Saturday Night's Alright (For Chai)

Saturday was busy. I got up and, before making my coffee, dug out my car from the detritus the snow plow had left behind. I have to tell ya, those ergonomic shovels are a godsend. While moving snow boulders that are as dense as neutron stars will not allow your back to emerge unscathed, it will nonetheless thank you for not using a normal shovel. With a cup o'joe finally in my gullet, I went shopping for Xmas gifts. The one I'm looking forward to being put into action the most is the one I got M. - The Dangerous Book for Boys. For a 9-year old, he is woefully lacking in the skills a lad his age needs for creating low-level mayhem. Plus it will hopefully encourage him to do some things other than watching TV and playing video games. Of course, if he actually does take the book to heart, it will mean I'll be taking him on trips to the hardware store and helping him out. But I suppose that won't be bad.

Later in the afternoon I joined The Dulcinea on a trek downtown on which she was looking to fulfill a couple remaining gift orders. Parking was a zoo with hundreds and hundreds people and their children trying to find a spot near the beleaguered Overture Center which was putting on a Christmas performance of some ilk. It was almost like driving in a real city.

We found State Street to be bustling with shoppers and hangers-on. The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art's store was crowded with people snatching up bric-a-brac that I wouldn't give to my most hated enemy. At least they had some good books. Tallus Mater proved more interesting with a nice selection of Polish pottery and lots of kitchenware at which I ogled with green eyes. In addition, there were oven mitts that got me drooling.

Having had enough of downtown, it was off to the east side and Monona for some shopping as I needed a few key ingredients for my weekend cooking plans. It was at this time that The Dulcinea decided to get the appetite of a horse. A stop at Super Tienda Latina yielded not only something for Sunday night's dinner, but also a bag of their tamales with which they she became enamored. I can't say I blame her. The folks at STL make them every Saturday and they're absolutely delicious. These did not prove enough as she bought a sandwich at Fraboni's whereas all I needed was some peppercorns. A final stop at Viet Hoa provided me with the ginger I needed for my chai although the whole walleye sitting on ice was tempting. And don't get me started on the pig brains. These three stores plus Ken's Meats make Monona Drive one of the best streets for grocery shopping in town.

I love chai but the pre-made stuff you get at the grocery store and at coffeehouses is just too sweet. I suspect that Oregon Chai is in cahoots with the corn syrup industry. The flavor of the tea is lost as the pugilistic sugar and spices fight over space on your taste buds. And so I prefer to make my own.

One of the great things about chai is that most of its ingredients are aromatic and make your kitchen smell nice. I use a recipe given to me my Jolene, an erstwhile barista. Start off by boiling ginger root. Then add the super-secret spice mix and boil for half an hour before adding the tea to steep.



Elements heat and cauldron bubble!



Next time I'm going to add more cardamom pods. And I'm going to bruise them. Still it turned out pretty well.



Now what is that for…?