1. Posted by HockeyBehr on Fri, Dec 08, 2006, 7:02 am PST

Although I love my (and your) holiday food traditions, there's one holiday tradition that I keep to this day that involves the entire household. When I was a child, there was a terrible rainstorm on my Mother's birthday, December 4th, that flooded the streets to the point that my father couldn't even drive to work. Due to the storm, we all stayed home and decorated our Christmas tree. To this day, regardless of weather or what day of the week it is, our Christmas tree goes up on December 4th not only as a tradition, but in memory of all the wonderul holidays my Mother created for us.

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2. Posted by vegtabletarian on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:16 am PST

Yum! Use soymilk instead, it is so much better!

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3. Posted by kitzeleh on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:17 am PST

Awww, that's a sweet memory to tuck close to one's heart at any season, but especially this time of year when sentiments are so close to the surface. I hope you keep the memories alive for a long, long time. My own Mother has passed on and I miss her most at Christmas.

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4. Posted by Diane on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:18 am PST

Hot Chocolate is a comfort food - a memory of my mom. When my brothers and sisters and I would come in from sledding or snow fort building, she always had hot chocolate waiting. That was the only time we had that treat, so it was special!

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5. Posted by Dave on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:19 am PST

Best plave to drink Hot Chocalate is in front of a warm fireplace! www.LiveFireplace.com

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6. Posted by ffagirl89 on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:21 am PST

This is a great recipe and it should be on the front page. KUDOS, and plus you cant use soymilk it doesnt taste like cocoa with out the milk

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7. Posted by scavs on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:21 am PST

Be creative and make it with real chocolate....lame recipe, what did you do read it off the back of a Nestle Quik canister?

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8. Posted by kitzeleh on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:21 am PST

That last post was in response to "hockeybehr". This is in response to "vegtabletarian", I really don't like soymilk. If I want to avoid cowmilk, I use ricemilk, which I prefer to soymilk.

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9. Posted by Toni H on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:22 am PST

yes, homemade hot cocoa is great! BUT I cannot believe you are suggesting to use artificial sweetener especially for children! artificial sweeteners (which includes splenda) is the #1 substance that the CDC receives complaints on for it's side effects (which include cancer) - it is poison. dont give it to your kids! We make ours with (raw) whole milk.or almond milk and agave nectar/honey or some other raw organic sugar. give it a try! go the extra mile and use your stove so you dont kill all the nutrients in your food! you'll be builing more than a wonderful holiday tradition!

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10. Posted by kangel067 on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:22 am PST

nice,but i always preferred making hot chocolate on the stovetop.if your child is old enough to use a stove,let them use it and supervise. its a great way to give them a hug. not to mention it smells sooo much better than making it in a mircowave.

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11. Posted by hollylombardi on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:22 am PST

Hot cocoa is a lovely, warm idea for the holidays. Please don't recommend artificial sweeteners for children or anyone. Sugar, stevia or xylitol would be healthier alternatives. Thank you for your suggestions.

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12. Posted by Nancy on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:24 am PST

That is a beautiful tradition that was started for a wonderful reason. God Bless!!

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13. Posted by qtpi89@sbcglobal.net on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:25 am PST

this comment is to kitzeleh ricemilk is much better and many people arent allergic to it either good idea but real milk from a hiefer is much much better, support your local agriculture

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14. Posted by nlandi82 on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:26 am PST

I remember drinking hot chocolate with my mom when we would shovel snow after a snowstorm!

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15. Posted by avenger9992001 on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:27 am PST

I'm bemused by your hot chocolate 'recipe'. Forgive me but it's about as original as a recipe for making a cup of tea by pouring hot water onto a teabag. And why specificy unsweetened cocoa powder only to add two and a half tablesoons of sugar yourself? An original recipe for hot chocolate might have included something like a teaspoon of molasses or a pinch of cinnamon or cardomom. What you've given here is nothing that you can't find on the packet of cocoa powder itself. Or am I missing something?

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16. Posted by Norm on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:27 am PST

Building (Christmas) Holiday Traditions....? Keeping traditions is tough right now. Stores and their ads are afraid to use the word CHRISTMAS, restaurants won't play CHRISTMAS music, you can't get a cashier at a store to say "have a merry Christmas", all because they might offend maybe 5% of the population. What about the rest of us ??

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17. Posted by Lori on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:28 am PST

Regardless of what type of milk you use, you absolutely (in my opinion) Must have Marshmellows!! Yumm, enjoy all your traditions!

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18. Posted by Jenny on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:29 am PST

It's better with some homemade whipped cream on top of the hot chocolate! I whip together whipping cream, confectioner's sugar, and a drop of vanilla extract. Yummy!

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19. Posted by The Prince on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:31 am PST

I can't believe that after reading this really long opening, looking forward to some interesting hot chocolate recipe...he tells us to mix milk with cocoa and sugar!!! Dear Mr. Smith, while I appreciate the nice opening, trust me when I say, most people on this planet know the secret to this awesome recipe and if they don't, they can't afford the ingredients anyways. I really hope there's more interesting stuff in your book!

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20. Posted by fpcrosenberg on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:33 am PST

I would LOVE a homemade recipe for hot chocolate! On the stovetop made chocolate reminds me of my childhood. Merry Christmas to all.

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21. Posted by Helios on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:33 am PST

In response to scavs: This recipe does use real chocolate--as in cocoa powder is the base of chocolate. Chocolate bars include a bunch of smoothers and sometimes a few preservatives. This recipe gets the homemade taste without worrying about scalding the milk--one advantage of microwaves is that they make melting chocolate (bars) and heating milk to the boiling point without scalding on a hot pan very easy. Too bad they also strip your veggies of nutrients and may make you sterile:)

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22. Posted by on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:34 am PST

If you're only going to have it a couple of times a year, use whole milk, it's richer and tastes better. Also, to "scavs": it's not on the Nestle Quick canister, it's on the Hershey's Cocoa canister!

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23. Posted by James M on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:35 am PST

HEY...JUST PUT SOME CHOCOLATE MIL FROM THE DAIRY COUNTER IN A CUP ..HEAT FOR 2 MINUTES IN THE MICROWAVE AND PUT A MARSMELLOW ON TOP...GOOD HAPPY HOLIDAYS

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24. Posted by 3fingeredfanfixer@sbcglobal.net on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:36 am PST

leave out the artificial sweetners, do it on the stove. All good advice. Especially if ur giving it to children, It is bad enough that we full size adults litter our bodies with that junk. How do expect a little body and liver to handle it ????? Ive lost 58 pounds in 6 months from cutting out processed sugars and flours. Go figure why the kids of today are sooooooo fat.

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25. Posted by Norm on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:38 am PST

Don't forget the miniature marshmellows !!

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26. Posted by Jennifer P on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:39 am PST

it's the holiday season! make the cocoa the way YOU want to and enjoy it how you like it! the artificial sweetner may contain some things not liked by some .. but so does most food out there these days and i'm pretty sure ONE MUG of cocoa is not going to damage a child. it is NOT POISON !!! let's not go to that extreme with artificial sweetners! tis the season for happiness and joy ... lay off the pushing of organics and no milk. do what makes your holiday the best it can be!

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27. Posted by mmcintyrelmt on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:40 am PST

Stop reccomending artificial sweetners for ANY ONE. Your body cannot use them. Stevia is the best choice.

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28. Posted by Catherine777 on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:40 am PST

Don't use soymilk, it's disgusting that way.

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29. Posted by andersonbethann on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:42 am PST

..................i love hot cocoa it goooooooooooooood:)

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30. Posted by kak0024 on Thu, Dec 14, 2006, 11:43 am PST

A really great recipe -but requires a stovetop- is a container of Nuttella mixed with milk. You have to make sure you stir in the milk slowly and it is better if you heat up the Nutella for a little while before stirring in the milk. It's really yummy and almost impossible to screw up. No extra sugar needed, it is PLENTY sweet.

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