A Cup of Hot Chocolate

When I was in college I discovered Land-o-Lakes Mint Hot Chocolate. I think back then it was around .25 cents a bag. It was a splurge on my collage budget but oh so worth it. Every winter Costco stocks the Land-o-Lakes variety pack for Christmas. Last year they offered a large canister of the Supreme Chocolate. I bought three. The kids and I are hot chocolate junkies. We can’t wait until winter so we can pull out our mugs to savour a steaming cup of chocolate.

A wintry chill passed through in November. It was movie night and we were all craving a cup unfortunately we did not have any hot chocolate on hand. A week before a friend and I were discussing our brand preferences. We agreed we could never drink Swiss Miss again after having had the good stuff. I think my aversion to the stuff began in Elementary school when a friend’s brother poured the powder straight from the envelope into his mouth. Call me a dummy, but I tried it. I have not had the stuff since.

Back to my conversation, Chrystl mentions she makes her own hot chocolate using cocoa powder and milk. On this chilly night in November I decided to make homemade hot chocolate. Only problem was I did not have any cocoa powder. I did have a Lindt Extra Dark chocolate bar in the cabinet. Anyone remember Vianne played by Juliette Binoche in the movie Chocolat? She finely chopped the chocolate to make her special hot chocolate. It did not take long to find a recipe and whip up some pretty darn good hot chocolate.

Source: eHow
8 cups milk
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate

Finely chop the chocolate and place in a mixing bowl.

Heat the milk over medium-low heat until it steams and is very hot to the touch.

Remove from heat. Stir in the sugar and vanilla. Whisk until the sugar has dissolved.

Pour one cup of the milk over the chocolate. Let the chocolate melt; slowly stirring with a whisk. Continue adding milk and stirring until all the milk has been incorporated.

Serves 8