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!

tea for two

this past saturday rebecca & i had tea at the johnston house in mars, pa. we had a lovely time visiting over tea and all of the goodies we ate. these are a few pics i took.

our beautiful place settings

our delicious food

and i ask you, one lump or two ;)

more photos to come on the johnston house soon.

tea & biscuits

aahh, tea & biscuits. i love it.

i love the little message on the tea bag

any tea is special tea to me

photos by moi

all the english tea i want without jet lag

my dear english friends have been blogging about afternoon tea and biscuits. well, since i can't afford a trip to the england, i figured getting some good english tea would be the next best thing.

photo by moi

taking time for tea

tea, i love it! whites, greens, blacks, oolongs, rooibos, herbals, mates, you name them, i love them all. i love tea at any time of the day, morning, noon and night. i love what health benefits come along with tea, polyphenols for cancer prevention, good for lowering cholesterol and increasing your metabolism to name a few. i also love the process of making tea, it's simple, methodical and relaxing.

i thought i would share with you my tea ritual. this time i made teavana's jasmine dragon phoenix pearls scented green tea. if you like jasmine green tea, it is wonderful. the best part is that it can be infused a couple of times so you really get your monies worth.

measure out the tea

add hot water

wait for brewing (love watching the unfurling of the tea)

the teavana perfect tea maker sits right on top of my mug to dispense

aaahh, ready to enjoy

do you have a tea ritual? if so, please share.

photos by moi

salty oatmeal cookies & much gratitude

i wanted to give a HUGE shout out to jennifer over at pink heels. her latest post is all about teaism's salty oatmeal cookies (and the recipe!!) so, get yourself to her blog and check it out!!!

i first heard about teaism from fellow blogger city girl's post here. being a tea girl (who does like coffee from time to time) i knew i had to check this out. i fell in love when i was in dc during the cherry blossom festival. the next time i go back to dc, teaism is definitely on my to do list.

thank you again jennifer & city girl for introducing me & sharing teaism and their beloved salty oatmeal cookies!! you girls rock!!