Hot Cocoa

Ah.............. sitting by a fire, a good book, and a large mug of hot cocoa. I will admit that I have used those (gasp) instant packs of cocoa in a pinch. If I'm at work, and need something hot to drink, I'll sneak away to the microwave with one of the infamous little pouches. I don't call that drinking cocoa though. It's just flavored hot water in my opinion.

My oldest son was home from college the week of Thanksgiving and we had hot cocoa one night. I make it the old fashioned way. Whenever I make hot cocoa, it reminds me of my days living in Paris. On most cold winter mornings, I would get the perfect size pot, fresh whole milk, Droste cocoa (which I still purchase when I see it), and make some warming cocoa before starting the morning trek to the local metro station. Something about the click of the gas stove and making cocoa that "jogs" the memory. Funny isn't it how some things spark a memory.

Hot cocoa

1 measuring container using my favorite mug (or any mug)

1 or 2 tablespoons sugar per mug (I like my cocoa sweet)

1 tablespoon cocoa per mug (you can use dark cocoa for a change too)

1/4 tsp. vanilla added to the milk in the pot

put the cocoa and sugar in the coffee mug. Add just enough milk or water to stir the ingredients smooth. You will probably use 1 tablespoon of water. Heat the milk in a pot to scalding. Just before serving, stir in the vanilla flavoring. Please only use REAL vanilla. The imitation vanilla is not tasty. You certainly don't want it to come to a boil. Nothing grabs your attention faster than Mt. Everest rising out of the pot just before it bubbles over the edge of the pot onto the stove. Yes, that has happened to me numerous times.

Pour hot milk over the choco/sugar mixture in your mug, add marshmallows or marshmallow cream, stir and enjoy.

Whenever my oldest son is home, I still get out his Tasmanian devil character mug from the Old Bugs Bunny cartoons. He has had this mug since he was 7 or 8 years old.

I have also read about making a thick hot cocoa by adding a little bit of cornstarch with the chocolate/sugar mixture, but have yet found the perfect measurement. The first time I made it it was too thick. It's something to attempt if you desire.

Success out of failure

Spaghetti sauce is an easy thing to make. Well not always. I usually have everything for a delicious spaghetti sauce on hand:

2 pounds ground chuck (for a nice hearty sauce)

1 large vidallia onion, chopped fine

1 pound sliced button mushrooms

2 teaspoons oregano

1 bunch fresh parsley

1 large bay leaf

1 32 ounces tomato puree

6 diced Roma tomatoes

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup black olives sliced (I like olives on pizza, so why not in spaghetti sauce?)

1/8 cup green olives sliced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup of dry, red wine

In a large frying pan, saute diced onions in olive oil until translucent. Add ground chuck and brown until tender. I usually then drain the meat to get rid of some of the fat. Put meat and onions in a large pot. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for at least 30 minutes. I like to vary the pasta shapes that I use. On this particular day, I used the long hollow Greek pasta that is traditionally used for a Greek dish called pastisio.

I've made hundreds of pots of spaghetti, beef Burgundy, stews, etc... that call for wine. I've never had a problem opening the wine until I decided to use a new bottle opener that I had purchased. Instead of retelling the story, I'm just going to share my fb header and the comments that followed. I have a terrific sense of humor and the more I tried to get the cork out of the bottle, the more I laughed. I deleted the names as they know who they are and I won't forget that they share my zany sense of humor.

Lisa Poulos Williams has a fancy schmancy cork screw! It's awesome.... Guess who did SOMETHING wrong and has a perfectly good cork STUCK in the middle of the long neck wine bottle! What to do? What to do? %$^&&% (...so my spaghetti sauce may NOT have wine in it...HECK NO! I'm determined to get it.! hahahaha). Final outcome later....

02 November at 18:58 · Comment · Like

likes this.

LOL. Push it down into the bottle with a butter knife! Works for me when my corkscrew fails. Good luck!

Cork saga continues: Cork in bottle. While trying to pour it, cork lodged back in the neck and wine wouldn't pour. I shook the bottle, cork moved, and about half the bottle went into the sauce. **Bleth sauthe *hic** I've everth mathe...*** hic***

HA ha! That's really funny, Lisa!!

you make me laugh

cook it longer, reduce the alcohol. low heat

Reduce the alcohol"!! Are you kidding?? That was the best flippin' sauce I've ever made!hahaha

I am cracking up that Your Son tells you to do the reduction and you're protesting. Very funny.

oh life's trials and tribulations!!!

i laughed

How many Greeks does it take to open a bottle of wine??? hahaha!!!