Best hot chocolate ever

Today we got about 5 inches of snow on top of our 3 inches of ice. The kids on the street showed up bright and early to sled down our little hill again, but first they had to shovel paths in the snow to expose the ice. How dare that snow attempt to slow them down?!

Those kids were out there for hours. Honestly. And I felt bad that I didn't have any hot chocolate mix that I could use to make them warm drinks. Enter the internet. One quick search on Swagbucks, and I had a recipe for homemade hot chocolate.

It was simple enough:

 Homemade Hot Chocolate

1/2 c. cocoa powder
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3 c. water
1/2 gallon milk
Marshmallows (optional)

 

In a 10-quart kettle combine cocoa, sugar, and water. Stir until heated (slow boil); add milk. Heat until steaming. Add the vanilla just before serving. Top with whipping cream or marshmallows. Serves 10-12.

 

I don't own a kettle, so I just used a big pot. And I didn't have vanilla. So I went back to the computer and found that I could substitute maple syrup for the vanilla. Who knew? Also, no marshmallows or whipped cream. We've been housebound for days -- we're just about out of everything.

When I called the kids to come to the back porch for hot chocolate, they were thrilled, despite the lack of marshmallows. They all took one sip and asked for...an ice cube! I had to laugh. They were standing in snow up to their knees, covered with snow from their fuzzy hats to their stomping boots, but they wanted ice. 

They also wanted to come in from the cold, understandably. So they came in, I put coats, hats, gloves and sweatshirts in the dryer to a.) dry and b.) warm up and they sat at the kitchen table drinking my homemade hot chocolate. 

 

I knew the recipe was a winner when one of the kids said, "This is the best hot chocolate I've ever tasted. It's way better than any packet!"

Ten minutes later, the coats were out of the dryer and back on, the kids were back outside, and I was enjoying my unofficial title as "the cool mom." As it should be.