chai is perfection. that's all.

Tuesday Tea - my chai recipe

chai tea is my comfort tea. it doesn't hurt that it has hot milk, sugar and spice either. it's great on a cold day, when i'm tired after a busy day of work, or like today, when i've helped my brother start to paint his new bedroom - also known as my old bedroom.

i've devised my own recipe for making chai tea, which i think it's about time i share!

the important thing to remember about chai tea is that you should watch it, so the milk doesn't boil and create a skin on the top (unless your crazy like my hubby, who actually asks me to do that).

here's what you need:

- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 cup 2% milk
- 1 1/2 tbsp chai tea - loose leaf preferable (or your favourite black tea usually works too)
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- pinch of nutmeg or allspice or cloves

Steps:
1. add the boiling water and milk together in a small pot on the stovetop
2. stir together and add the tea
3. stir occasionally on medium heat for 2-3 mins (don't let it boil though)
4. when the colour is starting to turn, add the brown sugar and keep stirring to mix it in
5. when the tea looks a warm tan colour, and it's steaming (but not boiling) you can strain it into your cup; top it off with your pinch of chosen spice and there you go!

happy chai tea drinking!

-r

21 degrees means BURGERS!

the beautiful weather today inspired my hubby and i to make burgers for supper. the homemade kind are the best...and today i added mint to mine. turned out pretty yummy!

we are also quickly becoming instagram fans (along with everyone else you know).

chau for now!
- r

The Perfect Mug

Confession time: I skipped Tuesday Tea last week. And I surprisingly don't feel that bad about it. This could be good...or bad...or another take on whether you're a glass half full or glass half full person.

Today on Tuesday Tea: the perfect mug



These are my perfect mugs. Correction, they are me and my hubby's perfect mugs. They were made by a friend of my mom's, my tante cinty, who makes her own pottery. Aren't they beautiful?

Now I consider these to be the perfect mugs because of the following:

1. The handles are sized to fit all my fingers.

2. I can hold it like this,

Or like this,

And both ways are very comfortable in my hand because the size is just right (I'm thinking like goldilocks)

3. The lip to the mug is the right thickness for drinking but also thin enough for sipping.

4. Each mug is uniquely beautiful...like a person. :)

5. It holds some of the yummiest chai tea lattes!

Here are some of the things i suggest you do when shopping to find your perfect mug.

1. Pick up the mug. Try holding it with both hands (first your dominant hand, then your non-dominant). Make sure it feels comfortable in your hand (think weight for your wrist and balance of the handle vs cup).


2. Next, hold it in at least two different ways (by the handle and cupping the mug for example). You probably won't hold a mug in the same way 100% of the time, so make sure you like holding it at least two ways, and that it fits your hand.

3. Finally, hold it as if it was full of boiling liquid you didn't want to spill on yourself - ie. just by the handle. Ensure that you can hold it like this for at very least a good 30 seconds because you're going to have to cross a room with it someday and trust me, you don't want a burnt hand by the time you get where you're going!

Happy mug hunting!

-r