Scribbles & Munch

      Like most sane people who have not been cursed with allergies by Ixcacao, chocolate is my favorite sweet.  Oh, I get seriously happy about good caramel, & if you've read my older blog entries you know my obsession with pie.  But chocolate...is something else.  It's something special--I'd even say transcendental.  Not to mention historical, as archaeologists in Ecuador just discovered proof that chocolate was used over 1300 years earlier than previously thought. 

These guys look pissed.  Somebody didn't follow the recipe.

      Aside from being a confection fav, chocolate has another claim on Halloween: a bloody past.  The Aztecs believed one of their gods was cast out for sharing chocolate with humans.  Chocolate drinking cups were buried with the dead.  Removing the cocoa beans from the pod was a stand-in for removing a human heart as part of ritual sacrifice.  And if you think the ancient South American cultures were brutal about this stuff, remember what the Europeans did when they got their hands on it: war and slavery in the name of commerce rather than religion.
       These days chocolate is more innocuous.  More and more high quality chocolate is available free-trade, organic, & sustainable.*  So on this All Hallow's Eve, as I mark the path to my door with grimacing gourds & ready my stock of sugary handouts, I want a little something special for myself.  There's plenty of great ways to enjoy chocolate, but for something to relish over the course of an evening hot chocolate tops my list.  It's slightly under-sweet--if you want more sweetness &/or creaminess, finish with a drizzle of sweetened condensed milk.  And if you REALLY want to take it to the next level, use a flamed orange peel on the rim & in the beverage for a little extra something-something.


Z.D.'s Spiced Hot Chocolate
makes 1 cup - multiply as desired

Ingredients:
8 oz 2% milk
5 teaspoons golden brown sugar
1/8th teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch kosher salt
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
Spice to taste (cinnamon, cardamom, smoked paprika, cayenne, etc.)
Sweetened condensed milk to taste

Directions:
 - In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, warm the milk.  Add the sugar, vanilla, & salt & stir frequently until the sugar is dissolved.

 - Up the heat to medium & sift in the cocoa (you may roll your eyes when you see "sift," but trust me, cocoa clumps, so just get out a fine-mesh sieve & sift it in there).  Whisk until cocoa is completely incorporated.  Continue to heat, stirring occasionally to prevent skin from forming, until beverage it hot and tiny bubbles appear around the edges.

 - Select your spice(s) of choice & add by pinches, whisking thoroughly after each addition, until the flavor is balanced just the way you like.  Stir in sweetened condensed milk to taste.  Enjoy!



*But if the facts inspire you to write a horror story about a cursed chocolate trade ship, don't let me stop you!