Winning Valentine's Day

I haven't historically been a big fan of Valentine's Day, since I've always felt like it's one of those holidays that was invented by greeting card companies and jewelry stores to move more product.[1] But this year, I decided to go big or go home. I got Mom one of those mushy greeting cards, then I doubled down and wrote her a love poem of my own and tucked it inside. In the weeks leading up to V Day, I made the Clementine Chocolate Lava Cakes three times and the Chai Spice Ganache Truffles to get the recipes down. Finally, I spent hours researching the right present: Mom recently switched from coffee to tea for her morning caffeination beverage of choice, and she's been especially keen on chai latte. And nothing tops off a chai latte like steamed milk with a big head of froth. So I did my homework and found a top-rated milk frother that steams and froths the milk and works especially well with almond milk.

After all that, Mom ditched me on V Day to fly down to Florida and spend the weekend with Cassie (which I knew going in, to be fair). Even so, I made another batch of the Chai Spice Ganache Truffles and sent them with Mom to share with Cassie. Talk about having "hand" in the relationship.

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[1] I have always been wrong in this feeling, as it turns out.

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This isn't really a recipe for chai latte so much as a method (and an excuse to brag about what an exemplary husband [and father] I am). If you want to make an authentic masala chai with milk, you first make your own spice mix (chai masala), then heat that up with tea, milk, water, and some sugar before straining everything into a cup or two. That's a little time consuming for a morning pre-work routine, but more importantly: no froth, which takes some of the fun out of it. So we've been using chai tea bags, which work just fine if you find a good brand (Trader Joe's comes through again!), even if a real tea connoisseur like Andi might be horrified.

Chai Latte

Time: 12 minutes

honey, maple syrup, or sugar to taste (optional)
1 Trader Joe's Spiced Chai (or other chai) tea bag
½ cup (120 grams/125 ml) milk or nondairy milk (we use unsweetened almond milk)

    1. Put a kettle of water on to boil. Set a kitchen timer for 3 minutes, but don't start it yet.
    2. Get out your favorite mug. Add whatever kind and amount of sweetener, if any, you like. Place the teabag on top of the sweetener.
    3. Measure out the milk for frothing.
    4. When the water boils, fill the mug halfway. Start the timer.
    5. When the timer rings, froth the milk.
    6. When the milk is ready, stir the tea, then remove the tea bag. Pour in the frothed milk. Enjoy your moment of Zen. (Note: Mom sprinkles some ground cinnamon on top of her froth to really gild the lily.)