Dark Winter Days with White Hot Chocolate

It's mid February and it seems that winter has been around for too long. How is it where you are? Here in London, Ontario it has been frigid cold, and the wind has been as sharp as a blade. But I know it can be worse. Everyday I turn the Weather Network on and I find that our friends to the south, in the Northern states have more and more snow. You can't even see outside the window and snow is piling up high to the roof tops. Wow... I'm glad that I don't have to shovel that.

Nevertheless, I'm still complaing about this harsh winter. I can't imagine what to expect next season when we'll move to Calgary, Alberta. I don't want to go out now, next winter its going to be even colder. It's hard to be stylish with all those layers.

It may seem that I'm a wimp when it comes to frigid weather but I still muster the strength to go outside, if not for myself then for my puppy. She is now a big puppy, 8 months, but still a bundle of joy, for those of us who don't have kids. She can be very demanding when it comes to her time outside. When the sun is shining we skillfully get dressed very warmly, 4 layers of shirts and fleeces and 2 pairs of pants and we run and play, jump through big piles of snow, chase squirrels and spend least 30-45 minutes outside. For a warm person like myself I'm very proud of my outings. I may look like a Michelin tire but I'm warm. To me, delicious living includes staying warm ....

When we get back inside my favorite thing to do is to make some delicious hot chocolate. These days I'm in love with White Hot Chocolate. Unfortunately I can't say that I actually go home and make it from scratch. I would love to do that but when my fingers are frozen and can barely hold a cup I reach out for a quick fix: powder mix. My favorite can be purchased from Second Cup. Oh, its so delicious and creamy. Melt in my mouth fabulous!!! I always make it with milk not water, I microwave it until it almost boils. (This takes some skillful trial and error with your microwave to know how many minutes it will take for milk to reach this temperature). In my microwave it takes 3 minutes. Perfection!! But if its not as hot it's better than over cooked and spoiled all over the inside of the microwave. Unscheduled cleaning when not called for is never a good thing especially when you are itching for that delicious hot and creamy winter drink in your mouth. I love it and Lawrence and I enjoy it all the time in the winter. After all most days I spend 1.5 hours outside jumping through the snow, in my mind I definitely deserve it.

I hope wherever you are you are keeping warm unless you are one of the vistors from West Africa or other warm places then I hope you are keeping cool.