Chai and apologies

Ok so it has maybe been quite a while since we have posted anything. Getting to Iowa was hectic and then setting up the apartment was hectic and then started classes was hectic... but now we are settling down, cooking more, and taking the time to photograph it before hastily consuming it more, and the blog shall be revived (at least until midterms). So I'm just going to post a few backlog items at the same time, and then we'll get back on schedule.

This past weekend was especially insane because we ran Falafel Oasis, which for those of you who do not know (perhaps 1 out of our 2 readers) is a falafel stand that I ran last year at Grinnell to raise money for a microfinance group that I belong to. This involves a huge amount of shopping, cooking (4 hours of balling chickpea dough did give us an excuse to spend the whole day watching Buffy however), and then four hours at night on your feet deep-frying and selling, and then of course a days worth of cleaning chickpea goop out of the crevices of the kitchen (even more vital because our roommate Kober is allergic). Anyway, one of the products we sell, and the most soothing to make, is Chai. Making it involves simply boiling ginger, spices and water, briefly soaking tea bags, and then adding milk and sugar, resulting in a beverage that is not even in the same family as the bland pre-packaged dry mixes and "concentrates."

Chai

1 large pot water
10 cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp fennel
10 peppercorns
1" piece ginger, cut into slices
2 plain black tea bags (Darjeeling, English Breakfast, etc.)
4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup brown sugar, + more to taste

Bring the water, spices, and ginger to boil, then reduce to simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes, or until very spicy - you want it to be overly strong because the milk will dilute it. Adjust the levels of different spices as you go. Add the milk and the sugar and adjust each to taste. Strain out the spices out just before serving - if you're going to store it, keep the spices in it to deepen the flavor. Serve hot or iced.