all because of the iced tea discussion. That alone should have tipped her off. She liked her tea sweet, because she was a born and bred Southerner. Some folks like their tea so sweet that it bites on the back end and there's a puddle of sugar left in the glass. Not her. She and the other women in her family had developed their own time-tested way of brewing tea, adding just enough sugar to make it sweet, but not so much that the liquid was over-saturated and wasted good sugar. Considering how many women in that family grew up poor, it's a wonder they didn't convert to unsweetened tea. But they knew how to cook, how to make something good out of a little of nothing, and they also knew how much sugar to use. No formal lessons, but Southern women visit in the kitchen, even the tomboys, once past a certain age and can no longer get away with climbing trees. The informal lessons, the watching, the "come, help me with this," taught a girl much in the kitchen. "Here, taste and see if it's like Mama's," gave better direction than any cookbook.
He turned his nose up at sweet tea. Couldn't understand why people would spend the extravagance, and of course, have that waste in a puddle of sugar and tea at the bottom of a glass. Never mind he wanted her to take the sugar packets home from the restaurant, whenever they'd go out.
She should have known, but she didn't. He was so different from any of the boys she grew up with.
I like it! Great exercise of the creative muscle. Even better since I like sweet tea!
Posted by: Carl V. | Thursday, 27 March 2008 at 03:51 PM