(Happy New Year image courtesy of redbubble.com .)

Happy New Year to everyone! We had our usual low-key NYE here in the Putter house. Mr. P and I went out to dinner with two other couples, D & R and C & L. We went to Kansai, our favorite Japanese steakhouse, which was also the site of my surprise 40^th birthday celebration in October. Came home, relaxed at home for a bit, then went over to D & R’s house to play games and ring in the new year with C & L and another family. It was a great way to ring in 2011.

I was just looking at my posting from last year-8 posts!! Pitiful, just pitiful. Let’s hope that I am a better blogger this year. Do I even have any readers left??

I was going to discuss my resolutions for the year, as many other bloggers have, but I’m a little superstitious about this. It seems like anytime that I am tackling a goal of any sort, if I start telling people about it, then I don’t reach it. But if I keep it inside and just quietly keep plugging away at my goals, then I tend to reach them. Weird, huh? So let’s just say that I have some very good and reachable goals for 2011 and leave it at that.

In an effort to keep this blog more interesting than my random thoughts and weird middle of the night occurrences, here are is a wonderful iced tea recipe for you. The recipe is from the restaurant that my cousin and his wife’s family have in Brentwood (a suburb of Nashville). If you are in the Nashville area, I highly recommend this restaurant. The food is awesome, and their philosophy and mission are so admirable. I usually get the Chicken Amaretto when I visit. The Mama’s favorite is the chicken tortilla soup and the crunchy chicken casserole. And we always, always order the ginger tea to drink. I’m actually drinking a glass of this lovely iced concoction right now.

Puffy Muffin Ginger Tea

(Don’t worry this came from their published cookbook, so I’m not giving away any secret family recipes.)

3 heaping Tbsp Instant Tea (plain, no sugar, no lemon)

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

6 cups warm water

2 cups diluted orange juice (I use Simply Orange)

6 ounce can frozen limeade, undiluted

2 liters ginger ale, or enough to make 1 gallon of tea (it generally takes about ½ to ¾ of a 2-liter bottle)

Combine the instant tea, sugar, and water. Stir well to ensure the sugar is dissolved. Add the orange juice and limeade. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Just before serving, add enough ginger ale to make 1 gallon of liquid. If you prefer sweeter tea, omit 1 to 2 cups of the ginger ale.

Enjoy!

We always visit the bakery and leave with a bag full of treats, so don’t forget to stop in there if you are visiting the restaurant. Lots of yummy, yummy sweets!

Happy New Year to all!

TPP