In the Kitchen with Ben: The perfect mug of hot cocoa

This is one of my favorite things Ben makes for me when the weather gets chilly so I had him share it with you! Enjoy!

When winter comes around I get very excited to break up my normal, monotaous, coffee routine with a treat I've had the pleasure of enjoying my entire life.  On my maternal side of the family I have seven uncles and two aunts, not to mention one wonderful mother!  Needless to say, my Granny Murphy had her hands full trying to raise all ten of her offspring, let alone feed them.  Think about that...she had ten children.  At a nine month term that is seven and one half years of her life that she spent pregnant!  This absolutely boggles my mind.  I once actually asked her what she remembered about the 60's and 70's, fully expecting a story about one of my hippie uncles.  Her response, "Oh I don't remember.  I was pregnant a lot."

As I have mentioned before, my Aunt Anne made all of us Murphy Kin a phenomenal cookbook with family heirloom recipes.  One thing you can always count on from this recipe book is that you can feed a small army on a miniscule budget.  During December when all your expendable income is utilized buying gifts for those special in your life, rest assured you can knock the socks off of your family and friends with this great and simple  homemade hot chocolate for dirt cheap.


First things first, start getting the water boiling.  You're gonna want 7-8 cups at full boil so get this started while you prep and measure the other ingredients.  The other additions to the hot chocolate are really, really simple...this is one of the first things I remember "cooking" with my mom as a kid.  In a bowl combine 1 cup of white sugar and 2 tablespoons cocoa powder and mix it up, making sure to break up any "chunks" of cocoa.  Now hang out until the water boils.  If you want to waste the time by singing one of Tony Bennett's awesome Christmas Standards, I won't tell.  When the water boils stir in the sugar and cocoa mixture.  Add in one teaspoon of pure vanilla extract.  I also add in 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract, but that is my "secret" addition and not part of the original recipe.  Finally, pour in three cans of evaporated milk and stir.  And that is it.  Done and done.  

Fill up your favorite mug, cuddle up on the couch with a good blanket, plop in a couple marshmallows if that strikes your fancy, turn on Love Actually, and be prepared to be fully engulfed in all that is Winter.  Also, this stuff makes AWESOME coffee creamer...because if you are like me, you can't skip a morning without your caffeine.  Just make sure to stir up what you refigerate before you heat it up or add it to your coffee, the cocoa tends to settle out.