Friday, May 26, 2006

Refreshments

In 1991, I went on a road trip with a friend. She is a writer and was doing an article on the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. It had rained in New Orleans for the previous week and it was hot and steamy when we arrived. The Festival was held at a Fair Grounds, it was rather soggy. I remember the day well. I was hot. I was sweaty. I needed refreshment. Looking across the Fair Grounds I spied a sign, "Iced Coffees". I bee-lined for the vendors cart. I ordered one ice coffee. What came forth was a marvel. According to my trip scrapbook, "Iced Coffee: coffee concentrate, whole cream, sweetened water, over shaved ice, Divine." I went back for a couple more before we left the Festival. I asked for the recipe. They made their coffee in a Toddy coffee maker. It was a cold condensed coffee.
www.toddycafe.com

Back home I was on a quest to find the coffee maker. I did and from 1991 to today we enjoy a delicious iced coffee refreshment from May until October.





My recipe has changed as our eating has changed.




Q's Iced coffee

One Toddy coffee maker
One pound ground coffee (I use a dark roast organic coffee as finely ground as I can find)
Steep 24 hours
Drain






2 cups coffee concentrate
6 cups soy milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
Stir and serve over crushed ice.

I have made our iced coffees with stevia and find it is wonderful. We often will have iced coffee- vanilla ice cream floats. Yummy!










7 comments:

Sprite said...

Dear Q~ I LOVE iced coffee. Your's especially.

I looked up on Toddycafe and found a link to a coffee house in Westport that serves it. My sister wanted to have it one more time while she was here, so over to the coffee house we went.

Can you tell me the measurement of stevia verses the sugar? I know I could do it by taste, but wanted your input. I am going to order one of these Toddy coffee makers soon.

Thank you~

Sprite said...

PS~ Love that pretty pink and green pitcher. You have such a gift of making things so beautiful, I love that. I am so inspired every time I visit Q's corner. Thank you again.

Q said...

Oh Sprite I did not know we could get the Toddy iced coffees here in town! Excellent!
The Stevia for iced coffee was about i/4 tsp. It doesn't take very much and we do not like the coffee very sweet.
So glad you will be getting a Toddy.
Yeah!

Q said...

A few years ago I was smitten by pink and green depression glass. That pitcher was my first piece of Block Optic deprssion glass. I use the deprssion glass as my Christmas dishes. Now I like it so much I have added yellow. Last May I began collecting the blue depression glass. It is pretty. So glad you also enjoy it.

Sprite said...

Oh Dear, I just love the pink and green. I have a piece of the green that belonged to my grandma Lola, and now a few pieces that a very dear friend gave me, which I shall treasure always.

I bet the blues and yellows are gorgeous too. Oh my.

L~

Sprite said...

Follow up on the Toddy... My sister ordered one on line, and got the whole kit & kaboodle with it. She is loving it, and says her husband is too. It's not too hot up in Michigan, but they begin to complain when it's up to 85 degrees. They pretty much melt down here.

She's happy.

Thanks again for sharing the Toddy Maker.

L~

Q said...

Thank you for letting me know sister did get the Toddy. She will have fun finding all sorts of ways of making her iced coffees. I used to make it with non-fat dry milk before we went off milk products.
Maybe she will post her commits on how it is working for her.