Happy Autumn!

This is the best time of year to live in Oklahoma. The mornings and evenings are crisp, just a slight chill to the air. The afternoons are arm enough to shed the light jacket you may have donned upon your departure in the morning. The leaves that haven't made their way to the ground just yet are bursting out in gorgeous hues of red and orange and gold. Some evenings, you may even be lucky enough to catch the lingering scent of someones fireplace, roaring with fire inside their home. It's the perfect time of year to sit out on your front porch with a mug of hot chai tea and chat with an elderly neighbor on a Saturday morning. Or you can have an iced chai after spending the afternoon raking leaves and watching little kids jump into the piles, scattering those reds and golds to the wind.

I've got an obsession with chai tea, and when I found out that I could make my own concentrate and suit to my own tastes, I was nigh on ecstatic. It's been my go to drink any time I've found myself at a Starschmucks, but I just hated how expensive it was and how sweet and mild it always seemed. Chai shouldn't be mild, and it certainly shouldn't taste like syrup. Don't get me wrong, I love a sweet chai, but I don't want to feel like I just drank the equivalent of a pound of sugar. Gross.

What I love most about this recipe (another I found via Pinterest) is it's easy to customize to your own tastes. It does take a little work to get everything together, and the ingredients can get pricey if you don't already have most on hand already. I was lucky and only needed to buy one of the ingredients since I generally try to keep a well stocked spice cabinet (yes, I have one cabinet saved just for spices; don't judge me). And since this was my third time making this particular recipe, I've been able to really fine-tune it to my own tastes (that one ingredient I bought, anise, has been the biggest waste of my money since I absolutely loath black licorice). Feel free to play around with it if you give it a try. I tend to make mine a little spicier with only a touch of sweetness to balance it out.

Chai Tea Concentrate
Recipe by A Wooden Nest, adapted by me

4 1/2 cups water

2 stick cinnamon

1 3-inch piece of fresh ginger, chopped (unfortunately, I had to use ground ginger; it's fine, just not as strong)

15 whole cardamom pods

1 whole star anise pods

20 whole cloves

1/2 Tbl freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

Orange zest from a medium sized orange

10 bags of black tea (I love a good English afternoon tea, but feel free to use your favorite black tea)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon vanilla

1. Pull out all of the spices and tea, and set aside. Bring the water to a boil, and remove from heat. Add the spices and the tea bags, and allow the mixture to steep for 15 minutes.
2. Strain the mixture into a 4-cup glass measuring cup or large bowl using a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth, discarding the spices. Add the sugar, honey and the vanilla, and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Pour the mixture into a jar and store in the refrigerator (this should keep for about 2 weeks).
3. To serve, mix 2 parts concentrate with 1 part milk. Enjoy hot or cold (either heat the mixture on the stove top in a pot or place your mug with the mixture in the microwave and heat until steaming hot).

Happy New Year's Eve!

I've got a special present for the few of you that don't have a party to go to either. I made Earl Grey Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Frosting...YUMMY!!!

For Christmas this past year, my wonderful godmother got me the most awesome present ever: a cookbook from TasteBook. The site offers pre-made books that can be added to or completely personalized. Imagine my surprise when my book included 53 recipes and had the option of adding an additional 47 reccipes that I could get off of the site (sweet Erin, the fairy godmother, paid a bit extra just so I could add to the amazing recipes she already picked out for me).

It took me a couple of nights to pick out the recipes I wanted to add on to my existing book, but when I came across this cupcake recipe, I knew it was love at first sight. I wasn't wrong either. Two picky teenagers and two grown men devoured them and begged for more. The lemon buttercream frosting could have been a bit better if I had had fresh lemons to use the zest and juice. Next time I'll use the fresh lemons and loose-leaf tea leaves. Enjoy my lovely readers!

Earl Grey Cupcakes w/ Lemon Buttercream Frosting

Recipe from TasteBook

Cupcakes

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

3 cups self-rising flour

1 cup milk

2 bags or 2 tablespoons earl grey tea

Lemon Buttercream

1 cup unsalted butter

4 cups powdered sugar

zest of 1 lemon

3 tablespoons lemon juice

For the Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350, fill 2 cupcake pans with paper liners or grease well. In a bowl , beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and cream the butter with the sugar until it is light and fluffy.
2. Add the eggs one at a time, beating each egg very well so that it is thoroughly combined before adding the next. Add the flour and milk in three parts, alternating between the two. Cut open the tea bags and stir in until just combined.
3. Fill the cupcake pans ⅔ full. Bake 20-25 minutes, rotating the plans halfway through to ensure even baking. Cool thoroughly before frosting

For the Frosting:

1. Cream the butter until smooth, gradually beat in the powdered sugar until the mixture is very fuluffy. Zest the lemon over the bowl into the fronsting, add the lemoln juice, stir until smooth. Spread or pipe the frosting on cooled cupcakes.