A bowl of soul

When I lived in Chico, one of my favorite places to have breakfast on the weekends was a place called Sin of Cortez.  They served scrumptious breakfasts that were made mostly from locally grown produce. (Buying items that are locally made, grown, or brewed is a huge deal to Chicoans. Eventually I got to the point where I was on-board with the idea although it was a huge culture shock to me at first.) 

Anyway, one of the drinks at Sin of Cortez is called a "bowl of soul." They don't publicize their recipe but based on their menu I know that this concoction includes soy milk, chamomile tea and cinnamon. Today I set out to recreate it at home! As I am without many snazzy machines that can be found in coffee shops (i.e. a milk steamer) I had to use ingenuity! Here is what I did:

Pour about 1 to 1 and 1/2 cups soy milk into a small sauce pan and add a couple drops of pure vanilla extract. (I was going to let a real vanilla bean steep in the milk, but I forgot to grab one at the store...typical Natalie.) I whisked this over medium heat until it was slightly warm. I added about 1/2 teaspoon sugar (I think I'll try honey or brown sugar next time for fun) and continued whisking. When the milk was just a little bit warmer and the sugar had dissolved I put in one chamomile tea bag and whisked around the bag until the milk was as warm as I like it. I poured the concoction into my big mug and sprinkled the top with cinnamon.

There you have it: a bowl of soul. And it was down right delicious!