July is National Grilling Month, the perfect opportunity to get out there, to stoke up the grill, and impress the neighbors with your fine grilling technique! No matter where you live or what you do, grilling is one of the most popular cooking activities.  In fact, The Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association conducted a study showing that 77 percent of all U.S. households own a grill or smoker – a figure that flames up to 89 percent in households with four members or more! Everywhere across the country, in backyards, campsites, parks, and while tailgating, people are grilling. It’s as American as apple pie and iced tea from Bigelow Tea!

Why is grilling so popular? Well it’s easy, fun, fast, and you get that delicious grilled flavor…but more than that, grilling represents something intrinsically pleasing, the gathering with friends and family in the great outdoors. From holidays to family reunions, from farewells to welcome homes, to the venerable company picnic; it’s all about life’s celebrations.

So whether cooking with direct heat or indirect heat, be sure to play it safe by being organized: gather everything needed ahead of time, and don’t walk away from live-fire cooking!  There are lots of great grilling tips and Bigelow Tea grilling recipes available, like our fantastic Orange & Spice BBQ Sauce to help you spice up your July grill.

Bigelow Tea Ice Cubes!

And remember that it gets pretty hot out there while grilling in the July sun – be sure to have plenty of your iced tea favorites from Bigelow Tea – and to double your summer iced tea fun – make your ice cubes with Bigelow Tea using these easy instructions – because iced tea and grilling go together like hot dogs and mustard!

It happens every year — we think to ourselves: Is it Labor Day already? Although traditionally thought of as the symbolic end of summer, Labor Day has been celebrated on the first Monday in September since the 1880s as a federally recognized “day off” honoring American workers.

What are your plans this Labor Day? Perhaps attending a traditional end of the summer barbecue? Taking one last dip in the ocean before heading home? Traveling to New York City where the first Labor Day Parade was held? Maybe you’ll catch some of the 43rd annual Muscular Dystrophy Telethon hosted by Jerry Lewis? We recently spoke about this event, and Muscular Dystrophy in relation to green tea, in our blog, Raise a Cup or Seven to Green Tea Health and Hope.

Whatever your plans, before you begin putting most of your white clothes away, be sure to relax with a tall, cool glass of your favorite iced tea! For great iced tea recipe ideas, go here.

Whether you celebrate Independence Day, the commemoration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, with fireworks, parades, backyard barbecues, carnivals, picnics, baseball games or something else, be sure to quench your thirst this 4th of July weekend with one of our refreshing iced tea recipes – - wherever you celebrate.

Speaking of history and tea, think about this interesting tea tidbit from one of our friends at gather.com:

“…there is an old joke in my village’s history book. When tea was first brought to Long Island in 1700, the locals didn’t know what to do with it, so they cooked it and ate it like spinach while others spread the leaves on bread like butter.” (quoted from Echoes From the Past, Elisabeth S. Lapham)

And why not?  Yet, perhaps you’d rather stick to iced tea, like the one below, or try some of our other tea recipes.

Peach Chai Iced Tea

Ingredients:
1½ cups cold water
3 Bigelow® Perfect Peach® Herbal Tea Bags
3 Bigelow® Spiced Chai Tea Bags
7 cups of cold water

Instructions:
Recipe created by Dorinda of Covington GA, 3rd place winner 2007 Iced Tea Recipe Contest

Place 1½ cups boiling water over tea bags in a 4-cup glass measuring cup. Let steep for 10 minutes. Squeeze and remove tea bags, let the concentrated tea cool.

Pour concentrate into a 3-quart pitcher. Add the cold water and stir. Pour into ice-filled glasses and serve.

For more tea recipes and entertaining ideas, go to http://www.bigelowtea.com/entertaining/recipes/

Perfect Peach® Mustard Dipping Sauce

Our delectably fragrant dipping sauce can be used with grilled sausage bites, cubes of cheese or for crudites. No matter what you choose as its partner, our Perfect Peach® Herb Tea- scented sauce will add pizazz. 

Ingredients:
½ cup water
6 Bigelow Perfect Peach® Herb Tea tea bags
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 ½ tablespoons honey
½ teaspoon soy sauce
½ cup vegatable oil
3-4 drops Tabasco Sauce, or to taste

Instructions:
Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the tea bags and steep for 5 minutes, making sure they are completely submerged. Remove to a small strainer and, using the back of a spoon, press as much liquid as possible back into the pan.

In a small bowl, combine the mustard, honey and soy sauce. Add the infused tea and stir until smooth. Whisk in the oil. Season to taste with Tabasco Sauce, cover and refrigerate until needed.’

Yield: Makes 2/3 cup

Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients:
½ cup (125mL) hot water
10 Bigelow® Orange & Spice Herbal tea bags
¼ cup (60mL) brown sugar
1 small onion, diced
¼ cup (60mL) ketchup
2 tablespoons (30mL) mustard

Instructions:
Pour boiling water over tea bags. Let steep for 5 minutes. Remove bags, squeezing them for excess tea. Add brown sugar until dissolved. Set aside.

In a skillet, add tea, ketchup, mustard and onions. Mix well and simmer until onions are soft, about 10 minutes.

This sauce can be used with steak, chicken and pork. It also can be used for baking beans.

Yield: Makes ¾ cup