One of my favorite homemaking encouragers is author and speaker Emilie Barnes. I have her small flip-calendar, If Teacups Could Talk, on a corner shelf above and to the left of my kitchen sink. I simply love the thing, having referred to it now for almost ten years!

Inside it, I found this gem of a recipe. If my current book ever gets into print, you may recognize this “apple cider tea” as a specialty of my heroine’s pastor’s wife. I think it’s a great fall tradition. And I know that August isn’t technically fall, but with school about to start, it feels like fall to me. And this year the orchard we usually visit lost all their fruit to the late spring frost. So we’ll have to celebrate fall differently.

I’m thinking this will be a good start.

Apple Cider Tea

• 6 cups apple cider
• 6 cloves
• 3 cinnamon sticks (2-in. pieces)
• 2 tea bags
• 3 tbsp. brown sugar
• thin lemon slices (optional)

Put cider, cloves, and cinnamon in a medium-sized, stainless-steel pot. Cover and heat on medium. When the mixture is hot and steaming, add the tea bags and infuse until the apple cider takes on a light tea taste (approximately 5 minutes). Remove the tea bags and dissolve the sugar in the mixture. Strain the liquid into glass cups or mugs. A transparent slice of lemon may be floated on the top of each cup. Serves 5-6.