The winter of our despair

Those of you who live in warmer parts of the world are missing the shitstorm of snow that's still blowing through these parts.

We now have well over a foot of snow...I'd say closer to two feet when you take both storms into account. It's still snowing and it's supposed to continue through the night.

The last few winters came and went with a very small snowy footprint, but this year, well, it'll be a white Christmas, that's all I'll say about it. Wow. It's incredibly pretty, and I'm wishing I took some pictures along the way to chart the progress. I'll take some "after" shots tomorrow morning. That is, if I can get out of bed. I'm anticipating being very, very sore.

Mike came over for most of the day and seeing as how we were snowed in, we took it upon ourselves to be creative. Actually, that's a lie. We wasted most of the day playing Wii. Ben gave me an early Christmas present in the form of Wii Playground and after about eight hours of playing we have the game more than half-way complete. Fun stuff. I feel somewhat gross about spending so much time in front of the television lately. I'm not a video game kind of girl...I never have been. Wii, though...I can't step away for a second.

Also, we made some homemade chai that was to die for. We cheated in a way by using chai teabags, but someday I'll purchase some cardamom pods and make legitimate homemade chai. What we created, though, was amazing and I'm posting the recipe here so everyone can make some of this warm, snuggly goodness. Ben even had some, despite its lack of caffeine, and he loved it.

Here you go:

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 cups milk

1 teaspoon of apple pie spice (or nutmeg, allspice and cinnamon)

1 tablespoon of good quality vanilla **note the Barefoot Contessa jargon**

1 tablespoon of honey

4 chai teabags

2 teaspoons of brown sugar (light or dark)

Mix it all in a small pot over medium heat until sugar and honey is melted and mixture is just about to boil. Keep stirring. Be careful NOT to boil this, though, because you don't want to scald the milk. We poured it through a strainer into the mugs because you get a lot of sediment on the bottom of the pot.

Mmmmm, this was so good. I'm a purist when it comes to chai. Most chain coffee places, and even a lot of the snooty cafe's now sell the chai mix that comes in a carton. It's so incredibly sweet and syrupy that I just can't take it. I don't think chai should be overly sweet, in my humble opinion, so this recipe makes a batch that has a sweetness to it that's not overwhelming.

All in all it was a decent weekend. I'm getting back into sewing tomorrow as I've been slipping more and more these days. My mom has commissioned me to make a few totes for gifts for her friends, and I think I'll just cut a dozen or so bags and whip them all out in one shot.

After that, I'm going to order my paper bags, boxes and tissue for the shop and then it's time to order inventory, baby. The part I've been waiting for for a looooong time now.