Stove Top Hot Chocolate

So it's been cold - like bitterly cold.  Too much for us down South to handle!  I mean 6 degrees and frozen pipes?  Not something we are used to.  Really not much to do except keep warm inside, play some games and of course make hot chocolate!

This is my favorite recipe for hot chocolate.  Made on the stove top, it will take just minutes!  It's creamy and sweet and perfect.  

We love it served with whipped cream because it cools it down and my children don't have to be as patient to drink it.  My 2 year old calls it cupcakes because I guess the whipped cream looks like frosting to him!  A fun treat for all of us.  

Makes five 1 cup servings

Stove Top Hot Chocolate

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

dash salt

1/3 cup hot water

4 cups whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

whipped cream or marshmallows

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, cocoa powder and salt.  Whisk in the water and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until it comes to a boil.  Let boil for 2 minutes, always stirring.  Gradually add milk and whisk, heating to desired temperature, but do not boil. 

Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla.  Serve topped with whipped cream or marshmallows.  

Fresh Limeade

On a whim at the grocery store I bought an entire 3 pound bag of limes.  Just because they looked so pretty!  And I knew they would look especially nice in my black and white striped bowl from Crate and Barrel.  And they do, right?  

So, I have this overabundance of limes.  What to do with them?  On Mother's Day, after a wonderful afternoon at the beach, we stopped at this BBQ restaurant where we had fresher than fresh limeade.  Literally squeezed to order...so refreshing!  So I thought I'd give that a try.  Talk about fresher than fresh!!  This is so good!  And perfect for a hot summer day.  Would be even so good as a replacement for lemonade in my Light and Easy Margaritas.   

Makes about 1 1/2 quarts

Fresh Limeade

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon lime zest

3/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (about 5 limes)

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and lime zest with 1 cup of water.  Bring to a boil and once the sugar dissolves (usually it happens simultaneously), remove from heat and let cool slightly.  Using a fine mesh sieve, strain the simple syrup into a pitcher to remove the lime zest.  Add the lime juice and 4 cups of water.  Serve over ice with a sprig of mint.

  

Sweet Tea with Mint

If you live in the south and you don't initally love sweet tea, believe me you will learn to love it.  We've lived here 5 years now and I swear, just last week was the first time I experienced my husband purchasing it from the grocery store!  I've loved it from the beginning, but for him, apparently, it was an acquired taste.  Anyway, I make a pretty darn good sweet tea so I'm so excited to have it around a lot more (so I don't drink it all myself!).  And with an abundance of herbs in our backyard, I couldn't help but add fresh mint to this tea!  It's so incredibly refreshing.   

Makes 2 Quarts

6 tea bags (or 3 family size)

1/2 cup fresh mint leaves

2 cups water

1 cup sugar

In a medium saucepan, combine the water, tea bags and mint.  Bring to a boil, remove from heat and cover.  Let steep for about 15 minutes.  Remove tag bags and mint and pour warm tea into a 2 quart pitcher.  Add sugar and stir.  Fill the rest of the pitcher with cold water (or water and ice).