RECIPE: Homemade Hot Chocolate

The colder weather down here in Florida has gotten me craving hot chocolate. And it got me thinking about what real hot chocolate is, and how I've never made "real" hot chocolate before. So, after receiving my new Emeril saucepan in the mail (which was purchased using a gift code that I won in a giveaway)...

...I decided to break it in by making my first batch of hot chocolate.

During a trip to the grocery store today, I bought some semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips and milk. After coming home, I did a little research on how homemade hot chocolate is made, and only one recipe I found had actual chocolate! Most had powdered cocoa. The one with chocolate included a beaten egg (uh...isn't that "egg nog"?) So I had to come up with my own recipe. So this is what I did:

Homemade Hot Chocolate

1 pint of reduced-fat milk
1/3-1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tbs sugar
Sprinkle of cayenne pepper
Whipped Cream

Directions:

• Pour milk into saucepan and add chocolate. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, as chocolate slowly melts while milk heats.

• After chocolate seems to be melted and milk thoroughly heated, add a sprinkle of cayenne and mix well.
• Pour into two mugs, and top with whipped cream. You could drizzle the whipped cream with chocolate syrup or a sprinkle of cocoa.

Mmmmmmm good! This is a keeper as a treat for cold winter nights!

Also today: I had a knob break off of drawer, and we went today to look for a replacement. I thought I might get all new hardware, but didn't want to get too costly. I found a couple of pulls that were affordable and which I thought might go nicely with my white cabinets, and decided to try them out and see how I liked them.

This is what I have now...

...and these are the new pulls...

I'm thinking that I like them! The color goes nicely with the tile in the kitchen. So I'll be buying more for the rest of the kitchen today.

Now go make hot chocolate! Do it quick! Do it now!