Trouble is brewing...

I start my day with a good, strong cup of chai. Until I've had chai, I'm a zombie. Without the desire for brraains, of course.

Chai, of course, is made using black tea. During my FSD ("Food Stamp Diet"), I've been using up the tea I had bought long before I started the diet. I typically buy Assam Orange Pekoe loose-leaf tea at Rainbow (about $20/lb ). After a series of tests, I recently decided that their Irish Breakfast was quite good too; it just might become my tea of choice.

But coming to the topic at hand: my loose leaf tea ran out over a week ago. And I've been surviving with teabags (PG Tips; not bad, but not that great either) for the duration. But now those are running out too. Since this is the FSD, I'll have to scavenge for the cheapest black tea that I can find in the local Safeway, which probably will be Lipton. Yuck! But what's a guy on food stamps to do? If I were actually laid off, the prospect of crappy tea alone would send me scurrying back to work.

Speaking of tea: here's how you can make some great chai for yourself.

You'll need (for 1 cup of tea; see later for how to change the proportions for more):

• Black tea (1 teabag if you're using teabags; 1tsp of tea leaves  if using loose leaf tea)
• Ginger: a few thin slices (or crushed in a mortar if that's an option)
• 2 green cardamom pods, crushed in a mortar
• little bit of black pepper (couple of twists of a pepper mill)
• 1 cup of water
• Some whole milk, or if you prefer, soy milk
• A tea strainer

1. Add the water to a pot, and put it on high heat
2. Add the ginger, black pepper and cardamom
3. When the water starts boiling, add the tea
4. After about 30 seconds, add enough milk so that the entire mixture is very light brown in color
5. Lower the heat to a simmer, cover with a lid, and let it sit for about 3-4 minutes. If the heat is high, it may boil over; so you'll have to keep an eye.
6. After the 3-4 minutes, check the color. It should be brown in color, and not too dark. If it is dark, add some more milk.
7. Once the color is right, increase the heat to bring it to a boil, and then strain immediately into a cup.
8. Add sugar, and enjoy.

If you're making more than 1 cup, you'll have to decrease the water a little, to account for the fact that you'll be adding more milk. A rule of thumb is: 0.75 cups of water for every additional cup you want. And similar for the teabags: 0.75 teabags for every additional cup (round to the nearest teabag, but don't cut them up! :) ).

If the tea is boiled too much, it starts to taste bitter. Reduce the amount of time you boil it in that case.

And remember: don't leave the pot on the stove and walk off! I almost destroyed a pot like that yesterday. Thankfully, SOS Pads and lots of elbow grease saved the pot.