Recipe for Happiness... and Chai Tea

My amazing friend, Laura Lavigne, founder of the Happiness Sprinkling Project, recently shared a recipe from her yoga friend Pam. Making homemade Chai Tea... what an aromatic scent to fill one's home with in the process of brewing a batch. Then again by a crackling fireplace breathing in and sipping a steaming cup of Chai while curled up reading a good book. This year, my favorite of the culinary books I read was Yes Chef,  a true story with a happy ending. If interested, check out a book I read this year that continues to have the greatest impact on my life and sustaining level of happiness.

And if not now but later, when you are back here at your computer with your second cup of Chai Tea in hand, please take time to watch and enjoy this delightful 16-minute video presentation"Go for Joy!: Laura Lavigne at TEDxSkagitValley."

Join Laura Lavigne along with a host of others around the country, and soon around the world, to be a Happiness Ambassador in your community! Gathering and making friends to sprinkle happiness wherever we go, now don't you think this is the best recipe for happiness there is?

"Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more." - H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Throat-Comfort Tea

While culling through a pile of paper scraps during a sorting frenzy today, I can across my recipe for a tea that I share with scratch-throated friends. If you're experiencing a sore throat, give this a try. I hope it's healing and comforting, speeding your recovery. Be well!

Ingredients:

1. Ginger, coarsely chopped*
   
2. Zest of 1 Lemon
   
3. 3 tablespoons of fresh-squeezed Lemon Juice
   
4. 1/4 cup of fresh Mint Leaves, chopped
5. 2-3 teaspoons of Honey
6. 1 teaspoon Echinacea - Goldenseal Extract

Directions:

• *Coarsely chop a four to six-inch slice of fresh ginger, depending on how strong you want the flavor of ginger.
  
• In a sauce pan, combine the chopped ginger, lemon zest and chopped mint with 6 cups of water. Cover and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes, with lid slightly ajar, until the tea has reduced to about 5 cups.
  
• Pour the tea through a fine strainer over a heat-proof bowl.
  
• Pour the tea from the bowl back into the sauce pan, add the fresh lemon juice and honey to taste.
• Simmer for 2 minutes. Place 1/4 teaspoon of the echinacea-goldenseal extract into each cup of tea. Pour tea and serve.