A typical (week)day at the waffle house...**

(**Now with Chai Recipe**)

Mrs G. at Derfwad Manor is having a post-in* today.

*This is something like a pot luck for blog readers.

It's pretty easy to predict a Wafflehouse weekday, whereas weekends are a smorgasbord of chaos, kung fu and laundry. 12:00 AM-5:25 AM -

(Thanks, Lee, for this pic)

5:30 AM - alarm goes off
5:39 AM - alarm goes off
5:48 AM - alarm goes off...
5:49-6:15 AM - Shower and then dress in the dark (one of many downsides to the Family Bed not thoroughly investigated prior to implementation).

6:30 - 7:00 AM - Laundry folding. Dinner dishes washing. Start a pot of chai for myself and some breakfast food. Common options:
a) Dutch Baby
b) egg white omelettes
c) peanut butter toast and apples.

7 AM - Jamie wakes Milo without waking Zel (when possible).
Sometimes, I get to eat toast and drink my chai in the relative silence of our breakfast nook while that happens.

Usually not...

Meals are eaten here:
Because THIS is clearly not for food... ...it's for Legos. 8:00 AM - Preschool drop-off and commute
8:30 AM-5:00 PM - work
5:45-6:30 PM - I get home, nurse the baby, start a load of laundry, do breakfast dishes, and cook dinner
6:35 PM - Eat
7:00 PM - Commence battles...and put laundry in dryer...
8:15 PM - Bath and bed...and hopefully toothbrushing... Sometimes one chapter out of a book. Currently The Trouble with Jenny's Ear.
9:00 PM - Sometimes I get about 5 minutes of reading in before I crash...but usually by 9, it's lights out...
Chai Recipe ^
In quart+ sauce pan, heat equal parts water and milk (I prefer 2%) over high heat. For me, a heavy tea drinker, this is about 2 cups of each.
add:
1 t-T honey (it's all about your own sweetness, baby!)
2T tea (I LOVE the Tao of Tea's Sada Chai for this, but any black tea or, well, rooibus if you must, works) equal parts (about 1/8 t): - cardamom - cinnamon - nutmeg - ginger
4-5 whole star anise stars
Optional:
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 t rose water
4-5 peppercorns extra cardamom (yum!)
Heat until mixture begins a rolling boil.
Turn off heat.
Pour through a strainer into mug or other mouth-delivery system.

^I used to make quasi-authentic claims that this recipe is from my ex-MIL, who is from a chai-making country. I don't think I actually remember how true-to-her-recipe this is anymore. But it IS? Delicious!