Information:
Where to Buy: Where Litehouse Foods are sold.
Description:
Because Taste Matters
Taster’s Review:
Recently, LiberTeas asked if anybody was interested in doing a review on Litehouse Foods product line in conjunction with Mother’s Day. I jumped instantly at the opportunity. My mom is a huge foodie! She is an amazing little chef and baker in her own right. My childhood memories are flooded with happy times with family members and there was something fantastic to munch on. My mom was thrilled to participate and so was my dad. We had a ton of incredible spices and dressings to play with.
We started the day out with making up some dip. Salmon dip. Salmon dip with these amazing freeze dried spices that Litehouse Foods provided. My mom gave me a face when she saw the jar and I told her that all she needed to do was add water. She was a good team player and went with it. it I think she is addicted to them now. Litehouse Foods has an array of different freeze dried spices from cilantro to ginger. All you do is add water to the spices and Viola! You have instant fresh spices. The taste fresh too. Just like you bought them fresh from the local market.
Salmon Dip
1-can pink salmon
1 pk cream cheese
pinch of garlic powder (or to taste)
Litehouse Foods Freeze Dried Chives- 2 tablespoons (or to taste)
Litehouse Foods Freeze Dried Dill- 3 tablespoons (or to taste)
We took a can of pink salmon, a package of cream cheese, Litehouse Food Chives, Litehouse Food’s Dill, and garlic powder. Mix all of it up in a bowl. We basically added the spices in to taste. Wowza! The dip turned out so good. Rich and creamy with a hint of tang from the dill and chives. The dill and chive spices tasted so fresh and bright.
Since we used so much cream cheese, the salmon flavor was very light and subtle. Such a delightful treat to start our day with. We all said we could see this being a spread that you could put on break for finger sandwiches. Since I have an issue with carbs, we stuck to this being a dip instead.
I think my dad single handedly took down half of this dip. We dipped veggies and crackers into this delight. Yum!
We also opened Litehouse Foods’ Cucumber Dill Dip. We are the family that always has the veggie tray at these festivies. My mom ate half of this dip on her own with carrot sticks. She proclaimed this to be the best veggie dip ever. And she has always been a lover of the Ranch Packet dip.
Next, we made my Buffalo Chicken Street Tacos. A recipe I can come up with one day for dinner.
1 can of Buffalo Chicken (I get mine from Costco)
1 can of corn-drained
1 can of diced tomatoes-drained
1 green pepper-diced
1 pkg of taco seasoning
Dump all ingredients into a pan or combine all into a crock pot for ease. If you want the mixture spicy, add in some red pepper flakes or jalapenos. Warm up the mixture and allow the ingredients to simmer together.
Take either soft tortillas or hard shell shells and pour some of the mixture in. Add in any kind of cheese you would use for tacos.
Since this is Buffalo Chicken, I was hit with “inspiration” for this dish and thought, Litehouse Foods has my favorite Blue Cheese dressing- Chunky Bleu Cheese. The best part of this dressing, it is Gluten Free! I try to go as Gluten Free as possible. So, after we made up the tacos, we added in some of the dressing instead of using a salsa or sour cream. Oh mama! Were these ever delicious! We gobbled them down like you wouldn’t believe! The creamy blue cheese dressing calmed the spices in the mixture just a bit and brought out an amazing buffalo chicken flavor.
We are huge salad eaters at our family functions. One of my aunt’s duties each get together is to bring the salad. She was so excited to see an Litehouse Foods’ Organic Ranch dressing. She adored it! She said it was rich and tangy with an incredible texture. All she could say was Yum !Yum! A Yum!
To end our Mother’s Day luncheon with a dessert my mom makes with crushed pineapple, chunks of angel food cake, layered like a parfait with sliced strawberries on top. It is a MUST for my family. My 9 year old destroys a bowl full in a matter of seconds. Too add a bit of a fresh twist, we added in a couple of pinches of Litehouse Foods Mint. When we received the Litehouse Foods box a few days before Mother’s Day, I was the most excited and looking forward to was trying this freeze dried spice out. I couldn’t wait to add the mint into teas, dessert, yogurts, smoothies, and possibly an adult beverage or two. One bite of this dessert and it was this fantastic array of flavors. . the sweetness of the pineapple and strawberries and the fresh mint compounded with the vanilla sponge cake. . just so good! We all were in heaven.
We had a great time with the Litehouse Foods and spices, dips and dressings. I can honestly say that I have bought Litehouse Foods products in the past and have enjoyed them. But for one reason or another, just never seemed to pick those products up again. I can say after this Mother’s Day luncheon, Litehouse Foods has renewed customers out of us. I am dying now to pick up the Cilantro and other herbs they offer. And I can say without any kind of hesitation that I will never run out of this Bleu Cheese dressing. Thank you Litehouse Foods for giving my mom and I a fantastic lunch!! We appreciated the products and can’t wait to get our hands on more!
When we got back home from my parents, my boyfriend handed me a bag and said “Happy Mother’s Day”. He gave me the most thoughtful gift I have ever received! I just had to share.
1991 Da Ye Aged Oolong From Butiki Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Aged Oolong
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas (However it is no longer for sale)
Tea Description:
Tea Description: Our 1991 Da Ye Aged Oolong is a 22 year old spring harvested tea from Nantou, Taiwan. This rare tea is oxidized between 20-30% and charcoal roasted. Da Ye Oolong is uncommon today since this tea has a lower production volume. Our 1991 Da Ye Aged Oolong is sweeter and creamier than our 2003 Reserve Four Season Oolong. Notes of roasted chestnut, bark, fresh butter, honey suckle, and cinnamon can be detected. Due to the age of this tea, some mineral notes may also be detected. This tea has a silky mouth feel and is sweet and buttery.
Learn more about this tea on Steepster.
Taster’s Review:
This isn’t a new Butiki blend (really there aren’t any new Butiki blends anymore since the owner’s retirement and the store closed); but it is new to me. I’ve been curious about it for a long time, but I think that without Butiki closing I would have been stuck in a permanent state of “window shopping”, which is a shame because I definitely would have been missing out.
So, this tea is actually older than I am by four years! There’s something inheritantly fascinating about that, and it’s hard to wrap my head around it. Many reviews I’ve seen for this tea feature the reviewer remarking “where they were” or “what they were doing” back in 1991, but I wasn’t doing anything! My parents weren’t even married in 1991.
Lately I’ve been trying to explore straight oolongs a little more thoroughly so it’s appropriate I’m trying this one. I’ve enjoyed the straight oolong I’ve had, especially the darker/roastier ones, but my exposure has been relatively limited and it’s time to change that. The dry leaf for this one already smells quite different than oolong I’m familiar with; it has a really distinct dill smell to it! And then nuttier notes emerge as well. It’s the dill that gets me though; I’ve never heard of dill being a present flavour notes in a straight oolong before – maybe a green tea though that’s probably a bit of a stretch too. I’m already learning things!
Wow; this is surprisingly more complex than I was expecting. Even upon my first few initial sips I was registering such a large variety of flavours it was almost a little overwhelming; they all tie in quite well to one another though. It seems like the general backdrop of flavours is a combination of soaked/damp wood and moss. Very earthy, and very natural. On top of the general taste, which carries throughout the sip, was a lovely arrangement of roasty and nutty flavours, with a very slight and enjoyable dryness. The combination of all of these things is coming together to remind me of petrichor.
For those who don’t know; petrichor is the smell of rain on dry earth. It’s my absolute favourite smell in the world and I’ve been looking for a tea that accurately conveys it for as long as I can remember; this does the job better than anything else I’ve tried. Lastly, this tea finishes with a sweet dill note that tickles at back of my throat. I’m liking how the dill plays into all of this by adding a bit of a different feeling as well as a unique taste!
My second steep was good too; many of the flavours I observed with the first cup were still there but in different levels. I found the wood flavour was less pronounced as well as the dry nuttiness, but the moss was a little more accentuated. The dill was also a lot more strong; instead of just tasting it in the finish I was tasting it in the body of the sip as well. I also registered a very subtle floral note and some richer mineral notes.
Unfortunately because of a prior commitment in the day I didn’t have time to continue with additional steeps; but I’d love to find a day to dedicate solely to this tea because it’s strange, and wonderful and very complex and I’m so smitten with it!
It’ll be hard to get your hands on this tea now; but if you find yourself with the chance to try it I definitely recommend doing so!
Spinach Chive Savory Tea from Numi Organic Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Numi Organic Tea
Tea Description:
Layers of steamed spinach greens give way to the mouthwatering fullness of this savory brew. The citrus notes of Numi’s Dry Desert Lime tickle the roof of your mouth as coriander teases your taste buds. Dill, chive and decaf green tea are the perfect finish to this wellrounded, yet complex, blend.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
I received a sample of this Spinach Chive Savory Tea from Numi Organic Tea in my September Goodies Box, and I was very excited to try it because I have been wanting to try these savory teas from Numi ever since I learned about them.
When I tore into the package, I could smell the onion-y chive right away! The aroma of the other ingredients are milder, but I could smell the vegetative notes of both the green tea and the spinach, as well as well as a hint of citrus. The brewed tea smells very much like the dry tea, although the liquid has a softer fragrance than the dry leaf.
This is an unusual but tasty tea. It’s a bit thinner than I would like it to be, I think it would be better if the green tea were not decaffeinated. I think that the tea would be more satisfyingly “round” if it had not undergone the decaffeination process.
As it is, though, I like that I taste the chive, the spinach, the coriander and the lime. I don’t taste a lot of green tea here, but then I think that the vegetative notes of the chive and the spinach probably meld with the green tea to produce a more united vegetal taste. The chive stands out more distinctly than the green tea and the spinach, but even so, the hint of onion-like flavor is very mellow.
Overall, it’s a very mild and tasty beverage … I like this savory experience. It’s definitely different!
