GRitS & Sun Tea

 My Mama knew all about GRitS - after all, she was one! And she knew all about Sun Tea, and she made the best there was!

When I say GRitS, I'm not referring to that buttery, delicious dish served with fried eggs or catfish (although Mama knew all about those too) I'm referring to GRitS - Girls Raised in the South. Mama was one, and even though we really weren't, growing up in Idaho, she raised her little girls up just like we were GRitS too.

We had chores and we did them, and we liked them whether we liked them or not. Spring cleaning happened every Saturday. Cooking supper wasn't something you did - it was something you did right. And the best way to make tea was to put it in an old wide-mouthed gallon pickle jug and set it in the sun on a warm, bright morning.

I remember carrying that jug outside, full to the top with cold well water and paper tea bags, and running off to play with my Sissy. Ever so often one of us would go back and check the jug - still clear - golden yellow - rich amber - and finally, after an eternity of waiting, the Sun Tea was ready to take inside. With all the patience of a fox on a coon hunt, Sissy & I would wait while Mama fished out the tea bags, squeezing each one, but not hard enough to pop them open, and stirred in just the right amount of sugar with her long-handled wooden spoon.

Mmmm...just thinking about it makes me thirsty for an ice cold jar!

Yes Ma'am... GRitS and Sun Tea are at the center of some of my best childhood memories. Now where did I put that old pickle jug?

MAMA'S SUN TEA RECIPE

6 Regular Tea Bags
Water
A Glass Gallon Jug with Lid
About 1 Cup of Sugar
A Sunny Day
Ice

Fill jug to about one inch from the top with fresh water. Drop in tea bags; cover. The best tea is made in the morning and steeps in the sun for about 4 hours. Properly served over ice and in a mason jar. Quilted Gingham Jar Coozie available in my Etsy shop!