentine’s Day? Is there something else we should be offering as a more unique valentine gift?
Harness the Power of Sunshine: Make Sun Tea!
The days are longer now, and since it finally stopped raining, my deck is getting long hours of sunshine and that’s making me think of sun tea. 
Herbal tea steeped in the sun is one of my favorite summertime treats. Although many tea companies make specific tea bags for use in sun tea, you don’t actually need special tea. I prefer herbal varieties of fair-trade tea like Allison’s tins of Rooibos Earl Grey and After Dinner Mint Tisanes. I find that black or green teas become bitter when made this way.
Making sun tea is simple. Fill a large glass jar with cold water and 6-8 fair-trade tea bags or the loose leaf equivalent. Secure the lid of the jar tightly and place it in direct sunlight for several hours, shaking once or twice. I usually start sun tea in the morning and leave it in the sun all day. If it’s too strong you can always dilute it. Somehow it feels like the power of the sun filters into the tea and makes it especially delicious. After your tea has steeped, strain out tea bags or loose tea leaves, dilute and sweeten to taste, then place in the refrigerator or add ice to chill. Sip and Enjoy!
Winter Time is Tea Time
Winter, I’ve found, is a wonderful time of year to experience the joy of tea drinking. It’s warmth and almost infinite variety of flavors make it a great pastime for these short days. When trying new tea flavors I recommend always choosing organic and fair-trade tea because it’s better for the environment, it supports your health and human rights, and it just plain tastes better. Some of my very favorite tea varieties are offered for sale on our website. Right now I’m particularly in love with our Rooibos Earl Grey tisane (herbal tea). This modern take on an English favorite is made with Red Rooibos, or African Red Bush, an herbal fair-trade tea which creates a lovely sweet, earthy base for the delicate high note of Bergamot Citrus. (Certainly a far cry from the often bitter taste of traditional black tea). Happy Tea Time!
