Stovetop Hot Chocolate

Sometimes I get frustrated with my "from scratch" pantry.  That winter morning, for instance, I come inside from shoveling snow watching my son shoveling snow and want something to warm my  insides.  Or that January evening when I'm curled up in a chair actually reading a book from the hundreds I've pinned on my "to read someday" Pinterest board.  Those days, I wish I could rip open a packet of hot chocolate, heat up some water, and have instant sweet and hot swirling around my mouth and warming my insides.

Really, though, making your own hot chocolate doesn't take much extra time.  It's healthier than store-bought convenience packets, and if your pantry is stocked with the basics--cocoa, sugar, salt, milk, and vanilla--you're all set!  You can easily make a whole pot to share--you may as well, seeing that it doesn't take any extra time to measure out the extra amounts.  Leftovers, if you have any--can be stored in a Mason jar in the fridge; just reheat on the stove or in the microwave.

If you're a hot chocolate fanatic and want to make this frequently (or a super organized plan-ahead person like I am), make up the dry ingredients and store in baggies or other containers, whether single serve or however you like.  If you store it in one large container, you'll need about 1/4 cup of mix for a single serving.  Otherwise, just mix the dry ingredients, divide into fourths (a weight scale is the most accurate way), and store in small plastic food storage bags.  By doing this ahead of time, it becomes just as fast--and a whole lot healthier--than the store-bought version!

Stovetop Hot Chocolate
Serves four.

1/2 cup cocoa (I use high quality Dutch process)
1/2 cup (or less, if you want to cut back) sugar or cane juice crystals
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Measure the cocoa, sugar, and salt into a 2- or 3-quart saucepan.  Pour about half a cup of the milk into the saucepan and stir with a whisk until the dry ingredients have been incorporated.  Whisk in the rest of the milk while heating up to a nice, hot simmer.  Whisk occasionally so the milk doesn't scald, and once it's heated nice and hot (doesn't need to come to a boil--just taste it carefully!), ladle it into cups and enjoy!

Hot chocolate in my Lake Bonaparte mug.

Back to life,
Christine

Visit my photography blog
Visit my photography website

Birthday Week -- Bubble Tea

Toward the end of my official birthday week, Sarah (adult daughter of one of my church friends) invited me over to teach me how to make bubble tea.  Sarah and her sisters all pitched in, and I watched, asked questions, and learned how to make this Taiwanese tea-based drink.

Cooking up the boba (black tapioca balls) on the stovetop.

Sarah made the tea earlier, and once the boba were done (was done?  Is boba plural??) she mixed it all up and served it in glasses with fat straws (the tapioca balls are large!).

What a fun afternoon!


Back to life,
Christine

Visit my photography blog
Visit my photography website

Summer Iced Tea

Iced tea is another thing I love about summer!  Oh, and a grammar lesson for you--it's iced tea, not ice tea.  Tea that is iced.  Like iced coffee.  Look it up.  Don't worry; I still love you.  :)

Here's something else you may not have known.  I'm not a teetotaler.  I may drink a glass of wine, or a mixed drink, simply for the pleasure of it.

Honor the Lord from your wealth

And from the first of all your produce;

So your barns will be filled with plenty

And your vats will overflow with new wine.

My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord

Or loathe His reproof,

Proverbs 3:9-11 NASB

Okay, that's just a snippet.  God has given us all things to enjoy, and this is one of them.  While I'm not going to defend my stance here (though I'll happily share with you my beliefs), I'm simply going to share a recipe I developed.

Just one more thing.  If you come to my house and I offer you iced tea, don't worry.  It's not spiked.  Because I love you.  :)

Here's the recipe.

Summer Iced Tea
Yield:  One half-gallon pitcher of summertime refreshment.

4 cups cold filtered water
6 tea bags (I use 4 black + 2 flavored, peach or cherry or something fruity)
1/4 to 1/3 cup cane juice crystals (or white sugar)
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup triple sec

In a medium covered saucepan, bring the water to a boil.  Once it boils, turn it down to a simmer, place the tea bags in the water, put the lid back on, and simmer 15 minutes.

At the end of the 15 minutes, remove the tea bags, gently squeezing the excess tea out of each and back into the saucepan.  Stir in the sugar until dissolved.  This mixture is your tea concentrate.

To a half-gallon pitcher, add enough ice to fill about 2/3 full (don't worry about being exact here).  Now add the lime juice and triple sec to the saucepan, give it a quick stir, and carefully pour this tea mixture into the pitcher over the ice.  Using a spoon that fits into the pitcher, stir the iced tea to mix everything well.  Much of the ice will melt; that's okay, since the tea was in concentrate form.

You can pour the iced tea immediately into a glass and enjoy.  Keeps in the fridge, though I can't tell you how long it should last since our half-gallon pitcher is usually done in two or three days!  There is very little alcohol in this; it's just a beautifully flavored summertime drink.

He causes the grass to grow for the cattle,

And vegetation for the labor of man,

So that he may bring forth food from the earth,

And wine which makes man’s heart glad,

So that he may make his face glisten with oil,

And food which sustains man’s heart.

The trees of the Lord drink their fill,

The cedars of Lebanon which He planted,

Psalm 104:14-16 NASB

Back to life,
Christine

Visit my photography blog
Visit my photography website