Baby, it's cold outside...

Seems we are smack dab in the middle of 'isolated flurries' at our house today. The yard is still filling up with snow (not to mention the driveway) and the view out of the kitchen window all afternoon was a blur of white flakes dancing madly about. The boys spent large pockets of the afternoon outside rolling in the snow, popping in to the house to thaw frozen fingers and toes every now and then. I made gingersnaps yesterday (yes, more ginger!) which were happily gobbled up during afternoon snack along with a 'first of the season' mug of hot chocolate.

Following in the footsteps of my 'I don't like using boxed pancake mix' rant I bring you 'I also can't stand commercial hot chocolate mixes'. It's one of those products that has an ingredient label containing too many words I can't pronounce. And if I can't pronounce it, I really don't want to ingest it. So around this time of year I make my own hot chocolate mix. It's really easy - all you need is skim milk powder, sugar, cocoa and a pinch of salt:

Hot Chocolate Mix

3 cups powdered milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
pinch salt

Combine ingredients and store in air tight container.

To make your hot chocolate add 4 tbsp of mix to 3/4 cup of hot water and you're good to go. My guys top their hot chocolate with mini marshmallows, enough that they form a kind of sticky crust. Luckily it is just a sometimes treat...