Apple Chai

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2 quarts unsweetened apple juice (no sugar added)

meat of 2 shelled cardamom seeds, crushed into a powder in a mortar and pestal preferably by some very handsome, muscular, blond-haired, blue-eyed Swede, just come in from the field on a tractor (it's fine if he's a Norwegian)

¼ tsp each of the following:

powdered cinnamon

powdered Allspice

powdered ginger

powdered nutmeg

powdered cloves

scant amount of lemon pepper

½ TLBS Vanilla Extract

Heat apple juice over medium heat in large pot, stirring occasionally. Do not boil as this kills vitamin C. Add dry ingredients while stirring. Lastly, add Vanilla extract.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS: This is a good beverage any time of year when it's a bit cool out, especially on a winter evening by the fireplace. Great with “Spicy Ginger Cookies”.

FOODNOTES: I discovered this drink quite by accident when I intended to make Chai Tea and did not have powdered tea, so I used apple juice instead and was rather pleased with the results. It was a rather cold and brooding day in early June in the year 2012. After having spent a contented winter in the tropics we returned to a typically unpredictable summer lead-in back north. The temperature sank to an all-time low with a penetrating dampness that was enough to make one feel like the frozen subject of a still-life painting. It was this warm, “spicy” drink that brought me back into the motion picture of real life on that unseasonably cold June day.