I have a Giraffe Whisk!

That's right, I have a giraffe whisk. How cute is this?!

Shelby gave me this for Christmas - how precious!

So where in the world have I been? I know I haven't posted in a whole week (?!) but I was struck with a terrible stomach flu that made getting through midterms last week absolutely no fun at all, in addition to packing up and moving back home for Spring Break pretty yucky. I spent the weekend on the couch and, after five whole days of not eating anything, was finally able to stomach something more than oyster crackers. Oh how I missed you Greek yogurt, pancakes, chili, and skinny lattes. 

As I was thinking about what my first blog post back would be, I realized I hadn't posted about our one (and probably only) day of snow this winter. Last Monday I was woken by the glare of beautiful sunshine off of four inches of snow. It was absolutely gorgeous - and I was caught completely unprepared and unaware. But of course this didn't mean we got a snow day, no day off to go sledding, make snow men (though there were plenty around campus,) and stay in your pajamas all day. 

But that doesn't mean I couldn't make hot cocoa. 

I like to toast all of my dry ingredients before adding the wet. It may be psychological, but I really think it brings out the flavors more so you don't have to use as much of your cocoa and sugar. I mean, we are making cocoa, not blowing all semblance of a healthy diet.

Sensible Hot Cocoa for One

Dry:

2 TB cocoa

2 TB brown sugar

1 pinch salt

2 pinches cinnamon

Wet:

2 cups skim milk

1 splash vanilla

Toast the dry ingredients over medium in a small saucepan until you start smelling the cocoa. Slowly whisk in 1 cup of the milk to make a thick, smooth cocoa, then add the additional milk to taste. Add vanilla. Bring to desired temperature (which for me is super hot so I can sip it for as long as possible.)

Here are some pictures I took as I was leaving word out at Woodford Reserve. There is this beautiful little stream right behind the distillery that always have ducks or geese on it. They were off somewhere warmer last week.