We heard a lot about Christmas breakfast, but very little about what we are going to eat this Friday morning after Thanksgiving.

Some of us don't eat breakfast after Thanksgiving at all; others grab things immediately. There is almost no tradition in this meal.

So, what service can you provide for your guests? If you have a complete house, I recommend my overnight slow cooker polenta (on the News Democrat website bit.ly/3HMDx3G). Add sweet ingredients such as maple syrup, chutney and candied fruit, as well as savory ingredients such as chèvre, Gorgonzola, Italian salsa and marinara. This is a simple self-service option, easy to make and delicious. Take out a large bottle of coffee, you can sleep in it, while others can eat grass at will.

If you feel more ambitious, you can set up an area near the toaster, which contains the bagels that have been cut in half, cream cheese, liquid oxygen, capers and chopped red onions. Just don't feel pressure to make a great meal, not after you have cooked your traditional Thanksgiving meal!

On this Thanksgiving morning, I plan to make my own chai milk, which is a traditional British beverage, and now there are retail shelves almost everywhere. Even so, firewood is best made at home, which is easy, cheap and beneficial. This is my favorite cold weather drink. Since I drank it for the first time, it has appeared in a very dramatic way.

I arrived at the place called Mumbai, which is now Mumbai, when the rainstorm began. When my taxi stopped in the flood, I was forced to take to the streets. I was rescued when I almost drowned and was stuffed into the warm bed of the doctor's house. Everyone was worried that I kept crying when I was rescued from the rushing water. I just fell asleep. For the first time in about 36 hours, someone pushed me up with a cup of milk tea. I have one, and then another.

Try to warm yourself and your guests on or after Thanksgiving morning.

Chai means tea, and it is always accompanied by milk. When you see chai tea or chai tea latte on the menu, feel free to smirk the extra content. If you like firewood, make a gallon or at least half a gallon so you can simply reheat for a few days without having to start from scratch. It must have black tea, milk, sugar, green cardamom and black pepper, but other ingredients are optional.

1 half gallon whole milk, preferably local and organic

¾ cup of sugar, plus more flavor

4 tablespoons black tea leaves (see note below)

5 slices of fresh ginger, lightly crushed

4 green cardamom pods, crushed

A few slices of whole nutmeg

Pour 8 cups of water into a large saucepan, add milk and sugar, and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat and stir in the tea. Add ginger, cinnamon, star anise, pepper, cloves, cardamom and nutmeg. Stir, cover and keep away from heat. Let steep for 10 to 12 minutes.

Taste it and if it is not sweet enough for you, add another 1/4 cup of sugar.

Return the pot to medium heat. Just before the mixture boils, strain it into a heat-resistant water tank or half-gallon Mason jar. Enjoy immediately or store in the refrigerator, with a lid on for three to four days. Reheat before serving.

If you like your firewood foam, use a small blender to whip it while heating.

Note: The better tea you use, the better your tea. I like the deliciousness of Darjeeling, and sometimes I prefer the strong flavors of Assamese, English or Irish breakfast tea. Queen Anne is also very good at Chai. Be sure to use loose leaf tea, not tea bags. Pure Puer is a Santa Rosa-based company that sells some of the best teas I have ever had, including some that are perfect for Chai (purepuer.com).

The late Malvi Doshi included this chai recipe in her first book "A Surti Touch", and she ran a vegetarian restaurant Ganges on Fredericks Street in San Francisco for many years. After an extraordinary meal there, we became close friends. When she asked me if I would write a foreword for her second book "Cooking by the Ganges: India's Vegetarian Legacy" (Writer's Showcase, 2002), I certainly agreed. Over the years, I like her unique Chai's many delicious cups.

Masalawali Chai by Malvi Doshi

2 cups whole milk, preferably local and organic

⅓ cup of sugar, plus more flavor

4 teaspoons loose black tea leaves, such as Assam

8-10 slices of dried lemongrass

1 piece of ginger, about a quarter of the size, washed and crushed

Pour the milk into a saucepan, add 4 cups of water, boil and immediately reduce the heat so that the mixture hardly boils. Add sugar and stir until it dissolves. Stir in the tea leaves. Add lemongrass, cardamom, pepper, cinnamon and ginger. Cover the pot and remove it from the fire.

Strain into a warm teapot or separate cup and enjoy immediately.

Michele Anna Jordan is the author of 24 books to date, including "The Good Cook's Book of Salt & Pepper". Email her michele@micheleannajordan.com.

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