A Very Vege Holiday
By Alexandra on Dec 24 Filed In Food & Beverage, Organic Add a Comment
Cheers to happy holidays
My family thinks I’m a little crazy. I’m the only vegetarian and have been this way since I was 12. They thought it was odd that a seventh grader would make such a bold life decision and stick with it… for 17 years now. When the holidays roll around everyone is confused about what I will and won’t eat. I will not eat their homemade sausage (watching this process should be enough to make anyone vegan) and I will not eat the traditional Swedish Smörgåsbord that includes a fish dinner (ugh!) nor will I eat the gravy after picking the giblets out. Gross!
So it’s my job to help them see I’m not closing the door on holiday food. I’m opening a bunch of new doors – delicious, healthy doors. Click on the links below to explore a full list of vegetarian and vegan holiday recipes and you too will understand why it’s not so hard to skip the meat. If you decide to try one of these let us know how it turns out and I’ll do the same. Happy holidays!
http://www.vegcooking.com/f_holiday_cooking.asp
http://www.ivu.org/recipes/holiday/
Ho-Ho-Ho-liday Traditions!
By April on Dec 23 Filed In Activities Add a Comment
This is the first year that I am not giving any presents and it feels strange and extremely liberating all at the same time. With all the personal changes that have occurred this particular season, I started to think about which of my family traditions I enjoy and miss since I haven’t had the time to be very involved the last couple of years. Lots of people have holiday traditions that keep them going like, caroling, fruit cake trades, white elephant parties and my favorite tradition, baking Christmas cookies with my mom.
Growing up, both of my folks worked and when it came time for the holidays, my parents seemed to enjoy doing as little as possible, which included cooking. The one exception my mom would make was for cooking Christmas cookies. We’d work in our tiny kitchen (we had an 800 sq ft house back then) making the tastiest and most simple sugar cookies for hours as there are several steps to creating these fine cookies. My favorite part of the whole deal (besides hanging out with my mom) was picking out the cookie-cutters that I wanted to use and then creating the icing. The icing was the easiest part of the recipe but seemed to me to be the most creative. You got to take the colors you were given and then mix them to create another cool color. My purple never really turned out as purple as I had hoped, but our cookies were usually pretty wild-looking!
Christmas cookies ala Stevie K. Bear
I know that Christmas cookies won’t be in the cards for us this year, so I was lucky enough to be with my friend Stevie Bear (great friend and Realtor) this past weekend while she was getting crazy in her kitchen. Iced Christmas cookies, fudge, bear cakes with caramel in the middle (amazing!), some other kind of cookie, chocolate chip cookies and my favorite sweet (that I shouldn’t be eating) rice-crispy treats! Such a plethora of sweet smells were coming from Stevie’s home that I was having a hard time concentrating on the mortgage stuff she and I were reviewing. Thankfully (or not), Stevie sent me home with a nice mixture of the goodies she had been creating. We won’t even talk about the destruction that this season has wrecked on my life-style change. We’ll be altering things back to “normal” after next week. Then it’s time for MS 150 training!
What’s your favorite holiday tradition?
Holiday Time in Austin
By Danny on Dec 22 Filed In Activities, Austin, Texas Add a Comment
With the Holiday season upon us. I thought I would let ya’ll in on a few of my favorite holiday activities to do in Austin!
37th street lights!
Every year near X-mas time, the folks that live on 37th street decorate their houses with some of the most intricate designs. This is a really close and quick trip to make if you are around Central Austin. Traffic down the street will be slow, and there are lots of pedestrians so be careful!
In order to get to this magnificent showing of holiday cheer, take Guadalupe (North) from UT Austin’s campus and make a right on 37th street!
Zilker Tree
This is a staple to go to if you are anywhere near Austin! Every Year the Austin parks and Recreation Dept. attaches over 20 strand of lights from the moontower to utility poles around the base to create a Christmas “tree”. There also a huge star atop of the tower to guide the way. See photo below.
During this time of year. Barton Springs is closed from Mopac to Lamar, due to high pedestrian traffic. So the easiest way to get there would be to bike, or park off of Mopac and walk to the festivities.
Congress Stroll:
If you have lived in Austin for any amount of time, or just drove down Congress during December, you know about the HUGE x-mas tree at the capital and the strings of lights hanging above the historic section of downtown Congress. What you need to do: hop on a bike or start walking from the Congress bridge towards the capital. The lights “twankle” above the street as if they are possessed by the ghost of Santa. It’s tons of fun and family friendly.
On the walk back down congress be sure and stop in at one of my favorite places. Annie’s Cafe has some delicious menu options, with great apps…. such as their Mussels with white wine, chorizo and saffron. Go getcha some!
Now that you know what to do, GO DO IT! AND take a warm glass of Mint and Honey Green tea with you!
Happy Holiday’s from all of us over here at Sweet Leaf Tea!
Mint & Honey. The Miracle Drink!
By Danny on Dec 21 Filed In Austin, Texas, Food & Beverage, Organic 2 Comments
Pssttt. Hey. Hey You. Have you heard about this amazing, tasty beverage called Mint & Honey Green Tea? HAVE YOU?
Well, if you have or haven’t, you are about to get an ear (or eye) full!
One of my favorite teas that we here at Sweet Leaf Tea make is our Mint & Honey Green Tea.
Beverage Specifications:
Flavor: Light green tea infused with spearmint.
Sweetener: As with all of our regular teas, we use pure organic cane sugar. This tea is also partially sweetened with organic honey. (This drives Winne the Pooh CRAZY!)
Tea Leaf: These tasty tea leaves come to us straight from central China.
Vitamins: This tea is PACKED with 100% Vitamin C. Great during the cold and flu season!
Antioxidants: Loaded with 90mg of EGCG, it has more antioxidants than any other bottled green tea on the market. NOW AIN’T THAT SOMETHING? EGCG is a chemical antioxidant in green tea. It has been connected with positive treatments of brain, prostate, cervical, and bladder cancers. It is also effective in preventing and destroying amyloids, which are involved in fatal brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, and Parkinson’s diseases. (see reference HERE)
After reading the facts and specs above, you may be asking yourself, “How can I consume this wonderful beverage?”
GREAT Question! SEE BELOW:
Ways to drink Sweet Leaf Tea’s Mint & Honey Green Tea
1. Out of a cold Glass Bottle/Plastic Bottle/Can!
2. Over ICE!
3. Mixed with some Tito’s Vodka!
4. WARM! Wait… Really? You could HEAT up something out of a b-o-t-t-l-e and DRINK it WARM! Yes. A little known fact about this drink warm….it’s delicious. Say you wake up and have a scratchy throat. Grab a bottle/can of Mint & Honey and pour it into a 8 oz mug. Place in the microwave for a minute and fifteen. Take out (be careful, contents may be HOT and fantastic). Enjoy! Once this miracle elixir is warm, it can be rather soothing (and charming). The heat releases the aromatic traits of the spearmint for a calming, smooth, uplifting experience sure to knock out your throat aliment in a FLASH!
So now that you know the facts, stories, and virtues of this great drink, feel pride when you run to your local Whole Foods to pick up a bottle (or 12 :] ).
Also, check me out on Twitter for Sweet Leaf Tea news, facts, and awesome events in the Austin and San Antonio area. @sweetleafdanny !
Mixers & Fixers – Part IV
By Count Blogula on Dec 18 Filed In Austin, Texas, Cocktail Recipes, Food & Beverage, Uncategorized, Vacation 2 Comments
Oh look! We’re standing under the mistletoe. How did that happen?
The holidays are here. We’ve got a funny way of changing our consumption habits during this time of year – something I don’t completely understand. It’s not just a weather thing either. Have you ever caught somebody drinking eggnog or baking a fruitcake in February? In any case, we’ve created some holiday specialties.
“The Snowplow”
2 parts Mango Green Tea
1 part Vodka
Pour into sugar-rimmed glass
Stir with sugar cane stick
“Naughty & Nice”
2 parts Half & Half Lemonade Tea
1 part Vodka
Add muddled strawberries
Garnish with strawberry slice
“The Nutcracker”
2 parts Pomegranate Green Tea
1 part Vodka
Garnish with sugared lime
“Sugar & Spice”
2 parts Mint & Honey Green Tea
1 part Vodka
Stir with peppermint candy cane
Invite your friends and family over to wet their whistles. Even your crazy uncle. It’s the holidays, after all, and the family that drinks together stays together.
Send me your drink ideas. I’ll try ‘em. If it’s any good, I’ll blog about it and put it on our website.
Ho ho ho,
-Craig
« go back — keep looking »
