Pineapple sage was a new addition to the herb garden this year. What an amazing plant. First of all, the leaves taste like pineapple. And it smells like it, too. Mine hasn’t flowered yet, but it will also bloom with beautiful reddish pink flowers that attract humming birds.
It’s taken off well in the garden. Some of the older leaves are burning in the sun, but I was pleased to find some new, pretty growth in the inner part of the plant. It seems to be sticking around.
I’m celebrating Friday and the start of fall with a rum tea cocktail! It’s made with Dark Aged Rum that I received from Cruzan®.
If you asked me to pick my favorite spirit, it would be tough to choose between bourbon and rum. One reminds me of our days living in Kentucky. The other gets me thinking about our many trips to the Caribbean.
Despite summer’s end, rum has won out lately for the taste buds. Maybe its because we have a Caribbean trip coming up in a couple months or maybe I’m just thankful that the temps here are now more beach-like and less I’m-frying-in-the-sun-like.
This hot tea combines ginger and black peppercorns for a slightly spicy drink that will warm you up. A recipe I learned from friends while living in Brazil, it is a non-alcoholic twist on the Quentão we used to drink there during the winter.
During one of the Julys we spent in Brazil, I helped a friend host a party for her English students and she made this tea. I know what you are thinking — hot tea in July? But remember, U.S. summer = Brazil winter, and where we were in the south, it did get pretty fall-like.
It is a non-alcoholic version of the warm wine drink, Quentão, that is enjoyed during Festas Juninas celebrations. This drink, often described as a mulled wine, was made in large volumes with very, um, affordable wine and often cachaça so it’s surprising that I liked it, but the spicy flavor of the fresh ginger won me over.
