My Morning Ritual

this is my post for the november blog party. be sure to check out all the great posts as there are quite a lot of delicious and eye opening recipes!

during the late spring, summer and fall, my breakfast beverage generally consists of wandering around in the garden and picking a handful of whatever speaks to me. but once winter takes over, i must turn to my shelves for that morning cup. generally, i will do a combination of dried herbs or grab some mate or green tea. but when i want a real treat, i reach for the roasted root chai.

i can never make enough of this ahead of time to store for the winter! seems i'm always searching out more roots to keep myself stocked so i can blend a quart at a time...i should probably blend a half gallon! kids and adults alike gulp it down and request more, every time! this recipe will make about a quart of pre-mixed chai. this chai is caffeine free but you could add some green tea if you'd like a blast of caffeine.

roasted root chai
2 cups mixture: roasted dandelion roots, roasted chicory roots
6 Tbsp. fennel seeds
6 Tbsp. anise seeds
6 Tbsp. cardamom pods, gently broken up
6 Tbsp. whole cloves
4 Tbsp. dried ginger root
2 Tbsp. largely grated nutmeg (i buy it whole and use a cheese grater to grate it for this project instead of using the finer holed nutmeg grater)
3 - 4 tsp. black peppercorns
24 bay leaves, broken up
14 cinnamon sticks, broken up (a mortar and pestle works well for this)

blend the mixture in a bowl and pour into a quart jar to store.
to use, add 1 Tbsp. chai mix per cup water. simmer for 5 minutes then let steep for another 15 minutes.
add 1 Tbsp honey per cup and 2 Tbsp per cup of water. Stir, pour and serve!