Chai Me

Take a deep breath and you can almost taste it,  Fall is coming!  One of my favorite seasons, to me fall is –  sweaters, bowls of soup, crisp air, apples, boots, nice frizz-less hair, and Chai tea!!!

Getting impatient for fall I invented my own Iced Chai latte (because lets face it, even though fall is ‘a coming, it’s still freakin’ hot out)

I will share my, self-proclaimed, best-friend approved, yummy recipe with you because that is just the kind of gal I am.

Iced Chai Latte

First buy some chai.  I used Bigelow Vanilla Chai because they make awesome tea and vanilla is just yummy.

Fill tea kettle (or however you boil water for tea in your house, pan will do) and bring to a boil.  Amount of water doesn’t really matter, I just go by a full normal size tea kettle

Martha Stewart CollectionEnamel on Steel Tea Kettle

In a gallon pitcher much like this one:

Place seven of the chai tea bags inside.   When water is boiled pour all contents of kettle into gallon pitcher.   Now time to add sweetener.  I used about three-quarters of a cup of honey but mine was sweeter than I like my tea (honey is sweeter then normal sugar) so next time I will only use half a cup.  You can use whatever kind of sweetener you like.  A good idea to measure by is for normal sugar 3/4 cup is plenty unless you like über sweet tea then by all means go for the full cup.  Stir well

Then let it brew ( in laymen terms just leave it alone) for about an hour or longer depending on the strength of the tea you wish.  For a latte, stronger is better.  I let mine sit for about 4 hours and I put the lid on just to help keep in heat to aid the brewing process.

When done brewing, scoop out tea bags and fill the pitcher the rest of the way with your choice of milk.  Soy and Chai go hand in hand with me, so I used my new favorite soy milk:

  Place in fridge to cool or if waiting is impossible, fill glass with ice and pour your newly made Chai latte over it and enjoy!

If you have any questions feel free to ask!

Don’ sit under the apple tree, with anyone else but me

I found this lovely recipe for Apple Crisp, one of the easiest “appley” desserts there is to make. In fact its such a sunny ,crisp fall day today I’m gonna make some crisp to eat! I suggest to receive the full effect of this recipe you find a farmer’s market that sells home-grown apples  or better yet pick your own apples from a pay and pick orchard. It adds to the whole flavor of the recipe. But in a pinch store-bought will do just as well.

INGREDIENTS

5 medium Golden Delicious apples (about 2 pounds) peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
2 to 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup uncooked rolled oats
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (1/2 stick), cut into small pieces

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat oven to 350°F and arrange rack in middle. Lightly butter an 8-by-8-inch baking dish.Combine apples, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt in a medium bowl and toss to coat. Place apple mixture in the prepared baking dish and set aside.
Mix together brown sugar, oats, flour, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl until evenly combined. With your fingertips, blend in butter pieces until small clumps form and butter is well incorporated, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle topping evenly over apples and bake until streusel is crispy and apples are tender, about 50 to 60 minutes. Let cool on a rack at least 30 minutes before serving.

I played around with this recipe, I added honey to the apple mixture and doubled the streusel recipe cuz everyone knows the crust is the best.