Sweet Tea

If you are from the South you already know all about sweet tea My parents were from West Virginia.. cooking there is very Southern. We always had a jar of bacon grease in the fridge ( frankly, I have one also---we'll get to some of the uses another day) and all summer long there was Iced Tea in the fridge. Sweet Tea is just that SWEET. I don' t think it s all that sweet but then again, I grew up with it and any tea with out a lot of sugar is just "bad" tastin to me. NEED: 2 quart pitcher 8 tea bags ( I use plain old Lipton but any standard tea will do) 1 heaping cup of sugar Ice Boiling water A bowl that will hold 2 cups of liquid Place teabags in bowl....hang stings over the side for easy removal Slowly pour in boiling water until nearly at top of bowl **I lay a large serving spoon on the tea bags to keep them down in the water Allow to steep for 5 minutes. In pitch..pour sugar and just enough warm water so that you can stir and dissolve sugar. Remove tea bags from bowl one at a time..press to remove all fluid.*** *** you can remove with a teaspoon and wrap the string around...pulling to squeeze out liquid..be careful not to pull to hard and pull of the string..which will no doubt send your teabag sailing through the air. *** you can remove with a teaspoon and press with another spoon *** you can squeeze with your fingers..but keep in mind this is HOT Pour tea into pitcher and stir to blend with sugar. Add enough COLD water to reach the neck of the pitch. Top off with a handful or so of ice cubes and refridgerate. This should be served ICY cold for the best flavor. Enjoy!