A new way to make chai...

I am a big fan of chai as I have posted in the past and I refuse to buy chai tea bags because I belive they do not taste anything like real chai. When I do make it from scratch it always makes too much since I am the only one who drinks it. When I saw this recipe the other day over at Angry Chicken I had to try it. I love the idea of being able to make your chai a cup at a time. The base is sweetened condensed milk (which I also am a big fan of) to which you add the spices and a little sugar. Keep it in your fridge (good for a couple of weeks, if it lasts that long) and whenever you are in the mood for some chai just add to your hot black tea. The recipe didn't call for ginger, but I added about 1/2 tsp. dried ginger to mine since that is the spice that I like to taste most in my chai. I will admit not as good as my chai recipe I posted last year, but still a much better tasting chai than the tea bags, especially if you are using good black tea leaves. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Just another day....

I know I should be in bed right now, but I don't want to go to bed! I now sound like my 4 year old daughter. Why am I doing this to myself? It is highly unlikely that I will be able to sleep straight through the night and tomorrow I will pay for the fact that I stayed up until 11 to do a lot of nothing. But my mind is wandering right now and I feel like writing so this entry will probably be a little random. But that is my life I think, a little bit of this and a little bit of that....

Once again I am drinking some homemade chai and so I think I will post the recipe for those of you who are interested, it is very yummy...

Tibetan Chai:

5 cups of water
4-5 strong black tea bags
4 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp. of cardamon pods
1/3 to 1/2 cup of fresh ginger peeled and cut into small pieces

Put all of this is a nice BIG pot on the stove and let it come to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Then add:

3-4 cups of milk
1/2 cup of your favorite sweetener, I prefer honey

bring to a simmer again and let simmer for 5 minutes. ENJOY! Keeps for about 5 days covered in the refrigerator.

Okay now onto my favorite moment of the day. Today as the boy was napping the gurl and I had some time to ourselves, which we don't have too much of these days. And so we decided that we were going to do something fun together, just the two of us. We chose to get out the crayons and color and we did this for over an hour and it was so much fun. I haven't colored a picture in SO long and especially in a Strawberry Shortcake coloring book! It was actually very relaxing.

And that moment in time I will cherish and lock away in my memory because we were both so content and happy and I had her full attention. It is these moments that I cherish and that reaffirm the choices that I have made. I can't imagine my life on any other path. I may dream of it at times, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I have this beautiful feisty daughter who is daily teaching me patience and as angry or frustrated as I may get with her at times, I am still so in awe that I birthed her, that she is part of me. And a son who is a little lover-boy and can't get or give enough cuddles and kisses and laughs more that the other three of us combined, which is also teaching me so much. That these little tiny people can teach us so much about ourselves and the world around us if we just open our hearts and let them and I think that is such an amazing thing about being a parent.

Now it is time for bed...