Alton Brown's Hot Cocoa MixI don't know about anyone else, but a monthlong streak of rainy, chilly weather has me craving some warm drinks by the fire. Alton's recipe is super rich and super comforting- and the cayenne pepper is just the right touch!
This also makes great last minute gifts for other cocoa lovers. If you gift it, be sure to add...
Smitten Kitchen's Homemade Marshmallows
I'm not even a marshmallow person but this recipe may convert me! Although part of me just wants to make a batch, not let it set, and just make Rice Krispie Treats.
Make your own mulling spices
Because I don't always want to spend $10-15 on mulling spices from the local foodie store. Whether you mull wine, or cider... the house smells A-Mazing when you have something mulling on the stove. This recipe is simple, the site offers gifting ideas (including printable premade tags with instructions!) and best of all: it has a Mulling Spice Calculation Worksheet in case you need to make a smaller amount.
Almond Biscotti
Another recipe I've been craving since my hot beverage intake is on the rise. It also looks like it would make an excellent gift for a friend of mine, presented with a bag of dark rich coffee beans or exotic tea.
Epicurious Guide to Entertaining (featuring Clinton Kelly)
Granted... I'm a little biased here. One of my fantasies entails a week of shopping, lunches and fabulous parties with Tim Gunn and Clinton Kelly. So that alone would make this link worthwhile (for me). But I know not everyone crushes on fabulous stylish 'lifestyle gurus'... but the videos themselves are pretty good. In the "cocktail party/home bar" video, he talks about different ways to offer beverages for small or large parties, including using recipe cards for guests to make their own drinks, or serving a signature cocktail so it's easy to have made ahead in batches, and how to calculate how much to plan (ice, booze) per guest. Pretty fun, fast paced videos to watch, and some handy little hors d'oeuvres recipes.
I completely agree with Alton Brown's Hot Cocoa mix. I made my first batch last week and will never be buying pre-made ever again. Master loves it and it's super rich and delicious. The batch you make of the mix lasts 6 months in the pantry but I doubt it will hang around that long!
ReplyDeleteI love Alton's recipe too. And I have made it for gifts in years past and it is always a hit. Also my Grandma is diabetic so I have made it with splenda and she loves it.
ReplyDeleteI also love Alton's recipe, but we are big fans of all things Alton around here. Last year we gave a bunch of the recipe mixed up in jars as gifts. It was a hit!
ReplyDeletethanks for the mulling spices recipe link, i will definitely be using that to get through the rest of this winter.
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