So I make sure to finish the whole pot before noon.
In the summer that seems to be all I need as far as hot beverages go, but winter is different. I'd like to have a hot mug of something next to me all day. And since my recent vanilla bean blessing I have discovered something wonderful....
Tea! Not just any tea, but tea with a touch of vanilla sweetness!
The powder in the jar is Very Vanilla Sugar. You can make vanilla sugar by simply putting a vanilla bean in a container of sugar for a few weeks, but I didn't want to wait a few weeks. I've always been a bit impatient. I blame the morning pot of coffee. Anyway, this recipe calls for a bean to be pureed in a blender with granulated sugar. The blender turns it into powdery fine vanilla sugar instantly!
You should have seen me when I tried to taste some of the sugar that remained in the blender after I emptied it into the jar pictured above. I tipped it up, put my mouth on the rim and tapped the bottom of the blender, causing the sugary powder to cover my face. I looked like Charlie Sheen on a Saturday night before his recent detox. But it was soooo good.
The other sweetener pictured above is honey from our local food co-op. I split a few vanilla beans down the middle and stuck them inside the jar so I can have vanilla honey in my decaffeinated tea, too!
I drink my coffee black and I'm trying to limit sugar in general but sometimes I need something hot and sweet. And if my hubby isn't around, at least I can have my tea! (He's going to blush when I let him read this. ♥ )
You should have posted a picture of your Charlie Sheen wanna-be look!!
ReplyDeleteOkay, we tried this. Actually, I showed it to my husband, and he tried it. First he used regular white sugar, then he made it with coconut sap sugar (from Wilderness Family Naturals), and finally with raw sugar.
The raw sugar came out nice and powdery like the white sugar, and the coconut sugar didn't grind up as fine, even in the Vitamix, but it still tasted great!