130 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS
by Danielle Childers
Much to the chagrin of my husband who does not in any form or fashion enjoy watching Christmas movies every month and every season, I love Christmas. I saved this post for August, because I really wanted to emphasize just how much I’m obsessed with the holiday cheer. It’s not December, and it’s not Christmas in July. I just really love Christmas. Ask my colleagues. Christmas is my only Pandora station.
So, I’m currently reading THE FAT MAN: A TALE OF NORTH POLE NOIR by Ken Harmon featuring Gumdrop Coal. He’s an angry elf. It’s so satirical and
still kind all at the same time. It’s brilliant! There’s a mistletoe forest and an eye shooting BB gun. I could die of Christmas overload. I love it. It reminds me of a holiday version of John Hartness’s THE BLACK KNIGHT CHRONICLES. Comparable snark minus the vampires!
So, during my summer time winterfest and during the 198th time I’ve watched The Santa Clause starring Tim Allen (one of the best Christmas movies ever and in my top 5 favorite movies of all time) I happened to notice that there are . . . wait for it . . . RECIPES in the bonus material of the dvd! It was foodie contemporary before its time!!! One of the recipes was for Wolfgang Puck’s hot chocolate, which is, according to Judy the elf, not too hot, has extra chocolate, and shaken, not stirred. I had to try it, but this launched a conversation in the work place about the best hot chocolate. Had I not seen the pinterest recipe with condensed milk? Thus, the hot chocolate war began.
We tried condensed milk, ghiradelli bitter chocolate, and bourbon vanilla from Madagascar. Gross. 
Way too sweet (and that may be the first time I’ve ever uttered those words). No, thank you.
So, to my delight, The Santa Clause won yet another competition of awesomeness!
The best hot chocolate:
2 oz semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
pinch of salt
2 c heavy cream
2 c milk (I used 2%)
1/2 c sugar
3/4 t vanilla
Melt the chocolate into cream, stirring constantly over medium heat. Whisk in cocoa, sugar, salt, and vanilla over low heat. Add milk. Enjoy!
