Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix

It seems like the whole darn country's been in one heck of a cold snap lately! We had our first good snow last week, and when it snows I want two things: soup for supper and hot chocolate before I go to bed. Since I've started being "domestic," I've kind of become a hot chocolate snob. Swiss Miss just don't cut it. Neither does Nestle Quick. I've got something so much better! It's super-easy to whip up a batch, and it makes a ton!
My brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and stepmom Theresa were recipients of some of this yummy mix for Christmas. To make it, you simply dump 1/3 of a cup of the mix in a cup, then fill with boiling water. No need to heat milk, because it's made with dry milk powder. And it's oh so creamy because of the addition of some chocolate fudge pudding mix. A cup of this, two giant marshmallows on top, and a good book are the perfect things to settle in with on a nice wintery night!

Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix

6 1/2 cups powdered milk

5 oz. Cook & Serve chocolate fudge pudding mix

1 cup powdered chocolate drink mix (such as Nestle Quik)

1/2 cup non-dairy creamer (French vanilla is good)

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Put all ingredients into food processor. Process until well blended and powdered milk is a fine consistency.

For one cup of hot chocolate, use 1/3 cup mix. Dissolve mix with boiling water.

Pumpkin Pie Latte

It's that time of year again...Starbucks has rolled out their Pumpkin Spice Lattes, and they are delicious! I look forward to those and the Gingerbread Lattes (at Christmas) all year long. But, of course, those Starbucks drinks sure are budget busters. And, believe it or not, there are people who don't live anywhere near a Starbucks and may not have ever experienced the beauty and deliciousness of a Pumpkin Spice Latte! So, for those who are pinching pennies and for those who don't have a local Starbucks, here's a simple and tasty knockoff that you can probably create with the things you have in your kitchen right now! I'll post the recipe as it was originally written, but I recommend that you don't use this quantity of pumpkin pie spice. Cut it in half, then if you want more, add it a tiny bit at a time.

Pumpkin Pie Latte

adapted from a recipe in Family Circle, November 2008

2 cups fat-free milk

2/3 cup water

1/3 cup pumpkin puree

3 1/2 Tbs. sugar (or Splenda)

4 heaping tsp. espresso powder or instant coffee

2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (but this is way too much)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

In a small saucepan, whisk together all ingredients and simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Serve immediately. Makes 2 smallish servings.

Sun Tea!

When I was growing up, I spent nearly every Saturday night with my Granny and Grandydaddy. We had tons of fun...swinging on the porch swing with Granny, going to KFC for chicken littles, watching Hee-Haw with Grandydaddy. Those were the days. And Granny always had a pitcher of sweet iced tea in the refrigerator. She may not have been the greatest cook in the world, but man, could she make some good sweet tea! I wouldn't want to guess how much sugar she put in it, but it was absolutely delicious! Strangely, though, at my house, we didn't drink iced tea. We mostly just drank water. Soft drinks were pretty rare at my house growing up, and I think we usually kept some apple juice, but mostly, it was water. But it never failed...during the summer, Mom would get out that big glass jar and make sun tea! I always forget about it until about mid-summer when I'm strolling through Wal-Mart and I see the sun tea jars. I always reminisce about having sun tea, but I'd never bought a jar of my own. Until yesterday! I was so excited to make my first batch of summer sun tea! Check it out...
This is the sun tea this morning at about 7:30 when I put it out on the porch. I used 4 family-sized Lipton tea bags. I felt like I should use more, but I like to err on the side of caution. I wanted to see how strong it would be with four bags.
This was the sun tea this afternoon at about 5:00! It's deceptively dark. I just poured me a glass, and it's a little weak. Oh, it's still delicious, but a little weak. I think for the next batch, I'll use 6 tea bags and see what happens. It's officially summer, folks. Break out your sun tea jars! You can't get any "greener" than this!

Sun Tea

6 family-size tea bags

1 gallon water

Plenty of hot, summer sun

Fill your sun tea jar with water and add your tea bags, leaving the strings hanging outside the jar. Place the full jar in a warm, sunny location for 6-8 hours (or longer if you want). When you bring the tea inside, take out the tea bags and squeeze out the excess tea. Sweeten to taste, and enjoy! If you like a fruity flavor, use 1 or 2 flavored tea bags, along with 4 or 5 regular tea bags.