Hot Cardamom Milk

I love the cardamom coffee at Hampton Chutney in Soho NYC.  This year I've resolved to lay off the caffeine for 2013 so the coffee part of this delish beverage is out but I can still have the yummy cardamom warm spices in a delicious drink all thanks to this recipe for milk with cardamom.
It's a great creamy hot drink for those really chilly days.

Ingredients

• Milk - 2 cups (unsweetened almond milk might be tasty too!)
• Sugar - 2 tsp
• Cardamom - 1 pod,crushed

Make it!

1. Pour the milk,sugar and cardamom in a pan and simmer for 5 minutes,or till the milk boils.
2. Close with a lid and keep aside for another 5 minutes.
3. Just before serving,strain the milk and pour into individual cups.
4. Serve when it is still warm.

PS: it's caffeine-free so if you sip some at the end of the night you'll still be able to sleep!

Old Fashioned Egg Cream

I can hear what most of you are thinking already... "what's an egg cream?"  Well friends, it's essentially a fizzy version of chocolate milk that most of our grandparents probably enjoyed at their local candy store after school. 

Ok, so how does "she" (that's me) know how to make an egg cream anyway?  It's actually not something I googled or youtubed. Nope.  I used to serve these tasty drinks up at a small cafe in NYC's Little Italy - so I learned from the best, Rosalie, the owner of Lo Spuntino (it's no longer on Mulberry Street but it was a great little place!).

What you'll need:

• cold milk
• a flavored syrup
• seltzer water

The most important things when making an egg cream are:

1. Start with your spoon in the glass.
2. Use cold milk. Fill the glass about 1/4 of the way.
3. Add the chocolate syrup - think about 1"inch from the bottom of the glass, I know it sounds like a lot but it's worth the tasty factor.
4. YOU MUST USE FRESH SELTZER, as in you just twisted the bottle open & pour it only seconds after.
5. Then, stir, stir, stir! You should get a nice white foam at the top. You can of course use whatever kind of syrup you like but I think the chocolate syrup makes for the prettiest contrast.
6. Slurpe it down with a straw immediately or you'll lose the fizz!