Chai Tea Mix

Once upon a time there was this Kitchen Witch who woke up to a grey and dreary day.  This Kitchen Witch loves a good cup of tea on grey dreary days.  Chai is her favorite tea, but this Kitchen Witch didn’t want to get out of her PJs  early in the morning, she just wanted to sip her tea and  and read the local paper in her PJs.  So this Kitchen Witch decided to make a batch of Chai Tea mix so she could enjoy her favorite cup of tea any grey dreary day without having to get out of her PJs.

Chai Tea Mix, this mix is similiar to what you buy at the grocery store.  Real Indian Chai is quite as sweet and creamy, but I’ll save that post for another day. 

Ingredients

 1 cup nonfat dry milk powder

1 cup powdered non-dairy creamer

1 cup French vanilla flavored powdered non-dairy creamer

2 1/2 cups white sugar

1 1/2 cups unsweetened instant tea

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

Directions

In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients.  Start with the dry milk.

Then add the plain creamer

and the yummy vanilla creamer

sweeten it up with the sugar

and the tea part, after all this is what it’s all about.

Time for the part that makes it Chai…spices…cinnamon

and ground cloves

cardamom (it’s expensive but worth it).  Don’t chastise me for having a “green top” McCormick spice,

I know it’s old but cardamom holds up well, and its expensive, so I’m not buying anymore till it’s gone.

A little side story here.  McGyver had to go to Kuwait on business and he wanted to bring me back perfume and spices.  He had a perfume custom blended and put into in exotic jar.

And then he bought me what he knew was really near and dear to my heart, something for the kitchen. 

One of the items was dried Ginger, it is great!  Grating it with my rasp makes quick work of it.  And unlike my “green top” McCormick spices, they really don’t expire.

For those of you who don’t have dried ginger hand carried from Kuwait, just add regular store bought ground ginger.

Soon my lovely, soon you will be mine.

Mix er up.

In a food processor or a blender, mix one cup at a time.

Tell me this doesn’t look like a witch’s brew.

Notice the difference between the two.

So this OCD puppy of ours has got to be between the legs whenever we stand still for even half a second.

don’t worry we don’t have just half a puppy, there is a back end also.

I told you I wanted to stay in my PJs all morning.  Yes I wear flannel jammies, it gets cold up north.

Back to our regularly scheduled program, store your Chai tea mix in an air tight container.  I like to use canning jars.  I have this little trick.

I use a piece of parchment paper as a funnel to fill my jars.

Well, it works mostly.  Seems like there is always a little mess.

It makes a great gift too!