In every life, there needs to be a little luxury.  One of my favorite indulgences is fresh Blackberry Sage iced tea.  At home, I like to brew it by the big glass in my TeaForte pitcher and mug.  Such a lovely thing to sit with a big mug of ice and a little pitcher of tea steeping to just the right potency.

Alas, one of the Casita rules is no glass and tea made in a plastic pitcher is just not going to cut my need for on-the-road-luxury.  So, out I went to the local restaurant supply store and bought a little stainless pitcher for steeping.  It doesn’t have a lid–I couldn’t find any that really fit the bill, so I just make do. 

Once the tea is steeped, I pour it into the bigger enamelware pitcher (half full of ice and half full of cold fridge water from the little Britta filter.  Voila!  Another camping luxury! (Note thae Britta Filter is really a nice fit for the bottom door shelf of the fridge.  It doesn’t have large capacity but it filters quickly.  It’s the Britta Slim 5-cup model and fits in on the door of the Dometic fridge that comes standard in the Casita Independence model.  Word to the wise–remember to empty the pitcher into your water bottles before driving off because those expensive-to-replace-fridge-shelves don’t like weight on them while in bouncy motion!)

Now, you may ask, “Where did she get that cute little enamelware pitcher?”  I had to make it.  All I could find in the little-size pitchers (that fit easily  into the little cupboard above the stove) were bright fiesta colored enamel,  from Mexico.  So, out came the paints again because you know,”if it isn’t pretty, it isn’t going to make me smile.”  This time, I used gloss enamel paints and cured the paint on the pitcher in a 325 degree oven for about 40 minutes and then letting it cool in the warm oven.  We use that pitcher in every camping season.  It is always kept full of water on the picnic table with an enamelware plate on the top or a fabric napkin.  It comes in handy to have hand-rinsing-water, dog-bowl-water or even a little errant fire-flight-dousing-water, at the ready.

And as to the Blackberry Sage Tea:  Two bags from Republic of Tea brand make just the right flavor unless you can find some wild blackberries to muddle in.

So, there you have it, keep it pretty, keep it simple (enough) and make sure everything can be used for at least two purposes.  Casita Simple.

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