Hot Chocolate

I know you won't believe this, but as I write, it is actually snowing here in Atlanta.  And not just flurrying - giant snowflakes are actually accumulating on the ground.  Needless to say, my local grocery store looked like it had more traffic today than it did on Superbowl Sunday.

As a matter of fact, I hail from above the Mason-Dixon line where snow is almost more common than sunshine.  I remember once our local grocer told us that it wasn't milk, bread, and eggs that she sold out of just before a big blizzard: it was ice cream (the rationale being that if the power goes out, someone will just have to eat it before it melts!)

Well, I didn't have any ice cream.  But where one can't have ice cream, surely hot chocolate is a close second on a day like today.  I borrowed this recipe from Ellie Krieger.  Here's my mise-en-place:

First, heat one mug's worth of milk (1 c.) in a small saucepan with a cinnamon stick (optional, but worth it). 

While you wait for that to simmer, combine 2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 tsp. sugar, and 2 tsp. water in your mug, stirring to form a paste. 

At this point, your milk is probably ready (you'll know because little bubbles will have formed around the edge of the pan).  Carefully, add it to your mug, stirring gently.  You now have a single mug of hot chocolate.

But wait!  This recipe is ripe for improvisation.  Consider adding a dash of vanilla (as I did), a spoonful of nutella, peppermint, almond extract...the sky's the limit.  Curl up in an armchair with a blanket and a book, and you're set to weather the day!

Comments

[Kay]

Hey! I saw you take those pictures!!! It turned out soooo yummy :)