What Santa Drinks

Well, when he's not drinking Coke :)

He drinks homemade hot cocoa!

Yes, in fact, I DID make that delightful, creamy holiday favorite...

What did you say? HOW did I make it?

Well, let me tell you!

This is the world's easiest recipe. It takes literally 10 minutes (including gathering supplies), is virtually fool-proof, and accurate measurements are not necessary.

Yup, I like all of those things!

Homemade Hot Cocoa Recipe

(Courtesy of allrecipes.com ... with some personal modifications)

For 8 people

Ingredients:

2/3 c cocoa powder

1 c sugar

pinch of salt

2/3 c boiling water

7 c milk

1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 c half and half

1) In a saucepan, mix cocoa powder, sugar, and salt.

2) Add boiling water and mix. Turn on burner to heat mixture to boiling - should take about 2 minutes. IMPORTANT: Make sure to stir constantly so it doesn't scald! (This is the one potential "uh-oh" part...)

3) Add milk. Heat mixture until hot - but don't heat to boiling.

4) Remove from heat. Add vanilla.

5) Divide hot cocoa between mugs and add some half and half to each mug to cool the cocoa... and make it rich, creamy, and generally yummy!

Sooooooo tasty!!

But you can't keep this kind of goodness all to yourself... so I set up a hot cocoa bar for some friends!

Yum,

yum,

extra-yum!

Hot Cocoa Bar Ingredients

Candy cane stir sticks

Whipping cream

Caramel sauce

Marshmallows

Crushed Heath bar

Cinnamon

Cayenne pepper

White chocolate chips

Red & green sprinkles

And, of course, hot cocoa!!