On a Gloomy Tuesday Morning

Edmonton has been looking a bit like Vancouver's winter lately - gray skies, muggy air, & a crisp wind that cuts through your fall jacket. I don't know about you, but my mood is very easily affected by how much sun I see. Good thing I only need small things to brighten my day; an example being: settling onto our couch with a cup of steaming, milky, ginger-y chai & a good friend to catch up with. Another is hanging out with babies. Or hanging out with twins who are on the cusp of becoming toddlers & learning how to talk. Among a looong list of things...good thing, since I live in a place where winter lasts 8 months!

One of my birthday gifts this year was a coupon for an authentic chai-brewing lesson along with jarfuls of chai spice (a combination of multiple spices) & black tea. Sheetal knows me too well; what could be better than to be able to make my own chai at home on a chilly autumn morning (especially when you just realized that you ran out of Nespresso pods & can feel the slow rise of panic)? That spice of ginger that cuts through the creaminess of milk is like no other.

Thanks Sheetal, aka Sheety Peety, for gifting me with homemade-chai-skills! This picture is from her birthday picnic by the Saskatchewan River this past summer; it's one of my favourites of her (: