It’s not even chilly yet, but the hot is gone from southern PA, so I’ve been drinking hot chocolate, a beverage I forget about entirely once spring gets here. But as soon as the temperature reaches that maybe-take-a-sweater point, I buy milk and dump chocolate powder into it. Bob would sneer at this: he actually drinks that field mocha that Vince swills in the Liz and Vince books: instant cocoa and instant coffee mixed with water and drunk on the back of a truck. So for the purposes of this post, you may all define “hot chocolate” as you see fit. Except not that.
What made you happy this week?
I’m sort of half-way with Vince and Bob. I don’t have any powdered hot chocolate mix. What I do is fix up a cup of coffee with Folgers Decaf coffee crystals – instant coffee – and doctor it with an ounce or so of Atkins Dark Chocolate Royale protein shake and a squirt of chocolate-flavored stevia. Sometimes I use caramel-flavored stevia or vanilla-flavored stevia or even coconut-flavored stevia.
The fruit-flavored and peppermint=flavored stevia are for teas.
I also had a lovely cup of hot chocolate yesterday in the garden of A la ronde, the most bonkers National Trust property, overlooking the Exe estuary. Pure bliss.
That’s where I went a few weeks ago!! It’s absolutely fascinating.
Thank you both for the references to A la ronde — never heard of it before, but looked at everything Google Images had on it, and it made me wish I lived anywhere near it, to visit solid flesh.
We’re still in the 80’s up in MN, so it was chocolate fudge cake this week which I haven’t had in yonks. Plus I got to meet my surgeon yesterday, after many phone calls, and he’s lovely. We hashed out pain protocols (nerve blocks, antihistamines, etc) because I have reactions to stuff, and it turned out he was in favor of my preferred pain protocol, it’s what he recommends, so we were totally on the same page. It was so nice! Still organizing for (we think) three months of not being able to put weight on my foot, but some of this will depend on healing, so it might be more/less. 25 more days!
Kat, What sort of foot surgery are you having? I had bunion and hammertoes surgery 2 years ago. Nice to be walking correctly these days.
It’s getting closer to hot chocolate weather. Mine is Ghirardelli cocoa powder, hot water and chocolate flavored stevia.
And today is MILs 96th birthday. We’re celebrating – with a homemade lunch and a lovely cake – so I intend to indulge!
Daughter’s birthday yesterday, so I brought her hot chocolate and marshmallows when she woke up. Hershey’s cocoa powder, sugar, skim milk. Always Campfire brand marshmallows.
At one time I would put a scoop of chocolate/raspberry cocoa mix in with coffee and top it off with vanilla or caramel creamer. If I was out of either, a tablespoon vanilla ice cream would do the trick. Pure decadence. Now blech.
This past week we celebrated our sixtieth wedding anniversary; we’re just heading into the home stretch. A scene in the Parenthood movie with Steve Martin where grandma describes the marriage she preferred was the roller coaster of life, that’s just the way it is.
60 years — Wow — Congratulations, Mary!
Ditto!!
60 years! That’s fabulous. Isn’t it amazing how time flies? I remember thinking (when I’d been married a year) that our friends who’d been married five years had been together forever.
Congrats, Mary!!
My parents are about to celebrate their 60th anniversary as well (on Oct. 10) and it feels like yesterday that we celebrated their 50th. Gosh!
The kids were 8 an 5 and cuties. Now they loom large and are still cuties (most of the time).
That’s a feat, Mary, 60 years together! As you say, home stretch.
A friend at university (from the chocolate city of York) introduced me to proper drinking chocolate, which I have for breakfast: a couple of teaspoons of cocoa powder and one of sugar, mixed to a liquid paste with milk, then add just-boiled water to fill the mug. Unfortunately, it’s almost impossible to get anything but sickly drinking chocolate in cafes – except for rare ones the serve continental-style chocolate, which is like drinking a melted bar of dark chocolate. Delicious, but desperately rich.
I’m down with a bug at the moment, so mostly drinking ginger tea. Thankful I don’t have to juggle work, but could do with recovering soon.
Feel better soon; your garden needs you and so do we.
Thank you!
Ditto!
Yes, get better soon!!
Healing vibes from over the Channel!
Thank you for the chocolate recipe. After being allergic to cow’s milk and drinking goat’s milk for years, now that I’m not allergic to cow’s milk it just doesn’t taste good any more, so I don’t keep it around, so I never make chocolate. But just enough milk to make a paste suddenly translated in my mind to “about an ice cube’s worth.” I could freeze milk in cubes and keep it around to make chocolate whenever I want! Whee!
Get better; as Jenny said, your garden needs you.
What made me happy was that Anna Cherry Chaos saw my request for the critique questions and emailed them to me. Woohoo! Jenny, if you want me to forward you the file in case you want to post them some day, just let me know.
I only like chocolate in food form (as opposed to drink, although I wouldn’t mind trying the morning chocolate they drink in Regency novels). What I pigged on this week was one of the blueberry mega-muffins I made yesterday. No chocolate involved, but utterly delicious.
I loved the Chocolate Kitchen at Hampton Court (?lateC17), but was frustrated that you couldn’t actually taste it. Would love to know what it was like. Such a palaver – roasting the beans, pounding them to a paste, etc. I presume by the end of the C18 they must have developed something simpler, or the middle classes couldn’t have gone for it,
I think they went to chocolate houses rather than make it at home.
In the eighteenth century, possibly; but I think by the Regency they were drinking it at home, weren’t they?
The wealthy were, if all those Regency novels are correct. About the other 99+ percent, I don’t know but wish I did.
Georgette Heyer is usually pretty accurate and when her characters were sulking they wouldn’t drink their morning chocolate
I used to drink something similar to field mocha when I did craft shows. The cocoa powder toned down the bitterness of the terrible coffee and that cut the sweetness of the swiss miss.
These days I mostly go caffeine free with mocha tea bags from Teechino. They are a very good coffee substitute. Even my husband will drink them on occasion. But I also have dark chocolate and pumpkin spice chocolate pods from Aldi. For emergencies. They also make the cutest pumpkin shaped truffles. Different fillings, but so adorable. I bought two boxes yesterday.
Thanks for the suggestion of Teechino. I’ve quit coffee and am tired of herbal teas. I’ve ordered two samplers.
Teechino is good, and there’s also Kafree Roma if you miss instant coffee. I think it’s barley-based.
I order from Lupicia online store, in Hawaii. I am addicted to the The Au Chocolate. I can’t do the accents on my iPad! Black tea with dark chocolate overtone, mmm mmm mmm!
If you’d like to add accents, just hold down the relevant key and tap one of the options that posp up – é, è, ê, etc. Though they don’t always display correctly on other machines. (I typed e-acute, e-grave, e-circumflex.)
I looked for the chocolate pumpkins when I went to Aldi last week, but they didn’t have any. I had settle for the Harvest Chocolate collection from Trader Joe (pumpkins and other gourds.)
I have been waiting for them anxiously. They weren’t at my regular Aldi, but my aunt’s car died and I went to visit and run her around. Her much bigger, newer Aldi had them.
Too bad that the only Aldis I can reach on my own are smaller urban units. They have all been remodeled, but they also have very large gaps on their shelves. My friend Harriet, who lives fairly far out in the suburbs, didn’t believe me when I would tell her that none of the stuff featured in the ads ever made it to my neighborhood until she read an article online that specifically listed the store I patronize most often. Yes, Harriet, life really is a lot different in the city.
I make hot chocolate for the niblings, I give them some chocolate chips to add and they spend ages melting them on the tea spoon with the hot chocolate. My favourite hot chocolate has whipped cream and and a dusting of chocolate powder , but I only have that when I am buy from the shop, can’t use up a can of cream at home
The best hot chocolate I ever had was in Rome. I ordered “cioccolato caldo,” and it was divine. Rich and creamy, a bit thick (as I imagine hot chocolate in Spain might be – almost thick enough to stand up a churro but not quite).
The second best version was from a recipe I found online for the earliest version of Spanish hot chocolate (invented for the royal court after the conquest of Mexico). This was more decadent than the watery version that Montezuma supposedly drank each day. The recipe made an enormous amount, so I chopped it down to a serving for two with dubious math. However, it was delicious, full of ground almonds and cinnamon (and I think chili powder and anise but my memory fails me). Divine.
These days, I am dairy-free, so I make a version with rice milk, cocoa powder, and black strap molasses. It still hits the spot on the few chilly days we have on the Gulf Coast. I made a cup this week since we had a few rare breezy days, and I reread Getting Rid of Bradley. Heaven! Fall is my favorite time of year but it lasts only a nanosecond before turning into Florida’s version of winter.
It’s been a warm Sept and looks like early Oct temps will be in the high 20s (Celsius). No hot drinks for me just yet. Still picking tomatoes and beans out of my garden.
My FIL was diagnosed with cancer this week which is not happy news. My husband’s family takes a “stiff upper lip” approach to life so little outward sign of emotion but it’s hard for my SIL, who is very close to her dad. She works in the medical field and I’m confident that she’ll advocate for him and help him navigate the medical system.
I’m on day 4 of a virtual card card-making event. My work space looks like a papery glitter bomb went off but I’m having fun crafting pretty cards.
The best cocoa powder I have is from an independent spice shop in Wisconsin but I have a hard time making perfect hot chocolate. I am shamed to admit that I buy Starbuck instant, which is good and convenient and I put a teaspoon of espresso powder when the mood takes me.
In other happies, the bizarre delivery-van-catching-fire near my parked car only caused the plastic parts of the front of my car to melt, and did NOT screw up anything mechanical, so I was able to drive it 5 hours north to spend a week on Lake Michigan surrounded by trees. And books. And chocolate. Oh so happy!
“the bizarre delivery-van-catching-fire near my parked car only caused the plastic parts of the front of my car to melt. . . . .”
That’s a worthy first line for a terrific novel.
Which side of Lake MI were you on or maybe which city? I’m in the Lansing area in MI.
Tip of Lelanau peninsula- north of Northport. I will wave as I go through Kansing on Saturday on my way to Ann Arbor.
Happiness is being in Winnipeg, known as Winterpeg here, and if it weren’t for the giant mosquitos, being murder capital of Canada and the aforementioned horrible winters, would actually be quite magical. We went to The Forks yesterday, where the two rivers meet, and bought two paintings by my favourite indigenous artist, Linus Woods. It was National Truth and Reconciliation Day here in Canada and we encountered a sea of orange Every Child Matters t-shirts which was lovely and inspiring. Back home today where hot water has been restored. Yep, I call this all happiness.
PS – I wore my new On Wednesdays We Smash the Patriarchy t-shirt which I thought was thematically appropriate for the day and which I thoroughly enjoyed wearing. However, it is made from cheap material and not soft to the touch, despite being an expensive t-shirt so buyer beware.
My BFF lives in Winnipeg. There’s usually snow when I visit her but this summer it was very hot but almost no mosquitos. I love that there are virtually no tall buildings and you can get a 360degree view of the sky from almost any vantage point.
And no caterpillars this season either. The summers where they nest in the trees and a steady stream of their poop drifts down onto anyone unlucky enough to sit beneath are not fun.
Ugh!
And PS – my BFF’s husband is driving a production of Clue in Winnipeg that opens at the end of October – tell your BFF!
Biggest happy this week was our 22nd anniversary. But there is so much happy going on right now; the patio cats are thriving, the weather is wonderful for being outdoors, school year is off to a great start, I have tons of good books to read and new plants to plant this fall for next year’s garden. And hey the government didn’t close the nat’l parks so we can go enjoy those too.
I make mocha almost every morning. Mind you, I’m a mocha snob, so Bob’s recipe would never do it for me. I make a cup of organic coffee in my little drip coffee maker, then put a cup of 2% milk, the coffee, a spoonful of organic drinking chocolate (real dark chocolate, very little sugar, my current favorite brand is Numi, since my favorite, Dagoba, didn’t survive the shutdown), a little turbinado sugar, a sprinkle of cayenne pepper and cinnamon, and then heat it all up together in my hot chocolate maker. The machine makes a little froth for the top, and it is delicious.
Happiness is tracking down my preferred Covid vaccine (which only one pharmacy in my town is carrying this time around for reasons no one can explain) and getting it yesterday afternoon. The vaccines are only just starting to arrive here, and I’ve got to fly to my niece’s wedding in Nashville in 11 days, where I will be surrounded by too many people, few or none of whom will be taking precautions. So I REALLY wanted to get the shot before I went. (Pray for me. There will be hugging.)
Not so happy are the side effects, which are making me feel crummy and resulted in my only getting two hours of sleep, and a couple of friends who are being jerks (about completely unrelated things) when I don’t have the energy to cope with it. But the weather is lovely–mosquitoes aside–and at least a few of the witchy gang are coming this afternoon for a very belated autumn equinox celebration, so I’m just going to count my blessings.
Or at least try.
Wishing you fast recovery from after shot side effects and heavy duty covid protection for the the trip and wedding.
Yes.
The 45 year old husband of a colleague had his heart start racing last week, along with a few other symptoms, and by the end of the day tested positive for COVID. She suggested he go to bed early and she would get him Paloxid in the morning, while she and their three year old son isolated downstairs. She went up at 9:00 pm to check on him and he was non responsive. A horrible outcome. She is in shock and their entire community is gathering to support her. So yes, count those blessings.
Truly horrible. There are no comforting words for a situation like that but I am thinking and praying for them to find some kind of resilience to get through it.
Tammy – Really horrible – so sad.
I’m so sorry, Tammy. It makes me so frustrated that people have stopped taking this thing seriously. It is still in the top five causes of death in the US.
Saw the hats you made with your witch sisters on instagram – darling!
the hats thing was for Deb, sorry
I have a mocha latte every morning, even in the summer. I put Splenda and a tablespoon of cocoa powder in a large mug and pour hot coffee over it, leaving room for 1% milk. I fill it with milk and microwave it briefly. It’s very good. Somewhere I read that a tablespoon of cocoa every morning is good for the brain and fights off dementia. When Chocolat first came out, the recipe for her hot chocolate was published and I tried making it. The one Deb makes is very similar. It’s excellent.
I am rereading the trilogy, and finished Lavender’s Blue last night. I missed a few things on the first reading since I was whizzing through it. It was good to find those little factoids.
My brain needs all the help it can get…
I’m in the South so not hot chocolate weather…yet. But now you have me thinking about it. I’m hoping it won’t be much longer. Last winter I made homemade hot chocolate bombs, bought the mold and everything. I see now why the premade ones are expensive. LOL!
I miss chocolate–it’s a high histamine food and I haven’t found any feasible substitute. But I discovered popped sorghum this week! It’s like miniature popcorn and tastes delicious. My husband, who can’t eat corn anymore, went crazy eating it. We demolished a bag on our camping trip. Brought back fond memories of the summer we got married, when we ate heavily buttered and salted popcorn for dinner every night. Between the popcorn and the apartment complex’s pool, those were halcyon days. (The office jobs I was working weren’t great, but eh.)
I’m with you on the hot chocolate, although we call it cocoa at my house. For me, it’s a daily thing, but I make my own non-dairy version with organic free-trade cocoa. And it definitely counts as a happy.
Also happy to have done a re-watch of For Pete’s Sake. It’s possibly my fave Barbra Streisand movie. She has so many good films, but her performance here and the wonky build of trouble she gets into is just so fun. And the actress who plays Mrs. Cherry is too funny with her flower truck, lol. Always nice to kick back with a dvd on the weekend and this one really delivered some fun:)
One of my favorite seasonal snacks, the chocolate mousse pumpkins are back at Trader Joe. I bought 4 packages (1 for me and 3 to deliver), but I lost 2 of them on the way home. Since I didn’t have enough for all my pals in retail, I ate both packages myself, which made my mouth happy, but my scale crabby. I hope that when I buy replacements this week, I will have better self control. I will also have to find a safer space to store
the hoarded goodies this year because I saw a mouse last night. Last year the mice got into the suitcase where I had stored my cache to be doled out over the winter and made an unholy and stinky mess. All those lovely Aldi chocolate pumpkins destroyed. Sigh.
You need a cat. My two cats cornered two mice in the basement this week, and played with them to death. They don’t eat them, so I put them out for the Opossum who visits at night. I hope that critter doesn’t expect a mouse every night. I think we’re out of them, for now.
Congratulations on being mouse-free.
It sounds to me like you were obeying the Rules of Chocolate.
1. If you’ve got melted chocolate all over your hands, you’re eating it too slowly.
2. Chocolate covered raisins, cherries, orange slices & strawberries all count as fruit, so eat as many as you want.
3. The problem: How to get 2 pounds of chocolate home from the store in a hot car. The solution: Eat it in the parking lot.
4. Diet tip: Eat a chocolate bar before each meal. It’ll take the edge off your appetite and you’ll eat less.
5. If calories are an issue, store your chocolate on top of the fridge. Calories are afraid of heights, and they will jump out of the chocolate to protect themselves.
6. If I eat equal amounts of dark chocolate and white chocolate, is that a balanced diet? Don’t they actually counteract each other?
7. Money talks. Chocolate sings.
8. Chocolate has many preservatives. Preservatives make you look younger.
9. Q. Why is there no such organization as Chocoholics Anonymous? A. Because no one wants to quit.
10. Put “eat chocolate” at the top of your list of things to do today. That way, at least you’ll get one thing done.
11. A nice box of chocolates can provide your total daily intake of calories in one place. Isn’t that handy?
12. If you can’t eat all your chocolate, it will keep in the freezer. But if you can’t eat all your chocolate, what’s wrong with you?
I drink instant coffee most days, and can only have one full cup of caffeinated coffee if I want to sleep at night, so it’s instant decaf on the days I want an extra cup of Warm Bev. I usually add a measuring teaspoon of Equal Exchange organic dark hot chocolate powder, which really tastes like chocolate and feels indulgent. I’m a dairy girl – full fat – so I temper all my bevs with (organic grass-fed, so bougie) half-and-half and/or whole milk. One of the advantages to our location in South LA is that we get a near-constant breeze off the ocean; Warm Bev can be justified almost every day. 🙂
Loved the natural air conditioning when we lived in Gardena! Although everything metal outdoors rusted.
Best hot chocolate I ever had was from a food truck parked at the bottom of a waterfall in Iceland in November. So good I went back for seconds. Tragically, I failed to ask for the recipe.
The covid/flu shot symptoms are awful, but so much better than the alternative. Glad you were able to get yours, Deb.
I drink Burdicks. https://www.burdickchocolate.com/location-washington
Total luxury and I don’t do it often but it’s fabulous. I also give it to my BFF who has lots of challenges in her life and no one else who treats her to life’s little luxuries, especially not her spouse.
Not a coffee person and I recently learned I’m not a chocolate tea person.
Very occasionally I drink Mexican hot chocolate like abuelitas but honestly I prefer mine straight.
Burdick does good chocolate. I may have a Burdick problem.
Happiness for me is that I start a new job on Monday. I’ve been looking for 2 months, ever since my old law firm decided to downsize only 6 months after I started. It’s all in office, and I’ve become accustomed to being remote, but I can deal with it. So I spent the weekend cooking and making salads so I can easily just grab my lunch and go. Now I’m going to make huevos rancheros for breakfast. Yum.
Good luck Lisa
Congratulations, Lisa!
We have another week before the temps drop into what I consider hot chocolate weather. I use dark cocoa powder, but am nowhere near as fancy as many of you.
I remember when I taught in West Palm Beach and sold hot chocolate if it got down to the 50s,
which, to the kids, was really cold.
Happy this week was finalizing draft of forthcoming book. One step closer to publication! (My first book was published in 2006, so it’s been awhile!)
I’ve gone from a lot of iced or cold brewed coffee to hot coffee. The temps are not yet cold enough for me to start spiking my coffee with shots of dark chocolate and another flavored syrup (raspberry, salted caramel, mint, or cinnamon with a hit of red pepper). The cold is coming though.
Finished Vermillion yesterday-good to better to best. I actually held off the spoiler post so that’s something to look forward to tomorrow.
Chocolate is its own food group. I love Mexican chocolate, which I keep on hand and I prefer marshmallows in everything. Well, not in baked potatoes, but I love marshmallows.
The other thing I like is chocolate malted milk powder made into hot chocolate.
The best hot chocolate I ever had was in Vancouver at the Meridian hotel. Used to be that Fridays, They did a chocolate buffet which included a chocolate sailing ship, and so many other delicious things. But what fully impressed me was the hot chocolate milk. I still dream of it I wonder if they’re still having that chocolate Buffet? I’d like a chance to find out.
My aunt Phyllis sent me Adirondack chocolates, her favorites, and I’ve had a joyful time perusing the box and eating them.
My sister Kelly is still here. I love her company. I get to keep her till Friday morning. Wishing you all all the happiness you can find.
Godiva has the only hot chocolate mix I like. I had some Graeter’s salted caramel ice cream today. That made me happy. It’s still warm in Cincinnati. And if you’ve never had Graeter’s, it’s a religious experience.
I enjoyed going to Graeter’s when I visited Cincinnati, but although I liked it a lot, I do not remember it as a religious experience. Now that it is available in a local (Chicago) grocery store, I will have to revisit it and see if I am remembering it correctly.
I will admit to my bias for the brand.
Hometown nostalgia makes everything taste better. I have been craving frozen custard from my favorite chain in Milwaukee, but my niece is far too busy to host me on a visit, so I won’t be testing my memories any time soon.
I’m curious if your favorite Milwaukee custard place is Kopp’s? That was the special place we’d go when I was in college at MSOE.
This is a reply to Kelly S.
Kopp’s is indeed my favorite. I miss the days when my parents lived within walking distance of one of their locations.
Happiness this week has been a week long writing retreat with best writing friends. No hot chocolate, but a lot of tea, wine and words.
I drink a hot caffeinated beverage most days when I wake up. Coffee has kind of dropped low in the rotation. These days it’s Scottish Breakfast tea or hot chocolate.
I generally put cocoa powder & sugar in the bottom of a cup – also had a shake or 2 of turmeric & a sparse shake of black pepper – I try to get turmeric in anywhere I can because it is anti-inflammatory & anti-aging.
Then I select the mid size cup on the Kindle to add hot water & stir well. Then I add half & half to taste.
Yum.
My maternal grandmother used to get powdered milk in commodities and I remember her hot chocolate well, though not how she made it. I do know she made it in a big pan on the stove & everyone would drink a cup. Then she would pour any leftovers in a canning jar & refrigerate it. Late afternoon there would be a dark layer of chocolate in the bottle and she would pour it all in a pan & reheat & stir. It was better the second time around.
Happy.
PS the black pepper helps the body use the medicine in the turmeric.
What is Scottish Breakfast tea? I’ve had English Breakfast and Irish Break fast, but I’ve never seen Scottish Breakfast. What does it taste like and where do you get it?
Scottish is stronger than Irish or English. I order it from Amazon.
Happiness is a really good quality bowl of coffee – a big bowl of fresh coffee with hot milk, and a hot and crispy croissant to dip into it…
Yum….
I like the way your avatar is licking her lips at the thought of it.
Reading all the comments conflating the weather with beverage temperature makes me appreciate air-conditioning. I glanced at my desktop thermometer and read 74.7F & 42%RH. Warm enough to drink carbonated beverages and iced tea, cool enough to drink hot coffee or tea or broth. Or all of the above as the mood dictates. It’s the outdoor environment that induces the mood to dictate the various choices, and I don’t expose myself to the outdoors as much as I used to. Even my (hydroponic) garden shares the indoors with me.
I’m about to enjoy a mug of tea, Lady Grey (decaf), hot with peppermint sweetener.
I spent the weekend with several wonderful people at an herbal/spiritual healing set of workshops. One of them was an Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony where we all took turns roasting the coffee beans (over a charcoal brazier), grinding the beans, and then brewing the coffee (also over a charcoal brazier), followed by the final ceremony of offering a bit of the brewed coffee to each of the work stations and then drinking the rest. How was it? VERY, VERY STRONG! How was the experience? so much fun.
I just finished drinking a cup of my favorite hot chocolate mix. It’s a free trade company called Equal Exchange; the mix itself is organic dark chocolate which gets mixed with your choice of milk.
Happiness was finding a new podiatrist this morning. I made the appointment at 2am online, with very little information about this guy, but the experience was mostly positive. I managed hobble around to buy supplies for treating the toe without any painkillers and hope that I will be able to switch to thinner bandaging by the time the temperature drops next weekend. And his office staff was wonderful.
He didn’t believe me when I told him that Medicare would pay him to cut my nails quarterly, but since they’ve done it for me already this year, I’m pretty sure that my information is more accurate than his. Of course, I won’t have to get the nail he removed today cut for a very long time!
While I was writing this, my sister’s Minneapolis daughter called to tell me that my sister’s surgery went well. This not only meant that I didn’t have to call my BIL, who is exhausted, but also gave me a chance to set up a time to have a longer chat with said niece. That will make vegging out on the couch this week a lot more fun.
Once upon a time in a dorm I would make hot chocolate with Hagan dad vanilla ice cream in it. I also brought my krumkakka iron and made krumkakke and hot chocolate. I also learned how to play bridge, backgammon and cribbage. Met my guy in the dorm and married him. My GPA was crap but I had a wonderful time.
Putting in a plug for Land o Lakes hot chocolate. Although most stores just carry individual packets, it is possible to find it in tubs. Closest thing I’ve found to scratch, but you only need hot water.
But cooler weather also makes me want chai, and I am reminded I need to get down to my sort of local tea and spice shop and stock up.
I don’t like coffee, not even the smell of it. I’m allergic to chocolate – triggers migraines. So, my hot beverage is tea. None of the grey family though as I’m also not a fan of bergamot.
We’ve had warm weather and sunshine for the past few days with one more left before the temps plummet along with my mood. My small raspberry patch is doing amazing! I get a pint every other day. That makes me happy.
The best hot chocolate I’ve ever had was at the Dalwhinnie distillery in Scotland. I dream of it. Pretty sure it was literally melted chocolate.
But it’s too warm here yet for hot chocolate. But when it gets chillier I will happily pull out my Trader Joe’s vegan marshmallows. Giving up marshmallows when I became vegetarian 30 years ago was hard… but I have them back now.