My friend showed me this a little while ago, and i kind of love it.
Good morning…
There are tons of recipes out there for making your own chai. And it really is very simple.I love chai in the mornings to give me a little boost, but it can be made with decaffeinated tea as well. The best part: you can experiment and try different spices and ratios until you find one you really like. My favorite so far is as follows
5 cardamom pods
4 cloves
3 black peppercorns
a pinch of fennel seeds
1/2 a cinnamon stick
3ish slices peeled fresh ginger
2 black tea bags
a pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
Then just through them all in a pot or my personal favorite a large liquid measuring cup and cover with 3.5-4 cups of HOT water, then let is steep. I like to add a table spoon or two of honey while the water was still warm and then make my self a latte with some soy milk. Also I usually leave the black tea in the tea bags so that i can take them out before it gets bitter but leave the spices, because I like my chai on the spicy side, but don’t want to add too many spices every time I make tea. Experiment to find your own favorite mix. Enjoy.
There are many things we learn from our friends, form our families, and even from ourselves. This could become a very deep post about experiences and teachings, weather intentional or unintentional, but it’s not. I’ve just been trying to teach myself Portuguese.
I have found it not to be particularly easy, but also not too hard. I have to confess that I have taken 4.5 years of Spanish which most certainly makes it easier. I’ve been teaching myself online via a livemocha.com. This program is really interesting because you start by learning the material, then review it, and finally submit a short speaking and writing exercises to be reviewed by native speakers. my inspiration to look for a way to teach myself was my capoeira class, because mestre sometimes speaks in Portuguese and I would really like to understand him with out someone translating. I’m really really proud of myself for sticking with it though. At first I was using youtube, but there I got no feed back, so it is really nice to see how I am doing. I personally also love languages so I find learning new ones is a really rewarding experience. And of course it is lots of fun. Teaching your self also allows you to pace yourself however fast of slow you want. I totally recommend trying to teach your self something new, it can be anything from a craft to sport to a new language.
Sort of. I realized i have not posted in months and barley coked anything new or exciting in that time. BUT i have also come to the realization that i am a very happy person and that i miss blogging. So i seem to have very little focus, not just for smiling is free, but also in my life. And that is okay! I’m 16, and that means i have time to figure it out. SO i understand that this blog is going to change and that means followers might choose to stop following or reading. Essentially what i hope to do (and i am going try to persist with this!) is to blog more frequently with little updates on me and messages i feel i need to share.
Quick custom cereal
I just used plain rolled oats the covered with a small handfull of almonds, some coconut flakes, some dried cranberries, and soem frozen blue berries, Then poured soem rice milk over it and drizzles soem honey to top it off. It was delicious.
I finally got a chance to go out to occupy Boston, and I’m so glad I did. I went with my dad and we saw Noam Chomsky speak and then marched through Boston. I loved it so very very much, and if nothing else it is definitely an experience. I understand that protests like this are not everyone’s thing, and I understand that many would not have enjoyed it, but I think if your curious and you get the chance just to go check it out (or any other occupy protests) and peek around I would recommend you try to get the experience for yourself.
Pumpkin Spice Muffins
This is my modified version of a recipe from http://annies-eats.com/. My version is simplified a touch, but please check out her blog and her version of these muffins.
filling:
- 8oz. cream cheese
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
Blend sugar ans cream cheese until smooth. Then place of plastic wrap and form a log, about 1.5 inches thick. Smooth plastic wrap tightly around log and place in freezer for about 2 hours to let in firm up.
muffin:
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1tsp ground cinnamon
- 1tsp ground nutmeg
- 1tsp ground cloves
- 1tbsp + 1tsp pumpkin spice
- 1tsp salt
- 1tsp baking soda
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups pumpkin puree
- 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
Combine flour, spices, salt and baking soda. Combine eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree, and oil in a medium bowl or electric mixer. Slowly add dry mixture to the wets until just combined.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line muffin pans with paper liners. Fill muffin pans with a few tablespoons of batter. Add a slice of cream cheese log, then cover with batter. Bake for 20 - 25 minuets. Let cool before serving.
If you live in the Boston area and have some time this weekend you might like to check out Honk fest. You can take the T to Davis sq. and come check out all the really cool activist bands that come in from around the world and perform outdoors around Davis sq., Somerville, ma for free! I have been a few times in years before and it has always been great fun. For more information: http://honkfest.org/
