The saving grace of chai

Maya rarely has a lunchtime nap these days but if she does, boy is she in a bad mood. This afternoon when she woke up she howled and I mean howled inconsolably for close to half an hour. All she wanted was daddy. I tried reading her stories (she chucked the books in the opposite direction), I tried a good old cuddle (she kicked me) and I even tried giving her biscuits for heavens sake but no, she didn't want them. She just wanted daddy. I looked at the time and realised we had at least another two hours before the haloed daddy would appear. Despairingly I scratched my head and muttered to myself that I was going to make a chai. The howling suddenly subsided and she peered up at me through her tear-dampened curls. 'Chai?' she asked. 'Yes, Maya chai.' She jumped up from the sofa. 'Oooh, can I help you?' Amazing. Absolutely amazing.

So, I went and fetched the chai box of magic ingredients and we sat on the floor and put it all into the pot. I can't vouch that this is the authentic Indian chai, but this is the one we drink and it's YUM.

Maya's Magic Recipe for Mood-Enhancing Chai
(Serves 2)

Take about 6 cardamom pods
about 6 cloves
Half an inch of fresh ginger chopped up (or powder will do)
A little bit of cinnamon bark (or powder)
A bog standard tea bag
One cup of milk & one of water
As much sugar as your stomach/teeth can take

Put it all in a pot and bring it to the boil.
Simmer for about 10-15 minutes then turn off the heat and let it sit for a while to let the yummy flavours infuse.

De-lish.

ps - the photo above was not taken this afternoon during the chai episode, it's just Maya a few days ago doing her best woe-is-me forlorn face. I think if I'd tried to take a picture of her this afternoon she would've bit me.