Nostalgia in the Making

Sometimes I wonder what my kids will remember about their childhood. What will be those significant yet small things that make them smile nostalgically?  I remember little things from my childhood: hot chocolate after fireworks on the Fourth of July, the Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights, staying up late to watch figure skating competitions, 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles with my mom, grandma, and sister. Those are the little things that made my childhood magical. 

What will my children remember? Maybe one day, they'll smile when they remember that we always had hot chocolate on rainy days. With marshmallows, that's essential to hot chocolate if you ask my kids. 

It didn't rain much this morning, not enough to truly justify a hot chocolate event. But it was Grandma's last morning with us, and we're going to miss her. 

I've been tinkering with my hot chocolate recipe, and I think I've finally perfected it. I'm lazy on rainy days, so I use a 4 cup Pyrex measuring cup and make it in the microwave. The secret to truly rich hot chocolate is the splash of heavy cream at the end. Don't skip that step!

The following recipe serves 3. 

Perfect Rainy Day Hot Chocolate

3 cups milk of choice

2 Tablespoons dark cocoa powder

4 Tablespoons honey

Splash of heavy cream

Pour the milk into a microwave safe dish and microwave 3 minutes. Add the cocoa and honey and stir well. Microwave another 2 minutes. Add a splash of heavy cream, stir well and pour into mugs. Top with marshmallows!

So maybe one day, my kids will look out the window at the rain and smile: "Mom always made hot chocolate when it rained."