Chai Oatmeal

Using a recipe from Molly Katzen's Sunlight Cafe as inspiration, I made Chai-spiced oatmeal for breakfast this morning. I had bought cardamom pods to make Chai tea this winter and forgot all about them, so that's next, but here's an interesting spin on the plain old bowl of oatmeal (I loved it):

Combine 1 cup milk, 1/2 cinnamon stick, 2 crushed cardamom pods, 4 cloves, a pinch of salt and a grating of fresh nutmeg in a small saucepan and heat almost to a boil, until steam is coming off it, the edges are getting bubbly and the center kind of starts to undulate. Turn off the heat and steep for 15 minutes, then use a slotted spoon to strain out the big spices. Then add about a tablespoon of honey (I used strong buckwheat honey, which I love, although Katzen's recipe called for light honey) and turn the heat back on medium-low. Sprinkle in 3/4 cup oats and stir. Cook for 8 minutes or until the oatmeal is a consistency you like. I added more honey at this point because it wasn't quite sweet enough for me. It makes 2 kind of small servings. The taste is almost the way perfume or flowers smell, warm and spicy, and there's a nice rough and creamy texture, since I used a higher ratio of oats to liquid than is usually recommended (thanks, Lael, for the tip).