Varada's Kitchen and Garden

This is my favorite variation of the iced tea. Blueberry lemon tea is delicious and has a beautiful color. Fresh blueberries work best. Since most of the blueberries in the house are eaten as is, it was with great effort that I was able to save a handful to make this tea. The recipe if you can call it that is very similar to the strawberry iced tea. Make blueberry syrup and add it to the tea. Chill. You will need (2 servings) handful blueberries 2 tsp. lemon juice 2-4 tsp. sugar (adjust to taste) 2 cups iced tea Prepare iced tea and chill. In a pan heat the blueberries, lemon juice and sugar until the sugar melts and the berries are tender. Mash the berries and chill the mixture for an hour. Run through a strainer and add it to the chilled tea. Pour over ice. Enjoy!

Today I present a variation of the iced tea I posted yesterday. Fruit mixed in iced tea really enhances its flavor. I had this in a restaurant once and when I asked how it was made the answer was simple. Fruit syrup mixed into iced tea. You may use frozen or fresh strawberries to make the syrup. I have my cat to thank for this picture. I placed the background for my picture, a white board to bounce the light etc. to shoot a picture of the iced tea from yesterday's post. I then turned to prep this drink. When I turned around the cat was comfortably napping on the table. I waited for her to leave but she was not going anywhere. Finally I had to set up in a different area and click this picture. The light is a lot better in this picture. You will need (2 servings) 1 handful strawberries 2 tsp. sugar (adjust according to the sweetness of the berries) 1 dash of lemon juice 2 cups of iced tea Prepare the iced tea according to these directions and chill. Chop the strawberries

Rising temperatures make you want to reach out for cold beverages. Iced tea is one such beverage. It is very popular here in the US and there are several brands of ready-to-drink iced tea available in the market. However, iced tea is really easy to make and tastes great when made with your favorite brand of tea. It does take some planning so that the tea is chilled when you are ready to drink it. I am not a tea or coffee person but I like iced tea. The first time I had it was on a business trip. While I do not drink tea everyday I do like iced tea once in a while. You will need (4 servings) 4 cups of water 4 tea bags (you choice of flavor) sugar to taste (1-2 tsp. per cup) Bring the water to a boil. Turn off the heat. Add the tea bags and let them seep for a couple of minutes. Do not let them sit longer than 5 minutes unless you like the tea to be really strong. Discard the bags. Dissolve the sugar in the water and chill for a few hours. Pour out in cups over ice. Enjo

Sweet potato is one of my favorite root vegetables and this recipe was my favorite growing up. The roasted peanuts and sweet potato go so well together it is magic. There is a large variety of sweet potatoes available in the grocery store. I use the Japanese sweet potato. It has a dark colored skin and are white on the inside. They are firm and hold their shape a lot better than the rest of the varieties. They are also the closest in taste to the sweet potato my mother used. When cooking root vegetables it is best to add salt before the vegetable is cooked through to keep it from turning to mush. You will need 1 large sweet potato, peeled and shredded 1 tsp. olive oil 1 tsp cumin seeds 1 serrano pepper, de-seeded (optional) salt to taste cayenne pepper to taste (optional) a handful roasted peanuts, ground Peel the sweet potato and shred in a food processor or using a grater. Heat oil in a pan. Add the cumin seeds and chili pepper (if using). Cumin burns color

These crackers are a great way to use your sourdough starter. The crackers have a distinct sourdough taste and texture. They are really easy to make and do not take up too much time. I got this recipe from the King Arthur flour website here . The recipe calls for unfed starter but since I changed to a new process of maintaining a starter  I have no unfed starter to discard. For this recipe I let the fed starter sit in the refrigerator for a week before using it. In summer I would let it sit out for a few hours or maybe two-three days in the refrigerator. Maintaining a sourdough starter is easy and though it takes planning baking with sourdough is therapeutic. If you are on the fence about a starter go ahead and make one. You will need (30 crackers) 1/2 cup whole white wheat flour 1/2 cup unfed sourdough starter 1/4 tsp. salt 2 tbsp. butter 1/2 tsp. mixture of dried oregano and basil 1 tsp. olive oil Let the butter soften to room temperature. Preheat oven to 400 F.

Last week I had a visitor and was in need of a quick light snack, or at least one where I would not be tied down to the kitchen. I made these spiced potato wedges. I used regular white potato so they cooked up really quick. The oven did all the work. These wedges turn out crispy and tasty. They were all gone very quickly. I had to prep everything for the pictures before they came out of the oven. They taste best right out of the oven and I did not want to let them get cold. I used cayenne pepper with some coriander/cumin powder for the spice. You could use your favorite blend of spices. You will need (2 servings) 3 medium white potatoes salt and black pepper to taste spices (I used a pinch of cayenne with a 1 tsp coriander/cumin powder ) 1 tsp. olive oil Preheat oven to 375F. Peel the potatoes and cut them into wedges. Sprinkle all the dry ingredients (except oil) and combine to coat the potatoes with them. Place the potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle o