I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful time with my family and I really cherish the time I can spend with my nieces and nephew. We came home late Friday afternoon and relaxed with a roaring fire and a movie. Saturday morning we decided to head deep into the Smoky Mountains to a local tree farm to find our Solstice tree. Normally, we don't nod in the season until December is well underway. But our schedule this winter is a little abnormal - even for us - and this was the only weekend that we were not traveling, hosting and the last weekend the five of us would be together at home before the New Year. So Solstice tree shopping we went. It was our first experience at a "choose & cut" farm - and we loved it. The girls labored over their decision and in the end, we all agreed pretty quickly when we found our 8-footer hidden among the fields. We brought "Maralena" (Ayla named her) the tree home and dug out our homemade ornaments, painted pinecones and sipped hot chocolate the rest of the afternoon. Pretty special. Even if it is still November.

The hot chocolate was thick, rich and ridiculously delicious - most likely because I used Mast Brothers chocolate - I chose, Fleur de Sel which resulted in basically a salted hot chocolate. I am sure there is much more cost effective way of doing this - but I had the bars and seemed like a rather good idea...

 

SALTED HOT CHOCOLATE

5 oz. Mast Brothers Fleur de Sel

1 c. half+half

1 1/2 c.  skim milk

2 T. honey

1/2 t. vanilla

1/4 t. cloves

1 t. cinnamon

Finely chop the chocolate and set aside.

Combine all remaining ingredients in a medium sauce pot and stir until it boils gently. Add the chocolate and whisk until thick, remove from heat and continue to whisk until the chocolate is completely incorporated. Let cool slightly and serve. 

You can also chill it and drink cold.

 

MOUNTAIN MUSIC

Wild Mountain Honey : Steve Miller Band

Walk A Mile : Holly Golightly

Barton Hollow : The Civil Wars

And It Spread : The Avett Brothers

Darkness & Light : Golden Animals

Everyday : Vetiver

Maybe Mine : Good Old War

The Needle And The Spoon : Lynyrd Skynyrd

How Am I To Be : The Watson Twins

Blue Ridge Mountains : Fleet Floxes

Up on Cripple Creek : The Band

Long As I Can See The Light : Creedance Clearwater Revival

Riverboat : Howlin' Rain

Muswell Hillbilly : The Kinks

Listen here.

p.s. If you are familiar with my little publishing company, Fieryeyed Books, you might like to know that I've made our two sold out editions available again this week only... right here.

Comments

[Rose D., NJ USA]

I have been waiting for this hot chocolate since you tweeted about it!! Thanks!

[jen a]

you are so welcome rose! really want to try it with their Stumptown Coffee flavored chocolate next ;)

[Mia]

This is the ULTIMATE! whoa! I must make this.

[Toni]

Whoa. You know how to make hot cocoa! I *love* salted chocolate. I'm always trying to concoct the perfect recipe that's not too rich for everyday drinking--because that's how often I want the stuff in the winter! Your mix is definitely inspiring.

[carlotta]

loved this post so much. and salted hot chocolate is my favorite...mmm, I can't get enough of the combination of flavors.

[claire]

love your playlists

[jen a]

mia, toni an carlotta: if you make it, let me know what you think - it has me thinking of all sorts of different flavors i can try next!

claire: thanks so much - putting them together is as much fun as playing in the kitchen ;)

xo

[Ashley]

LOVE this post! i have a mast brothers chocolate bar here looking for use. it's the almond/sea salt variety---and i'm eager to see how it plays into the recipe!

ps: WHERE did you get those mugs??

[jen a]

hi ashley - thank you! and the mugs are from white forest pottery:

http://whiteforestpottery.com/gift_ideas/hotcocoamugs.htm