Frozen Hot Chocolate-what in the heck?

I thought I was the only person left in the human race that didn't know what Frozen Hot Chocolate from Serendipity was. Judging from yesterday's comments, there were at least a couple of others with me in my Uninformed Citizens of America Club. (Want to join-all you have to do is stay home with the TV off for a couple of years.) So what is Frozen Hot Chocolate? And more importantly, can something be hot and frozen at the same time, or is it just a clever oxymoron? (No and yes, respectively.) And where do you get it? (You make it-right after you read my post.) Frozen Hot chocolate is a smooth and creamy frozen version of the hot holiday drink. It is icy cold, but the flavor is unmistakably that of hot chocolate, thanks to the addition of instant hot chocolate mix. Apparently it originated (or at least become famous) at a NYC restaurant with the irresistible name of Serendipity. The place is so adorable, kitschy and cozy, crowded with Tiffany lamps, wonky tables, and latticework. The line winds outside the door and into the streets. Everything is oversized-except for the space, and it makes you feel a bit like a diminutive Alice in Wonderland. The food was good, but good food abounds in NYC. People come for the Frozen Hot Chocolate, which was precisely why we were there. It comes in a giant goblet, with mounds of whipped cream and chocolate shavings, flanked by four straws. It's more along the lines of a dessert than a drink, and I made the fortunate mistake of ordering it before my meal. Skip the meal if you must, but you've got to have the chocolate. As soon as I came home, I scoured the Internet for copy cat recipes-which turned out to be poor imitations. I fiddled and fretted and came up with a version that we all dubbed delicious. I can't taste test them side by side, since they don't have a Serendipity in my tiny Utah town, but to the best of my recollection, this is it. And if you make it at home, it'll save you not just the $13 bucks for the drink, but also the plane ticket to NYC. Don't let that stop you from going-but make some this weekend, too. Of course you'll have to give up your membership in the Uninformed Citizens of America Club, but it's a small price to pay.

Frozen Hot Chocolate
Estimated Cost for four servings: $3.00

Notes: I'm sure that you'll get the best results with high quality chocolate, but all I had was chocolate chips and they were delicious, too. I used Nestle hot chocolate mix, but any kind would work.

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 packet instant hot chocolate mix (2 tbsps. loose mix)

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup cream

1 and 1/3 cup milk

3 cups ice cubes

For Whipped Cream:

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a small saucepan, melt chocolate over very low heat. Whisk in hot chocolate mix, sugar, and cream until smooth. Whisk in milk and transfer mixture to blender. Add ice and process until smooth. Meawhile, beat whipping cream until fluffy; stir in sugar and vanilla. Serve frozen hot chocolate with whipped cream, and if you're cleverer than I, you can add some chocolate shavings, too.

Be back soon with Easter Dinner Ideas

(Don't order an expensive ready to eat ham, though-we're going to make our own.)

Happy Halloween Hot Chocolate

For some reason in high school, I thought that sewing would be more spectacular than something as practical as typing, so I signed up. The most important thing that I learned that year had nothing to do with needles and thread. I learned that Mrs. Mitchell did not like anyone to sit on the tables, under any circumstance. "Get your buns off the table," is what I gleaned from my first year of sewing instructions.
Years later, in college, having not sewn a single blessed thing since high school (but for the most part keeping my buns off of tables), my little sister signed up for sewing 101. Somehow, she got the notion that I should sign up for sewing too. I had zero interest, since my high school sewing class was anything but riveting.
She told me that college sewing would be Fun! and that sewing is a very Practical! and Useful! Skill, but I wasn't convinced. And then she dropped the bomb: "If you don't learn how to sew, then your kids will have to wear plastic costumes for Halloween."

I didn't have any kids. I wasn't sure if or when I would have kids, but I knew one thing for certain. One day, if and when I did have kids, I sure as heck didn't want them wandering around town in plastic costumes one night a year.

It was a real possibility. Plastic costumes were all that were available when I was growing up; if your mother didn't make your costume or you didn't forage for one through the family closets, then you were left with a slick and flimsy grocery store costume, much like a disposable party tablecloth. Had I known then that by the time I finally had children that Disney was going to be making Practical, Useful and Gorgeous costumes, AND selling them at Target for ridiculously affordable prices, I never would have signed up for that sewing class.

And by the way, sewing 101 was not a success. My sister and I, anxious for A grades, did extra credit, completed all our sewing projects neatly (kind of) and on time. We even went to our instructor's house for an optional project, just for brownie points. Imagine our dismay when we both-BOTH of us got C pluses in sewing! Mrs. Rosen claimed that we did a terrible job on our final, and deep down I knew she was right. We had to sew a puny shirt with buttons and zipper that would only fit on a Ken Barbie. Criminy-I wasn't trying to sew Barbie clothes-just Halloween costumes! C plus! Grumble, grumble!Yes, my undergrad GPA suffered, but it turned out all right in the end. My two little charges have never ever had to wear a plastic tablecloth costume.

C-plus crooked seams and lopsided sleeves, yes. But plastic, no. Phew. Happy Halloween! Keep safe tonight everybody! My Halloween hot chocolate is more of an "idea" than a recipe. Toss a couple of pieces of Halloween candy in the bottom of your mug to make an extra special cup of hot chocolate.My favorites are Reese's peanut butter cups, Butterfingers, Whoppers or Hershey Bars. A bit of whipped cream and orange and black sprinkles make it extra pretty.

Here're a few pics of my Obi Wan and Belle at the Spooktacular concert....

See you after the weekend !