Is it over yet?

Are the holidays over yet? Can I come out of hiding now? Jeez...the past week, two weeks, has been madness, from holiday shopping and incredibly rude shoppers, to family insanity. Add in some drama with my falconry and some personal issues, and you have someone desperately needing a vacation, a time out, or a room at the insane asylum, complete with straight jacket.

Just sitting down to enjoy a cup of doodh patti chai, or spiced milk tea. (Not Chai Tea...which is redundant because chai = tea, I learned.)

Measurements? Who measures ingredients? Mostly, I play it by smell and look, but, ehhh...here I try.

Two cups milk in a sauce pan.
Teaspoon each of ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground ginger, ground cardamom (although this can be adjusted to taste)
6 to 8 sugar cubes (adjust to taste)

Bring to simmer.

Add in a cup of water and some black tea leaves. (Four tea bags - open the bags and dump the leaves in the liquid...or equivalent of four tea bags. Stronger if you want, again adjust to taste.)

Bring to boil. If it starts to foam up, remove from heat and let it go back down. Put back on heat. Repeat this three times.

Strain into mug. If it's too hot, or too strong, Stir a little milk to the mug.

Add a scone or little biscuit to go with, curl up with a book or e-reader, and enjoy!

Hope everyone's holidays went well. Back to writing as my Muse seems to be gaining her confidence back. It's slow, but it's better than nothing. =)

Love you all.