Lavender iced tea

I used a tea-maker for this, but I can provide instructions for making this if you don't have one.

You'll need:
5 regular black tea bags (whatever your favorite kind is)
2 tablespoons lavender
3 tablespoons honey
Ice and water

Tea-maker: Pour the amount of water needed to brew 2 quarts of tea into the tea maker, using your tea-maker's instructions. Do NOT put ice in the pitcher, however. Put a coffee filter in the brew basket, then put the tea bags (remove the tags; they can add an unpleasant flavor to the tea) and lavender in the coffee filter. Brew the tea. Stir in the honey once the tea is finished; you want to do this while it's hot so it will dissolve quickly (so this is why you're waiting on the ice). Top off the pitcher with ice to the 2-quart mark. You're done :)

No tea maker?
Bring 4 cups water to a boil. Put the lavender in a tea ball (if you don't have one, you can put it into some cheesecloth or a square of linen, then tie it off with a piece of string), and put the lavender and tea bags into a pitcher. Pour the water over the tea bags and lavender. Let steep for about 5 minutes, then remove the bags and lavender (use a slotted spoon if you took the tags off the bags). Stir in the honey, then top off the pitcher with ice.

If you use a coffee maker for the brewing step, make sure you scrub out the brew basket and pot with vinegar or borax (borax works GREAT) to keep the tea from tasting like stale coffee.

Spiced cider or cranberry juice

A favorite hot drink to warm up a cold day.

You'll need:
Half a gallon of cider or cranberry juice (or some of each)
1 orange
3 whole cloves*
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice (optional)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon or 2 cinnamon sticks
a mesh tea infuser, preferably a big one
one coffee filter

Pour the cider and/or juice into a saucepan or slow cooker, put the lid on, and heat it on a low setting.

Put all the ground spices in the middle of the coffee filter. Gather up the edges of the filter and twist to form a sachet. Roll the sachet up and stuff it into the tea infuser, then drop the infuser into the cider.

Slice the orange into 1/4 inch slices. Stick the whole cloves into one of them (do NOT be tempted to overdo it on the cloves, it will be very nasty if you do) and float the oranges in the cider.

Float the cinnamon sticks in the cider as well, if you have them. Alternatively, use ground cinnamon in the filter and serve the mugs with a cinnamon stick stuck in each one.

Let this simmer for about 15 minutes minimum. Ladle into mugs. You can top off the cider with more as it is used up; this is especially useful if you're having a party and are using the slow cooker.

Hint: If your cider isn't very good (which it might not be if it was heat pasteurized; if you want cold-pasteurized cider in the Albany area, try Indian Ladder farms. If you're in the Quincy, IL area, I STRONGLY recommend Edgewood Orchards cider), add a tablespoon of honey to make it better.

Play with this recipe! Drop in whole cranberries, apple slices, crystallized ginger, whatever you can think of. Tweak the spices. Add some rum. Try a teaspoon of spiced rum butter on top. The possibilities are endless.

* if you don't have whole cloves, use 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves and put it in the filter with the other ground spices.