Mexican Hot Chocolate Mix for C.L.U.E.

Welcome to the second round of postings for the relatively new “Blogger C.L.U.E. Society.”

CLUE logo

 

This brand new group of rogue cooks, bakers, and bloggers was started to celebrate all the good foods and great cooking ideas that are out there in the foodie blogger world.  (Our inaugural post was last month.)    Much like the game CLUE, this blogger society involves secrecy, fun, challenge and cooperation with the other game playing members. The good news about this, however, is that in the end, everyone’s a winner (including you, dear reader).  No Colonel Mustard in the library with a candlestick…just lots of fun, good food, and cooking camaraderie.

colonel mustard

This month’s theme focused on food our grandmothers would have cooked.  To spice it up a bit, the society members were tasked with searching our assigned blogs for something that our grandmother would have cooked AND then sharing an authentic recipe from our own grandmother’s recipe box.

This was a tough assignment—not my secret blog assignment because she rocked (Kim at Liv Life)—but because it made me nostalgic for my grandmothers’ cooking.  I remember my paternal grandmother always in the kitchen.   My maternal grandmother I remember for a handful of dishes like fried chicken, Sunday pot roast, and New York ice cream.

Again, my CLUE blog assignment was Kim at Liv Life.   I have followed Kim for a long time and her site is full of delicious and healthy foods.   I knew the problem would be narrowing down what to make.   Kim lives in sunny San Diego with a beautiful family, including the blog’s namesake, her daughter Liv (who, by the way, is an accomplished competitive dancer).

The harder part was going to be pairing one of Kim’s recipe with one from my grandmother.

Besides the aforementioned fried chicken, Grandma made a mean meatloaf.   I started my search through Kim’s blog and found a delicious meatloaf:  Turkey Meatloaf with Feta and Sun Dried Tomatoes.   Sounds delicious, right?

Grandma always had homemade cookies in her cookie jar and they were almost always oatmeal-raisin.   My other Grandmother always (and I mean always) had fig newtons.   (They weren’t my favorite.)

I almost landed on Kim’s Hot Cocoa Snicker Doodles.  Again, sounds delicious, right? This recipe caused me to have an epiphany….Grandma’s hot cocoa.

Grandma made the best hot cocoa, the real stuff.   I have very fond memories of feeding cattle with dad on cold and snowy days with the anticipation of stopping at Grandma and Grandpa’s house for hot cocoa.

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Since it is the gift giving season, here is a great hot cocoa mix from Kim that you will love and that friends will love to get:  Mexican Hot Chocolate Mix.   My Grandma would have so made this!

Mexican Hot Chocolate Mix
from Kim at Liv Life

1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 c. brown sugar
pinch salt
1/4 t. cinnamon
3 T. chopped Mexican Chocolate such as Ibarra  (I could not find Ibarra chocolate so I used Ghirardelli 60% Cacao bittersweet chocolate.)
Optional:  Mini marshmallows.

Layer ingredients into a jar, top with marshmallows if desired.  Attach a cute card with a description and directions, and tie with a ribbon.

Directions:  Heat 3 cups milk in a saucepan until small bubbles appear on the sides, reduce heat and add contents of jar.  Stir until dissolved.  Serve with additional marshmallows or whipped cream if desired.

This recipe is attributed to Kim’s lovely daughter, Liv.   For another great holiday gift, check out their DIY Peppermint Hot Chocolate Mix as well.

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I added a few sticks of cinnamon as well as some super jumbo sized marshmallows.

Now for my Grandma’s recipe, straight off the side of the Hershey’s Cocoa container.

Grandma’s Hot Cocoa

1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 c. hot water
4 c.  (1 qt.) whole milk
3/4 t. vanilla extract
Miniature marshmallows or sweetened whipped cream (optional)

Stir together sugar, cocoa and salt in medium saucepan; stir in water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil and stir 2 minutes. Add milk; stirring constantly, heat to serving temperature. Do Not Boil.

Remove from heat; add vanilla. Beat with rotary beater or whisk until foamy. Serve topped with marshmallows or whipped cream, if desired. (Five 8-oz. servings.)

Grandma always plopped in a giant marshmallow.

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As the holiday gets more and more hectic, make yourself a hot cup of cocoa, sit back and find some time to relax.   Find enough energy to make some jars of Mexican Hot Chocolate to give away as gifts.

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What a great gift to leave on your neighbor’s doorstep.

 

 

Now, for some more chocolatey goodness (and a great gift idea), stay tuned for a DIY Chocolate Bourbon Kahlua recipe.   Then, you can us your homemade kahlua for Kim’s Kahlua Brownies (which I almost featured for this post).

Postscript:  I really feel that there were many worthy recipes at Kim’s site and I feel a little sad that I simply chose a hot chocolate mix recipe to highlight her blog.   I do have a strong affinity with my Grandma and hot chocolate so that is my rationale.   Please, please, please stop by Kim’s blog.   You will definitely find plenty to inspire you.

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Post-postscript:   Please check out all the other C.L.U.E. posts this month.

 

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