Welcome to Life on the brink, a lovely little place filled with inspiration and creativity that is dedicated to enjoying life one day at a time. I'm Ana. And together, we're exploring the beautiful things in this world that fascinate us. And often discovering something new. Hello, hello, good morning, and welcome to episode 70 of life on the brink, or good afternoon or evening, wherever you're listening to this, it's morning for me. And it is a crisp fall day, I hope that you are enjoying your October. It's a very special time. And we are returning to our autumnal love this week. Last week, we had a bit of a detour, looking ahead to Christmas, which honestly was so fun. And if you listened to that episode, then you'll know I decided to sort of have a weekly brainstorm and get very Christmassy and I've done so and it was lovely. I put on a that background music and I had a like Christmas tree scented candle. I know it's like a fire or something. And I had a cup of tea and for like maybe 45 minutes, it was very Christmassy and I loved it. And then you know, turn that off, put that away, I'll come back to it. And I was a little bit productive, even on top of the fun. So if you are partaking at all in the Christmas brainstorming, let me know, let me know how it's going. Because I think it's so fun. But now we're back to fall. And today I am going to be sharing some very cozy fall drink some very autumnal flavors that are beyond just the pumpkin spice latte, which you know if that's your thing, more power to you. But these are some different will surprise they're pretty much all tea based. And also some very different kinds of drinks that I would really love to try this fall. So I'm going to be sharing three recipes that I have developed or have adapted. And then a couple more ideas of things that I haven't tried yet, but would like to this fall, and some other little ideas for how to infuse fall flavors into your kitchen or into your morning cup of tea or coffee. So on that note, go ahead and make yourself a nice cup of tea. I'm actually having some of this ginger tea that I'm going to explain in a little bit. And oh my goodness, it's so good. I won't spoil it. We'll talk about it in a minute. But go ahead and make yourself a cup of something hot or iced depending on you know your weather right now. And we will get started. I personally love it when cafes or different shops will make drinks that I've never heard of, or flavor combinations that I haven't tried yet. So that's a little bit what I'm exploring with this episode. Also, if you're interested, a while back, it was on episode 19. It was all about tea lattes, which focused on I think the big three which are London vog, Chai, and matcha. And that was so nice. And I have developed sort of what I do with those over time. And so today, I'm actually going to share my adapted chai latte recipe, because the one that I shared in the previous episode was a recipe of a friend of a friend. And it was more of closer to a traditional Indian preparation, but I have adapted it for what I think is lovely, namely the addition of cinnamon. And I also tend to make it for like just one person. So this iteration of the recipe is just for one serving. And all of these, by the way will be in the show notes. It'll be on the blog, I have everything written out ingredients and method. And so this is how I make my Chai, okay, this is a masala chai latte. But before we get into it as an aside, like the finding a tea latte, going to a cafe and finding out that they make it themselves you can taste the difference mostly in the ginger. And as you'll soon see in this episode, I have big love for ginger. But it's so warming and so nice for your body. It's a good anti inflammatory and it's got a lot of antioxidants and it can help ease both nausea and cramps and other things like that. So I think that it's just A powerhouse of a food to have, especially during the fall. And if you'd like to sort of explore that and other spices, their health benefits a little bit more. Also, I just want to shout out a previous episode 41, which I did last fall, which was about spices and fall flavors. So cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, all those things that I'm going to mention today, I do sort of go in detail as to their health benefits in that episode. But anyway, ginger, the ginger, and the use of cardamom is like the essence of chai for me. So my recipe begins with about one and a half cups of almond milk or your milk of choice. Now, I usually make this just to you know, you can measure it with your mug. But keep in mind that you will lose some of the liquid because as the spices absorb things, you're just not going to get every drop. So if you overshoot it, that's better than undershooting it. So it's about a cup and a half or so of I like almond milk. I like the consistency of it. But you could also use regular milk. And if that's too thick, you could also do one part milk, one part water, and then you need to break out a little bit of tools for this. So if you have a mortar and pestle, that's going to come in handy. I take about a one inch piece of ginger, fresh ginger, and six cardamom pods. So I have found the greatest luck sourcing cardamom at my local international market. But I've also seen it at like the spice and tea exchange or places that specifically source whole spices. And they're usually like a dull green color. That's what you're looking for. So first, I will put the ginger in the modern puzzle and just pound it out. If you don't have one, I would just chop it up really. And then once the ginger is pretty broken up, and you can probably really smell it at that point. I'll put the cardamom pods in. And then also break those up just so that the seeds inside the pods are exposed. So again, if you don't have a mortar and pestle, I you could put the pods in a ziplock and sort of pound it with something you could probably just like smash a jar or a can onto the pod, they break pretty easily I find, but it is definitely made easier using the mortar and pestle, which I think is a great tool to have. So might be worth investing in. And so once you have those, I will add those well let's see when when we backup I heat up the almond milk on the stove in a small pot over like medium heat. And once it's warm once it comes to a light boil, I put in the cardamom and the ginger straight into it along with three whole cloves, you don't need to break those up, you can just put that in there and then I put a whole cinnamon stick in as well. And then the next part is very optional, but I also like to add in a few peppercorns, maybe three to four whole black peppercorns, because I like it spicy. And then just go ahead and let that sit in the simmering milk, I would bring it bring the heat back down to low at that point. And just let those spices sit for a while. And then after about five minutes or so you can add in your tea. So I have like a huge container of black tea bags, and I will just put one in there or maybe two if I want it really strong. But if you're using loose leaf, which is a lovely option, I would put in about one tablespoon of loose leaf black tea, and you can just throw it right in the pot because you're gonna have to strain everything anyway. Or if you are wanting to make a caffeine free, you could also do a like a warm or a roasted ribose tea. Or honestly, you could just omit that it would not taste like tea but you would have basically in herbal tea at that point. But the black tea really just it brings it to the next level. And then at that point you can turn the heat off and let the tea steep with the spices for another three to four minutes or however long that that particular T should steep for it usually says on the package. I usually go maybe four to five minutes because I like it really strong. But you don't want to over steep it so it gets better. So just take a look at which t you're using and then I usually like to get the bigger pieces of ginger and like the cinnamon stick just sort of use a fork. Take them out, but then you can strain it over your mug. So all of the tea and all the spices and stuff are Now out of your drink, and then you can sweeten it however you would like whether with honey, or you know, whatever you choose, I think honey would be a nice flavor complement. But that's up to you. And then of course, I like a little bit of ground cinnamon for dusting on top. Now, there's a couple of variations you can do, obviously, one is, I like to strain you know, strain the mixture into a mug, but then to take part of that strained latte and put it into my milk frother so I will leave a link I've talked about it before, but I have a milk frother by the company Marocco and I love it. Now it also will heat milk, it will froth milk, it will froth cold froth hot. And it's lovely. And there's a fill line that you can go up to two for the frothing level. And so just put in some of the chai latte straight into the frother and then just it will foam it up and I'll just put that foamy portion of the milk on top just to give it that little extra Cafe vibe and then put the cinnamon on top and it is it's spicy, and it's warm and sweet. And just like a hug, I love it. Also, if you've ever heard of golden milk, that all has to do with turmeric, which is also really good anti inflammatory and all that kind of stuff. But if you ever see the term golden Chai, it's just a chai latte with turmeric added and it definitely takes on a very golden color. So if you're able to source fresh turmeric, it looks a lot like ginger and you could just, you know, pound it out with the ginger or most of us probably have ground turmeric. And so I would just put a sprinkle or so maybe about an up to a teaspoon of ground turmeric into the tea mixture while it's still on the stove so you can mix it in really well. And it will definitely take on a bit of an earthier flavor, but also really super yummy and I think turmeric and cinnamon go really well together. And that is my Masala Chai. That's what I make at home. And it feels really special, especially when I make it for someone else to get out the mortar and pestle and like feel like I'm making something really special. And I know it's a lot of steps. It's more steps than just using a chai tea bag. But the flavor is incomparable like they are it is so much better. And ultimately cheaper than getting one from a cafe. You know you can it's all in the balance right? But if you're at home might as well write. It's trust me it's delicious. Alrighty, so let's move on. This is the second drink that I have developed. I will give credit because the main idea comes from my friend Caroline, you will recall Caroline from a couple years ago, we were talking together about Christmas traditions. While she sent me a voice note a couple of weeks ago and was like you're the only person who's going to appreciate this all the way but I did this thing with the tea and so it was great. And I have since tried it and added a little bit here and there and just refined the measurements and I'm gonna share it with you because I've been talking a lot about maple since I've come back from Canada you may recall, I am embracing the flavor of maple and really loving it this fall. So this particular latte incorporates the Trader Joe's harvest blend herbal tea, which I know not everyone has access to that tea or to Trader Joe's. So I would just replace it with your favorite herbal autumn tea and I think especially ones that have apple and cinnamon in them. I know for a couple years I would go to Lidl every year if you're near Lidl, and they had their own brand of an apple cinnamon tea and it's kind of comfortable. It's not as good as a trader joe's one, but you can use whatever autumnal spice herbal tea you'd like it will definitely work. So I'm calling this Maple Harvest tea latte. And you basically just brew about one cup of this herbal tea, you can choose which one you like, and let it steep for a while. And the reason that I'm saying using herbal tea is because it's very unlikely that it'll get bitter. Usually that comes from black teas and the oxidation that you know the process that it goes through. It can get bitter very quickly. But you want a very strong tea flavor to stand up to the milk that we're going to have later. So I would steep your herbal tea for five, six, whatever while you're Can breakfast just leave it in there in your hot water. And like I said, you can do about a cups worth don't fill up your mug all the way to the top, do like maybe two thirds. And then we're going to top it with foamy milk. So I know some people enjoy the sort of hand whisk style milk foamers. And that'll work too, you just want to heat up some either some whole milk or I also like almond milk, or this, or even some half and half, and you want to warm it. If your frother does not have a heating component, and you're going to froth together, this warm milk with about one tablespoon of maple syrup, pure maple syrup, and one half teaspoon a half teaspoon of either vanilla extract or take it to the next level. Well actually, if you're using extract, I would use maybe about a quarter teaspoon of vanilla extract. So it doesn't overpower. But I have vanilla bean paste. I talked about it all the time. I think that it is worth it. Especially in contexts like this where there's not a lot of ingredients, there's not a lot of heating, that will dull the flavor. And it just makes it that much more yummy. So I add about a half teaspoon of vanilla bean paste to the milk along with the maple syrup. And then you froth it up and you put it on top of your very strong herbal tea. And then of course you top it with cinnamon. Oh my gosh how good this is because especially if your tea involves a flavor of apple and cinnamon that goes so well with the maple and then that warm vanilla flavor underneath it. Oh, it's it's really really nice. And it's not as complex as the chai latte. You just brewing your tea real strong. And then you're frothing your milk with maple and vanilla, the end. But it tastes and feels very complex. I should have said I mean you do I would remove the tea bag before you put the frothy milk like I assume you would do that. But I don't know I didn't say it. So remove the tea bag before you put the milk on top. Okay, moving on. Let's talk about this spicy ginger tea. So quick storytime this past weekend I went with my mom to the Richmond Folk Festival, which if you're in Virginia, very cool thing. And I had gone last year for the first time. And there's a particular vendor that is from a restaurant so if you're also ever in Richmond the restaurant is called African on Main. And the there's a I guess a woman the the booth was called mamma Soo and it was all of this like West African food and it was so good. But honestly, the highlight for me was this tea and I remembered it from last year. I got it again and it was just as good. So I said I have to recreate this because it was so spicy. And even though it was very sweet there was still like this very forward. Very sharp taste to it that I interpreted to be citrus, a bit of acid. And so I said I'm gonna make this I'm gonna figure this out and I did I came home and I made I think a pretty good replicate. I didn't use any refined sugar, so it wasn't gonna taste exactly the same. But what's nice about this drink is that it's good hot or iced. I actually prefer IT Iced I'm actually drinking it iced today because I love the contrast between the cold temperature and the spicy ginger. And again, this is great if you have a mortar and pestle but if not, you can always chop up your ginger. I would recommend using basically a whole hand of ginger. A hand is just like the whole piece of it. You know, usually we take about like a one inch piece, but the ginger rhizome will grow to you know, it's it will fit into most people's hands, but it's a nice big piece. Of course, you can adjust it over time as you make this to how spicy you like it. But I use a bunch of ginger. So just put it in your mortar and pestle pound it up just get all of those just every portion of it open so that the the inside of the ginger is exposed to your liquid eventually. And this makes more than one serving. I did like one big picture at a time. So in a pot, you want to put about five cups. Of course you can add more if you have a vessel that will hold it but my chilling picture that's resealable will hold about five cups. So that's how much I made it with and I think it makes a really nice, medium amount usually three to four to five servings. So five cups of water bring it to Have a boil and then turn the heat off. I then put the ginger like the whole hand of it that is all chopped or pounded up. Put that in the hot water along with five black tea bags, or four to five tablespoons of loose leaf black tea. And I think it's a good idea once your water has come to a boil to bring it off of the heat, and then let it sit for like maybe 30 to 60 seconds so that you don't there's no bitterness brought out by the scalding temperature of the water from the tea. So add your ginger, add your tea and steep it for about four to five minutes. Again, you can go based on the packaging of your tea, but I did mine for five minutes and I liked the intensity of it. After that time, just take out the black tea but leave the ginger. Leave that in there. And then as it cools down, it's just gonna get a stronger and stronger flavor. But while the tea was still warm, but not scalding hot, I added in two and a half tablespoons of honey. So my math for this was for however many cups of water. However many cups of tea you're making use half as many tablespoons of honey. So it was five cups of water. So two and a half tablespoons of honey. Of course, you could do all honey, and just do like maybe five tablespoons and experiment with that. But I wanted to do a combination of honey, and I used sucralose based sweetener. But you could also do a mix of honey and raw sugar or honey and maybe stevia, just so that there's as natural and mellow tasting a sweetness as possible. So stir that up in there, and then let the tea come to room temperature with the ginger still in it. And then once it's cool, and you just remove the ginger and strain it into your vessel, you could serve it immediately or pour it into a big jar. Or like I said I have a resealable pitcher. So I strained it into the pitcher. And it's like a really thick, almost like, you know how Apple Cider looks just like it's got a lot of stuff in it. It's not just apple juice, you can't see through it, it looks like that. And then for the final touch, I added the juice of two lemons after you've already strained everything and sweetened it. And you mix all that in and that lemon just brings out the flavor of the ginger that much more. It's very spicy. It's very delicious. And like I said, it's good hot or iced. So that's that those are my three recipes that I've developed this fall. But I also want to shout out there's a couple things that I want to try this year. And the the main one is fire cider. So I heard about fire cider last year when I was researching spices for that other episode I mentioned and I actually got to try some fire cider this past weekend at the farmers market. There's a local kombucha vendor and they had some that you could taste and I was anticipating it to be gross, but it wasn't. So what fireside are is is basically an infused vinegar. It's apple cider vinegar that you infuse over a couple weeks with a lot of different things that have health benefits. But they it's not a sweet drink really. Okay, so the main ingredients that are always going to be in fire cider, as I've researched and looked at many different recipes, onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric, honey at the end, hot peppers, horseradish, and usually some herbs. Oh and usually some lemon or citrus. So I'm going to link a really great article and recipe from the herbal Academy in the show notes but there's indeed it calls for red onion, garlic, lemon, ginger, turmeric, horseradish, thyme, black pepper, cayenne or jalapeno, and then honey, and then raw unpasteurized apple cider vinegar. Now I hear you That does not sound delicious, but this isn't meant to be sipped or savored necessarily. Most people will take it as a shot during the cold and flu season basically, and it is so good for defending against those pathogens. It's also a really good decongestant and it can stimulate digestion and help circulation. It basically just has a lot of good stuff in it. And so people will take like, maybe a tablespoon or so. And like I said, I tried some this past weekend, and I expected it to be terrible, just that combination of stuff. But it wasn't. I definitely had to get into like a cold soup, Bloody Mary gazpacho type of mindset. It didn't taste like any of those things, but it is definitely savory. And it's very spicy, which I love the spicy part. And it was actually pretty yummy. Apparently, you can also make it into salad dressings and cook with it. But like I said, most people will just sort of take it as a tonic. So I'm very excited. I'm already searching for a humungous jar, and I will be sourcing some raw, unpasteurized or whatever the requirements were for the apple cider vinegar, because, you know, this is my Autumn of apothecary lifestyle. She's trying to grow a garden, she's trying to be an herbalist. And this is I'm well on my way with this. And so if you are interested, like I said, there's an article in the show notes, and it explains it really breaks it down. There's also a great video in their article that explains exactly how to make it and what all of the benefits and the medicinal properties are. I'm excited about it. Trust me, it does not like it tastes pretty good. I liked it. Then I just also want to shout out a couple of cocktails that I will be making this year. One is of course by half baked harvest because this is her time and I'm obsessed with her. And it is her ginger Apple moscow mule, which actually uses apple butter. And along with like apple cider, and it sounds amazing and very simple to make. And then also there's a recipe from inspired by charm, I'm leaving the links to these, you know, as usual, and it is a cider and maple old fashion. So my parents have been really on old fashions this year. And so I'm, I'm excited to maybe try and make this for them. And I don't know if I'm an old fashion person yet, but I feel like this would be a good gateway. But is it it's made of as you would guess bourbon, maple syrup, apple cider, orange bitters, and then they garnish with cinnamon sticks. And so I am really looking forward to spicy cocktails, Apple and gingery cocktails. And I feel like it would be great for any Halloween or autumnal gathering. So I'll leave links to those in the show notes, of course. And then I've just been brainstorming like what else can you do to make cool autumn drinks. One of those things is to incorporate apple butter or pumpkin butter, you know, because it's already sweet. It's already very autonomy and I feel like it would easily be incorporated into many teas or drinks, as well as baked goods. Also, let's not forget about simple syrups right, which you can infuse with pretty much any flavor. So traditionally simple syrups are made with equal parts sugar and water you just dissolve the sugar and then you can throw in say cinnamon sticks or all of those Chai spices you know, let it sit in the sugar water and then it'll cool and then you have a chai syrup or cinnamon syrup. I have also made simple syrups with honey and that is delicious as well. And then I have if you ever use actual vanilla beans, which I have on occasion, don't throw the bean away or don't throw the pod away once you use all the little tiny seeds, because you can infuse things even with just the empty pod such as sugar, or perhaps brown sugar. So that as you're making some of these autumn, even that would be great with oatmeal and stuff like that, where you have vanilla infused sugars that you can use and vanilla bean just has such a warmth just that it adds such a delicious warmth to it. So those are just some other ideas so that you can get creative and make some drinks of your own inspiration this autumn. Again, feel free to check out all the recipes of mine and of others and I'll have links to the milk frother and all of that sort of thing in the show notes which are at life on the brink dot live. And with that I will be back with this week's little joy which is a very nice accompaniment to a warm autumn drink so this week's little joy is a recipe because I made it for the first time this past week after having saved this recipe For a while now I'm sure I must have mentioned at this point, my love for Karolina gellan when in case I haven't, she is a recipe developer for food 52. But she also has a website and newsletter of her own. And her cooking is so precise, but without being fussy, and I love those two things together. And I made I've made many recipes of hers. But this past weekend, I made her brown butter, espresso chocolate chip cookies, of course, the link is in the blog. And brown browning the butter is it takes everything to a next level. And I also followed the recipe in metric measurements, which I don't usually do. But I wanted it to be very precise because I made them for Josh's birthday. But it has espresso powder, or I used instant coffee in the cookie dough and I got really dark chocolate chocolate chips like 72%. And I used of course vanilla bean paste, and oh my gosh, the depth of flavor on these cookies, I feel like they would have been better of course, if we had eaten them like right out of the oven. But oh, you sprinkle a little salt on top. And she recommends dunking them in coffee. Although I think that they're also great with when it would be great next to a chai. They were so good. And it sounds maybe intimidating as I'm talking about it. But it really was not a lot of steps. And she also has a video of her making the same cookies on her Instagram. So check it out, it is one of the best and definitely the most unique chocolate chip cookie I've ever made. And I will definitely make it again. And finally, actually, I was listening to this album while I was making some cookies, because it just had such a cozy, old tiny autumn vibe for me. And the album that I'm going to recommend this week is called Bing, and Rosie the Crosby Clooney radio sessions. So of course, we're talking about Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney. And these radio sessions, I will say you just have to be aware they do multiple takes of the same songs. So there will be version one, version two, and so on. But I kind of like that because you can hear the different improvisations that they did each time. And it just feels very real. And I love their dynamic together. And of course, their voices together just gorgeous. And as a plus, it is sort of getting me excited to watch White Christmas, eventually. But in this album, they're just singing jazz standards and really cute songs that I have never heard before. So I'm going to link that album in the show notes, of course. Or you can check it out wherever you listen to music. And then before I go, I want to share a lovely review over on Apple podcasts if you haven't yet. It is just it makes my day when I see a new review. I'm going to read this one because it's just so sweet. It's from Mac 655 Hello, Mac. The title of it is Wow, exclamation mark. I love it five stars. This podcast brings me so much joy. I listen every day on my way to work. And I feel like it just starts my day off on the right note. Ana is amazing. And I love listening to such a positive and uplifting podcast. Oh my gosh, I love it. Thank you so much, Max six by five. That was it. It makes my day and I love that you also explained you know how this podcast makes you feel because any other potential listeners that are like what is this about? will know what they're in store for, which is hopefully an uplifting and positive and inspiring podcast. Oh, thank you so so much. And thank you to everyone who has already left a review or even just a star rating on Apple podcasts. It means the world because it you know, I'm recording this I'm in my house. And sometimes people that I know, you know beyond just my mom will will reach out to me and say, Hey, I really liked your podcast. But otherwise I don't really know you know if someone is enjoying this, but little encouragement like that, it lets me know there's feedback now. And that's just so encouraging to me. And I just want to say thank you to this community that reaches out and is sweet and is encouraging to each other and to me, so that's a bonus little joy for myself. All right, well, thank you so much for listening, everyone. Enjoy your spooky season and have a cup of tea. I'll see you next week. Thank you for tuning into this Episode of Life on the brink. If you're enjoying these episodes, please feel free to leave a star rating or even better leave a review on Apple podcasts to help spread the word. For podcast show notes and extra inspirational posts throughout the week, head to the blog at life on the brink dot live. And if you'd like a little extra dose of inspiration in your life, sign up for the monthly newsletter, which lights up your inbox the first Friday of each month. Thank you so much for listening. And until next time, friends, you have a lovely week. Bye