31 Days - Hot Chocolate

This post is part of my Thirty-One Days with a Two-Year-Old series.

Chocolate is my manna. Hot chocolate? Manna in liquid form. And since I don't drink coffee, or tea, and very little soda, it's my only source of a caffeinated beverage. Though I'm pretty sure the sugar has more impact than the caffeine.

When I was in college, I consumed copious amounts of Swiss Miss (and, under my influence, so did my roommates). Sometime during grad school I switched to cocoa and sugar or honey in milk. Right now my preferred proportions are a tablespoon of cocoa, a tablespoon of sugar/honey/maple syrup*, and a full mug (my Mt. Washington cup - approximately 12 fluid ounces) of milk. Cooking on the stove is preferred, but the microwave will do if necessary.

[*I haven't tried the maple syrup yet, though one of my college roommates would use it when she made cocoa this way. I'm guessing that a tablespoon would work.]

Is it any surprise that Piper-girl loves hot chocolate too? I dilute hers half-and-half with milk, because she doesn't need that much sugar. And it means that I don't have to share as much of my hot chocolate with her. I picked up some mini marshmallows while grocery shopping last week, so we've been enjoying "mah-yallow" in our hot chocolate this weekend.

And, yes, giving a two-year-old an open cup of hot chocolate while she was wearing a white shirt was a mistake. Once she was finished her hot chocolate, I immediately put the shirt into the sink to soak with some Oxiclean.