Arnold Palmer - Iced Tea Lemonade

I have been a big fan of Iced Tea and a big fan of Lemonade for a long time. I never thought about putting them together until recently. I heard that there is a drink mixing both of them that is named for the professional golfer, Arnold Palmer. It started way back in the 1960's when Arnold Palmer was in his heyday. It was his favorite drink and a smart waitress at a restaurant he frequented named the drink for him. The fact that I only learned about it a few months ago doesn't mean it isn't a popular drink. I am not a big fan of golf. The drink sounds good to me, though. It seems like a simple premise. Mix some lemonade with some iced tea in whatever proportions you prefer. I wanted to take it a bit further and make the iced tea and the lemonade from scratch. Apparently, there are lots of iced tea makers out there but I am from the old school, as I have probably mentioned a few times. I just went ahead and made my iced tea the old fashioned way by boiling water and putting a bunch of tea bags into a pitcher. Of course, you can go back even further and get yourself a tea infuser. I have never dealt with tea in its "unbagged" form but I imagine it would be messy. I guess if I am going to call myself old fashioned, I really should do it that way. Next time, maybe.

I also wanted to make fresh lemonade by squeezing a few lemons. It was very easy when I used my favorite Pampered Chef citrus juicer. I love Pampered Chef stuff. Pampered Chef is my secret splurge. I can rarely resist a Pampered Chef party even though I have so much of their stuff already. Oh well, I guess it could be worse. Don't tell all those Pampered Chef reps that I am a terrible push-over for their stuff. Right, they probably already know.

Why all this fuss about iced tea and lemonade. Well, I am trying to keep D from drinking too much soda. My sister started him on Sprite when he was about 2 years old. I really would have liked to keep him from it for a long time. But if she hadn't started him, I'm sure that my hubby B would have introduced him to it in due time, anyway. Fortunately, D likes iced tea and lemonade. He also likes things that are "different." That is what gave me the idea about making the Arnold Palmers. Personally, I don't like all the fruity iced teas that are available from Snapple and Arizona. I just prefer my tea with some lemon. The iced tea lemonade is about as "different" as I will go with my drinks. Call me boring but that is the way I like it.

Here are the recipes I found for Iced Tea and Lemonade. After making them both, I will use two pitchers to make the Arnold Palmers. At first, I am going to start with half tea and half lemonade. I will then adjust as needed. I prefer my iced tea unsweetened which is probably heresy to some people but again that is just the way I like it. Go ahead and add sweetener to the tea if you like.

Iced Tea

6 cups of boiling water
6 Lipton teabags

Steep tea for 2-5 minutes depending on how strong you like your tea. I steeped mine for 5 minutes because I knew it would be mixed with the lemonade.

Lemonade

2 cups boiling water
2 cups sugar
2 cups lemon juice (about 8-12 lemons)
ice cubes

I first boiled the water and then added the sugar. Stir to dissolve the sugar and make it into a simple sugar syrup. I poured this simple sugar syrup into a pitcher and then added the lemon juice and ice cubes.

Arnold Palmer

1/2 glass (4 ounces) iced tea
1/2 glass (4 ounces) lemonade

You can adjust the proportions of each to your taste. Enjoy!

The Creative Cook

Lemon Chicken Lasagna

Lemon Chicken Lasagna

It is starting to get warm down here in Maryland. I am getting excited about summer. That's why I decided to make this Lemon Chicken Lasagna. I know that lasagna isn't exactly a summer dish but adding the lemon gives it a lighter taste. I got the recipe from the Better Homes & Gardens website www.bhg.com but I changed it quite a bit. The original recipe used a jar of garlic Alfredo sauce but I made my own. The original recipe also called for precooked frozen or refrigerated chicken breast strips. I went all out and actually cooked a chicken breast myself. The recipe says that it takes 20 minutes to prepare. I think I added about another 15 minutes to the prep time by making my own sauce and cooking a chicken breast. I decided to do the sauce myself after I picked up a few jars of the Alfredo sauce at the supermarket. They all seem to contain modified food starch which is really just another name for MSG. I am not a big fan of MSG. I also read the package of the precooked chicken breast that I always use. I was very surprised to find out that there is maltodextrin (aka MSG) in the chicken strips. I also left out the capers. I've tried capers and I don't like them. I never really knew what capers were until I did a bit of reading about them. They are really the buds of a flower Capparis Spinosa. The buds are pickled in brine or vinegar. I found out all this when I started googling for a substitute for capers. I found out that both pickles and green olives can be used as a substitute for them. Too bad I don't eat pickles or green olives either! Now, black olives I love but they won't work. Instead of even trying to find a substitute for the "flavor" of the capers, I just went ahead and used 1/4 cup of tiny peas. I wanted them for the color in the dish. You can go ahead and use capers, try pickles or green olives, whatever suits you.

Here is the recipe for the lasagna and the sauce:

Lemon Chicken Lasagna

Ingredients

16 oz Alfredo sauce (see recipe below) or use a jar of Alfredo sauce
1 Tbsp. drained capers (I used 1/4 cup petite green peas)
6 no-boil lasagna noodles
1/2 of a 15 oz container ricotta cheese
6 oz Fontina cheese or mozzarella cheese shredded (1-1/2 cups)
1-1/2 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel
1/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
1 9 oz chicken breast or a pkg refrigerated or frozen cooked chicken breast strips (thawed, if frozen)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a 2 quart square baking pan with cooking spray; set aside. In a saucepan combine Alfredo sauce and peas (or capers). Bring to boiling over medium heat, stirring continually. Spoon 1/3 cup of sauce mixture into prepared dish. Top with 2 lasagna noodles. In a bowl stir together ricotta, 1 cup of the fontina or mozzarella cheese, and 1 teaspoon of the lemon peel. Spoon half the cheese mixture over noodles. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Top with half of the chicken. Spoon half the remaining sauce over the chicken layer.

2. Top with 2 more noodles, remaining ricotta mixture, and remaining chicken. Add 2 more noodles, remaining sauce, and sprinkle with remaining Fontina or mozzarella and Parmesan.

3. Cover with foil. Bake for 40 minutes. Let stand, covered, on a wire rack for 20 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with remaining lemon peel. Makes 6 servings.

Alfredo Sauce
from www.cooks.com

1 cup cream cheese
2 cups 0-2% milk
6 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry parsley

The best way to make this sauce is to use a blender. Put the cream cheese, milk, Parmesan cheese, garlic and spices into the blender. Blend until there are no clumps, pour into sauce pan on medium heat, cook for about 10 minutes, while cooking add parsley.

Enjoy!

The Creative Cook