so ever since third year university, when a proper east indian dude fixed me proper east indian chai, i have been in love. with chai lattes that is, not the dude. if i miss my breakfast chai latte, the day just isn't the same. it makes a delicious refreshing beverage on the hill, and it makes a tasty time-killing companion. up until now, i have been buying the tetley chai tea bags, chucking a bag in a mug of milk, and nuking the hell out of it.

 

WELL. all that changed. someone, who shall remain nameless and faceless, lured me down the path of Starbucks Lattes. like throwing money into a bottomless well, so have Starbucks chais sucked me in. so delicious, so soothing, so incredibly naughty. because, at almost $5 a cup (sorry, a grandiventiloolipapa, or whatever the hell they call them), i was buying into one of my least favourite chains. but, like any addiction, so hard to stop once you've started. and then, i discovered Starbucks ginger cookies. oh. my. god. so tasty! and nothing goes better than a Starbucks chai latte than a Starbucks ginger cookie. nothing.

 

so here i was, being sucked in to the vancouver lifestyle (minus the non-fat-soy-extra-foam-caffeine-free-sugar-free crap) head first, kicking and screaming all the way. ok, well, not really kicking and screaming, more like drooling and smiling, but you get the drift. anyways. i have found my salvation.

 

the other day, cruising through costco, mike and i stumbled upon 'tazo chai latte base', the very stuff Starbucks uses! at a fraction of the cost, we picked up three boxes, and now, five mugs later (at about 30 cents a mug), i am happy as a pig in mud! AND, i'm not watching my money prance away down a long, dark, hallway with a bright white light at the end of it.

 

now all i need to do is find a ginger cookie substitute...

 

in conclusion, screw you starbucks! i don't need you any more!