A refreshing summer drink: Orange Pekoe tea, stepped, sweetened, and iced
Yield: 

1 gallon
Ingredients: 

8 (2-cup) Orange Pekoe tea bag
4 C water boiling water
Cold water
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 C sugar
Instructions: 

1. Boil 4 C water in saucepan.

2. Drop 8 tea bags into boiling water. Turn heat off; let seep for 5-8 minutes.

3. Pour tea into gallon pitcher. Pour water over tea bags and continue filling pitcher. Put sugar in and stir until dissolved.

4. Add ice cubes when served. Refrigerate.

This recipe is from Tammy’s Recipes.

A fresh lemonade made with the juices of lemons, limes, and oranges
Yield: 

about 1 gallon
Ingredients: 

2 lemons
2 limes
2 oranges
2-3 quarts of water (to taste)
3/4 to 1 cup sugar (to taste)
Additional slices of lemon, lime, or orange, for garnish (optional)
Instructions: 

1. Squeeze the juice from the lemons, limes, and oranges. Pour juice into a gallon container.

2. Add water and sugar to juice and mix well. (Start with lesser amounts of water and sugar, and add to taste.)

3. Chill and serve with additional fruit slices for garnish if desired.

This recipe is from Tammy’s Recipes.

Homemade milky hot chocolate
Yield: 

6 cups
Ingredients: 

6 cups milk
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup baking cocoa (unsweetened)
Marshmallows or whipped cream, for serving
Instructions: 

1.
Combine sugar and cocoa in 2-quart (or larger) pan, whisking to remove
lumps. Whisk milk into mixture, starting with 1/2 cup of milk and
gradually adding the rest.

2. Heat on medium heat, stirring frequently, until milk is hot (but not boiling).

3. Ladle into mugs and top with marshmallows or whipped cream if desired.

Additional Notes: 

To make one serving of hot chocolate:

Stir together 3 teaspoons of baking cocoa and 4 teaspoons of sugar. Add about a tablespoon of milk and mix. Add remaining milk to fill mug; stir. Microwave for 1 1/2 minutes or until hot. Stir and enjoy!

This recipe is from Tammy’s Recipes.

A homemade hot chocolate with a sweet minty flavor
Yield: 

4 cups
Ingredients: 

4 cups milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup baking cocoa (unsweetened)
4 starlight mints (remove wrappers, of course)
Instructions: 

1. Combine sugar and cocoa in a 2-quart saucepan. Whisk in milk and heat over medium heat, stirring frequently, until warm.

2. Add the four starlight mints and continue heating and stirring
until hot chocolate is hot (but not boiling!) and mints are melted.
Additional Notes: 

To make one serving of mint hot cocoa:

Combine 1 tablespoon of sugar and one tablespoon of baking cocoa in a mug. Stir. Add about 2 tablespoons milk, stirring to remove any lumps. Add remaining milk and stir. Microwave for 1 1/2 minutes until milk is hot (but not boiling). Add one starlight mint and stir until dissolved.

This recipe is from Tammy’s Recipes.

A smooth, creamy, spicy “egg nog”, made with milk and cream, vanilla pudding, nutmeg, and cinnamon
Yield: 

8 servings
Ingredients: 

2 quarts (8 cups) cold pasturized milk
1 package (3.5 ounces) instant vanilla pudding mix
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla*
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions: 

1.
Pour pudding into a pitcher or jug with a tight-fitting lid; an empty
gallon milk jug works very well. If using an empty milk jug you may want
to use a funnel.

2. Add milk and shake until pudding powder is thoroughly mixed and dissolved, about 2 minutes.

3. Mix sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a small cup or bowl. Stirring
the mixture with a spoon will allow you to use the sugar as an abrasive
to break up the spices and allow them to mix smoothly into your nog.

4. Add sugar and spice mixture as well as the vanilla to the milk and pudding mixture. Stir or shake vigorously.

5. Add heavy whipping cream and stir thoroughly.

A creamy strawberry orange smoothie with milk and a hint of vanilla
Yield: 

2-3 servings
Ingredients: 

3 ounces frozen orange juice concentrate
1/2 cup milk*
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 banana, optional
1 cup frozen strawberries
6 regular-sized ice cubes (or until desired consistency)
Instructions: 

1. Blend together orange juice concentrate, milk, water, sugar, vanilla, and banana (if using) for 1 minute.

2. Add strawberries and blend for a couple minutes, until smooth.

3. Add ice cubes to blender, one at a time, blending after each one until smooth. You don’t want chunks of ice in your smoothie! 🙂

This recipe is from Tammy’s Recipes.

A creamy hot cocoa with vanilla, almond, and coconut essence
Yield: 

4 cups
Ingredients: 

1/3 cup baking cocoa powder
1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons sugar
4 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
Instructions: 

1. Combine baking cocoa and sugar in a bowl; using a spoon, mix, paying special attention to break apart all cocoa clumps.

2. Add dry mixture to a large pan and add 1/3 cup milk to mixture.
With  a spatula or whisk, thoroughly mix until a smooth texture.

3. Slowly stir in the remaining milk.

4. Stir in the vanilla and extracts.

5. Pour mixture into a saucepan or stock pot and heat at medium. Stir frequently and do NOT bring to a boil.

6. When hot, ladle into mugs. Enjoy!

This recipe is from Tammy’s Recipes.

A rich, creamy cheesecake bursting with dark, rich semi-sweet chocolate
Yield: 

16
Ingredients: 

Crust
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs*
6 Tablespoons butter, melted
3 Tablespoons sugar

Filling
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
12 Tablespoons cocoa powder (baking cocoa)
4 Tablespoons butter
28 ounces cream cheese, room temperature (4 1/2 8 oz. packages)
1 cup sugar**
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 eggs, room termperature
3/4 cup sour cream (6 oz.)

Optional: 1 Tablespoon cornstarch mixed in 1 Tablespoon cold water
Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a metal or glass bowl on the bottom rack with bottledwater.

2. Crust: Mix the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar.
Grease a 9 inch springform pan (sides and bottom) and press the graham
cracker mixture evenly along the bottom of the springform pan.

3. Mix the baking cocoa and butter until smooth. Then add the mixture
and semi-sweet chocolate chips to a sauce pan on low on the stove and
cover. Stir mixture periodically until all the chips are melted and the
mixture is mixed.

4. In a large bowl beat the cream cheese with a mixer until smooth.
Add vanilla and sugar. Slowly add one egg at a time while beating with
an electric mixer on low, doing a scrape down of the bowl with a
spatula periodically. Add and mix in sour cream. (Optional: Also add
cornstarch mixture and mix in).

5. Slowly beat in chocolate mixture–beat just enough to mix in evenly.

6. Pour into crust.

7. Bake for 60-80 minutes, depending on desired doneness***

8. Cool and then remove rim. Refrigerate before serving. Best served 24 hours or longer after you begin refrigeration.****

Additional Notes: 

* You can use chocolate cookies for the crust if you desire a dish with even more chocolate flavor.

** You you prefer sweeter chocolates you may wish to add more sugar
(double). The recipe is very deep and rich and not overly sweet.

*** 60 minutes is sufficient for us, but ovens vary and with such a
thick cake your results may vary. You may find at 60 minutes your cake
is more moist texture; if too soft and creamy for your liking try 80
minutes for a more solid cake. Note that you may need to cover the
cake to prevent over browning. A compromise may be 60 minutes and try
turning off the oven and opening the oven door and allowing the cake to
sit in the oven for 15 minutes before removing to cool. 60 minutes
works for us, but with such a dense, thick cake you may need some minor
adjustments.

**** You can freeze slices of the cheesecake. Place in the fridge the night before serving to thaw.

This recipe is from Tammy’s Recipes.

A rich, nutty cheesecake with pretzel crust
Yield: 

16 servings
Ingredients: 

Crust:

1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted

Filling:

40 ounces (5 [8oz.] packages) cream cheese
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup peanut butter chips
1 cup semi-sweet chips

Topping:

8 ounces (1 cup) sour cream
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped unsalted peanuts

Instructions: 

1. To make crust: mix together crushed pretzels and butter or margarine. Press into bottom of a 10-inch springform pan.

2. Beat cream cheese and sugar well. Add peanut butter and vanilla, beat. Add eggs beating just to combine.

3. Stir in chips. Pour over crust and bake 50-55 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool 15 minutes but leave oven on.

4. Mix first 3 topping ingredients together until smooth. Spread on
cake and sprinkle with peanuts. Return to oven for 5 minutes.

5. Cool on a rack 10 minutes and run knife around edge of pan. Cool another hour before refrigerating overnight. When slicing, dip knife in warm water inbetween cutting and wipe off so you don’t get a pile up around each slice.

This recipe is from Tammy’s Recipes.

Creamy lemon cheesecake pie topped with whipped cream or meringue rivals lemon meringue pie
Yield: 

8 servings
Ingredients: 

12 oz cream cheese, softened
4 oz sour cream
3/4 c sugar
2 eggs
2 T fresh lemon juice
Zest of one lemon
one
9-inch graham cracker pie crust (You can make your own by combining 1 c
graham cracker crumbs, 2 T sugar, and 4 T melted butter)
Whipped cream, for topping
Instructions: 

1. In large bowl, beat cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, and eggs. Add lemon juice and zest, and beat until smooth.

2. Pour into pie crust and bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

3. Chill for at least 4 hours before serving. Top with whipped topping to serve.

This recipe is from Tammy’s Recipes.