Forget green beer! Give me an Irish hot chocolate

Today, I celebrated St. Patrick's Day with a mug of Gourmet du Village's Irish Cream Hot Chocolate.  When an instant hot chocolate is desired, I reach for Gourmet du Village or Ghirardelli.  This was exciting since I never tasted an Irish Cream drink before...not even a shot!

After heating up the milk and adding the hot chocolate packet, I stirred the mixture.  A nice creme layer appeared.  Yum.  I proceed to the backyard to sit out and savor my cup of heaven.

The first sip was very fulfilling and the creme layer added lift to the beverage.  I must say, I will keep a few packets of this one in my cupboards.

Penguins need cocoa too

Checkout this iPhone and iPod Touch App called Rocket Downhill Penguin. Help a penguin navigate obstacles on a ski slope by filling him up with cocoa. Can you say cute! A game that requires cocoa as fuel.

Ended up with tea

As usual, I just wasn't in the mood for an off the shelf hot chocolate. So, I opted to try and create a delish hot chocolate made with passion and care by me. My first attempted involved using 1/2 cup of orange juice and 1/2 cup of milk. Unfortunately, the hint of OJ became overwhelming and I couldn't balance it out with Vanilla, Sugar or anything else.

STRIKE 1

My second attempt involved my last cup of heavy cream. I accidentally burnt the chocolate shavings in the double boiler. Immediately, I strained out the burnt chunks to preserve the heavy cream for another try.

STRIKE 2

With the heavy cream from the second attempt to make hot chocolate from scratch, I decided to add a pre-made mixture to the cream. Next, I tried to add a little pizazz with ancho chili. Blah!!!!! It was a hot mess.

STRIKE 3

After cleaning up the messy kitchen, I resigned myself to breaking out the tea kettle for a cup of hot tea.

Recipe: Apple Cranberry Crumble with Hot Chocolate Shavings

Had a little fun in the kitchen creating a fast and easy Apple Cranberry Crumble garnished with homemade whipped cream.

Recipe - 4 servings:
1/3 cup Apple Crisp Mix (from Concord Foods)
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled
1/4 cup Dried cranberries
1 bag Plain regular instant oatmeal

3 tsp Hot chocolate shavings (used Fran's Chocolate Shavings for this recipe)
3 tbls Sweet butter/butter
Heavy cream
Sugar


Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Blend the Apple Crisp Mix, hot chocolate shavings and oatmeal in a bowl.

Step 2: Peel and dice apples and add cranberries to a bowl. Add apple crisp mixture and blend.




Step 3: Pour apple mixture in a greased baking dish.

Step 4: Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.


Step 5: Serve in decorative dishes.


Step 6: Whip 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Add sugar to taste.


Step 7: Garnish with whipped cream.