masala chai

after being out and about for 4 hours running errands and indulging in a mani/pedi, i was pretty much frozen. after all, it was only 16 degrees out there! i was bound and determined to have some hot tea when i got home.

as you are all aware, i am crazy about tea. i especially love a good cup of masala chai yet i've never made it from scratch at home. today i remedied that situation and let me tell you, it is fantastic.

masala chai recipe
(serves 4)

4 whole cloves
1/3 teaspoon ground cardamom (or 1 cardamom pod)
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

crush (or break as in case of cinnamon stick) above ingredients and put into a saucepan
add 3 cups water
bring to a boil - remove from heat - let steep for 5 minutes
add 1 cup milk
2 tablespoons of granulated sugar (or more if you like your tea sweeter)
bring to a boil -remove from heat
add 3 bags of black tea (i used darjeeling but can substitute ceylon) - cover and let steep for 3 minutes
stir - strain - enjoy!!

i ground my fresh black pepper from my beautiful new pylones russian girl pepper mill (isn't she adorable?! ok, so she's my new favorite kitchen gadget!

favorite kitchen gadget

if you asked what my all time favorite kitchen gadget it, i'd have to say my salad spinner.
it really does do an excellent job at getting almost all of the water off of your lettuce and greens in general. it makes your lettuce/greens last longer in the fridge as well. it's definitely an easy clean up. plus, you can take out the middle green piece and use it as a colander. we have the big one but there are smaller versions available if you are really tight on space.

do you guys have a favorite kitchen gadget?