Things Meant To Be Shared

Hello again, friends!

Normal routines have been circulating around here again lately, routines of work and laundry and grocery shopping, etc., etc.  By now, you have probably picked up my love for food and for eating well, but that doesn't mean that every meal we eat is a feast.  We have our very ordinary days and yesterday's supper was ..... LEFTOVERS!!!  Or, more poetically, buffet, smorgasbord, all-you-can-eat courtesy "Le Fridge".  The fridge is pretty well purged now, so we can start again with fresh meals. 

We have extended a couple of dinner invitations for the weekend, but don't know if they are going to materialize yet.  I have the menus planned, with the exception of the desserts.  Dessert always leaves me searching endlessly for new ideas.  I am "okay" at pie making but that is a labor of love, focus on the LABOR.  We aren't a cake family, so that option never excites us too much.  I love a good cheesecake, but hasn't that been overdone?  I look back at some of the desserts that I enjoyed in the 1990's, and now they seem to all have the same ingredients - graham crusts, pudding, cool whip and cream cheese.  I'd like to be a bit more sophisticated than that...  I'm thinking about cream puffs, although the websites are scaring me a bit as apparently these can flop...  Any suggestions? 

I guess, though, the point of having dinner guests isn't only about the food - or seldom about the food.  Some of the best memories I have of last summer are throwing meals together with friends while we camped together.  She brought a bit of this and I brought a bit of that, and we sat down and shared what we had and we feasted - both on food and on the simple joy of companionship.  The cool thing about cooking when you camp is that there isn't much pretense - you can only cook what you brought and fine dining seldom makes the cut when you plan for that.

One of the things that my camping friend (thanks Lorelie!!) shared with me was chai tea lattes.  She introduced me to the boxed concentrate, and I went on a city-wide search for the stuff when I got home, before knowing that it was a Starbucks product.  I just had to have some for myself and I so wanted to share my newfound addiction with anyone who came to visit!  But, let me tell you, that stuff is kinda pricey.  And it's caffeinated.  Those are a couple strikes against it, although it is still cheaper to make it at home than to buy it at Starbucks. 

It's a few months later now, and we have both found recipes to make our own concentrate.  Wow, the savings is unreal.  The flavor is more intense, and can be altered to suit your likings.  I love the peppery flavor, so I go a bit heavy on that ingredient.  I have also made mine decaff so that I can enjoy a latte any time of day/evening.

Here is the recipe:

Spiced Chai Tea Concentrate

4 1/2 cups water
1 stick cinnamon
1 piece fresh ginger, chopped (about the size of your thumb)
7 whole cardamom pods
2 whole star anise pods
10 whole cloves
1/4 tsp black pepper (or more, if you like it peppery!)
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp orange zest
10 tea bags (I used decaff Red Rose.  You could also use tea leaves - 10 tsp - of any tea blend that you like)
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp vanilla

Bring the water to a boil.  Add the spices and tea, remove from heat and let steep 15-20 minutes, depending on how strong you want it.  Strain and add the brown sugar, honey and vanilla. Stir to combine.

Mix one part concentrate with one part milk.  Heat and serve, or pour over ice for an iced option.

I store the concentrate in a pitcher in the fridge.  I don't think it spoils; I've kept mine there for quite a few days/weeks.

Now, don't pass on this recipe just because of the length of the ingredient list!  I went to Nutters and got everything I needed and, including the tea, it cost me well under $10, and I have enough to make at least 4 batches of the concentrate.  For a price comparison, a one litre tetra pack box of the concentrate at Starbucks costs $6.99.  I have enough ingredients to make at least 4 times that, for under $10.00 total.

But don't just make the concentrate; make it, and share it with a friend.  And while you're sharing a cup of tea with a friend, share your thoughts, your dreams, your passions, your self.  Share a cup while you're in the kitchen, in the car, at the lake.  I know my life has been richer for the times I have shared with a friend.  Like last night - when I had a cup of tea with a friend who I knew when we were teenagers, but then we grew up and lost touch and then found each other again and picked up where we left off, 30 years later.  How cool is that?  Thanks Evonne!