Spiced Tea

Do you have little indulgences that make you feel rich?  For my husband it's buying popcorn at the movie.  They charge you out the wazoo for it, so we hardly ever buy it, but every once in a while he'll splurge and enjoy feeling rich on a $5.00 bag of popcorn.
I recently discovered this little indulgence, and it's way cheaper than popcorn at the movie!  My mom has been making this tea for a long time, but I never gave it a good try until I was at my parents' house for New Year's.  I sat down to drink a glass of this tea while Ezra was taking his afternoon nap, and I felt like I was drinking a fancy Starbucks drink that I didn't have to pay an arm and a leg for!  Nice!  If a glass of tea can make my day feel indulgent I'm all for it.
I'll warn you though - whole cloves (see below) can be expensive.  I found this out when WalMart only carried 1 brand and a jar cost over $10.00.  So I made a trip to HEB and found a smaller jar for about $3.75.  Doesn't hurt to shop around sometimes!

Spiced Tea
From Joanna Knox

Water
2 large tea bags
2 teaspoons whole cloves
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/3 cup orange juice
juice of 1-2 lemons

Fill 2 quart pot with water and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, remove from heat and add tea bags and cloves.  Let the tea steep.  How long you let it steep depends on how strong you like your tea.  I like mine fairly strong, so I let it go for about 10-12 minutes.  Throw away the tea bags and strain out the cloves.  Add sugar and juices and stir well.

Note: This tea can be served hot or cold.  I prefer mine cold - not iced, chilled in the refrigerator.