Chai

__________________________________________________

            FOOD FUNNY
__________________________________________________

Here's a good one from Anna Welander of Uppsala, Sweden:

One October my wife and I spent a vacation on Washington's
Olympic Peninsula. We were eager to visit the rain forests near
the coast, but we heard that snow slides had made some of the
roads impassable. Although apprehensive about the conditions
we might run into, we drove on.

Sure enough, we had gone only a short way up the High Rain
Forest Road when we saw a sign: "Ice 10 miles." Five miles
farther on there was another: "Ice 5 miles." The next one was:
"Ice 1/2 mile." We practically crept that half-mile. Then we came
to the last sign. It was outside a small grocery store, and it read:
"Ice 75 cents."

__________________________________________________

            TODAY'S RECIPE
__________________________________________________

This week I offer a theme I don't believe I have ever done before:
Hot Drinks. Here is the lineup:

(Recipes in brackets are in the PLUS Edition only.)

Monday's Extra
Chai
[Hot Apple Cider]

Tuesday's Extra
Almond Cappuccino
[Ginger Tea]

Wednesday's Extra
Black Forest Coffee
[Maple Hot Chocolate]

Thursday's Extra
Red Wine Wassail
[Apricot Orange Tea]

Friday's Extra
Spiced Green Tea
[Spicy Hot Chocolate]

"Chai" is the Hindi word for tea, derived from the Cantonese "cha,"
so the "Chai tea" seen on may restaurant and coffee shop menus
is redundant. Spiced teas are found all over India and Southeast
Asia, and every region and every cook has their own favorite version.
Use this one to begin your experiments.

Chai

3 sticks cinnamon
12 cardamom pods
1/2 whole nutmeg, grated
3 whole cloves
6 whole black peppercorns
2 tea bags (English Breakfast is excellent)
1 cup (250 ml) milk or soy milk (or less to taste)
Sugar to taste

Place all ingredients except milk and sugar in a saucepan. Add 4
cups (1 L) of water. Cover and bring to a boil over moderate heat.
Reduce heat and simmer 10 to 20 minutes. Add milk until the color
is a light brownish tan and heat through without boiling. Strain and
serve, adding sugar to taste. Serves 4.
Received on Mon Oct 30 06:12:03 2006