New Mexican Hot Cocoa
adapted from Cooking Light

1/2 cup water
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
pinch of cloves
4 cups milk, 1% or 1/2%
1 tsp vanilla extract
cinnamon sticks for garnish, optional

Combine water, honey, cocoa powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and cloves in a medium saucepan. Stirring occasionally, bring to a boil. Gradually whisk in milk and vanilla extract. Heat until hot, but do not boil. Remove from heat and serve with a cinnamon stick if desired.

Imagine stirring a pot full of wonderful, spicy goodness on the stove, then ladling the brew into a mug and sipping in the warmth on a cold night. That is the idea behind these recipes; beverages that are warming for the heart and the home. This project will consist of easy-to-prepare warm beverages with (mostly) simple ingredients from the pantry. Why send you back out into the cold to fetch a missing item from the store?

Here is a basic list of ingredients to have on hand for Winter Brews:

• Sugar
• Honey
• Cocoa powder or baking chocolate
• Spices such as ground cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger
• Fine grain salt
• Regular or powdered milk
• Heavy cream
• Instant coffee or espresso

Some recipes may contain other pantry items, for example Peach Horchata calls for rice and frozen peach slices and the recipe for Sbiten includes jam or preserves. Sweetened condensed milk or evaporated milk are also good items to stock in the pantry when making Winter Brews, and of course who doesn’t love a hot beverage garnished with a cinnamon stick?

So, join me for Winter Brews and we’ll sip away the cold and gray together!