xo amys

December 14th,

As it gets so dark early these days, I thought I would cozy up under the blanket with a holiday masala chai made from black tea, fresh ginger, cardamom pods and cinnamon. This warm drink is the perfect after dinner date as it’s soothing and sweet allowing you to feel relaxed and comforted right after the first sip. Before inserting myself under the blanket to watch a christmas movie, I nibbled on some macarons and made a little wreath to bring some green to the table! Oh and Ps. my hyacinths are finally beginning to smell gorgeous!

I love the way the wreath looks around a traditional candle holder during the holidays or they can be hung from door nobs or made into small napkin holders for a dinner party. These are fairy simple to make (see more here), you can use some wire or blueberry twigs as a base that you shape into a circle. Around this circle you attach twigs of lingonberry branches put together with the help of a wire. Lingonberry is great to use as it lasts a long time, but pine and juniper is pretty as well!

With these images, I wanted to capture the dark and moody feeling of the pitch black evenings here in Scandinavia that can be extremely cozy if you put your mind to it.

Masala Chai

• 2 tablespoons fresh ginger grated
• 5 tablespoons loose leaf black tea (or 5 bags and remove tea from inside)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tablespoon cardamom pods
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups oat milk (+ extra for frothing)
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup

In a saucepan add the grated ginger, crunched cinnamon stick, water and let it boil for 5 minutes. Then add the loose leaf black tea, cardamom pods, oat milk and let it gently simmer for 5-10 minutes. Sieve the liquid into cups. For a little extra, froth some milk in a frother for garnishing and sprinkle some gingerbread spice on top. Enjoy with macarons!