Cool weather calls for a cup of hot chocolate

The daily temperatures are finally below 80. It was even in the 60's at tonight's high school football game. I left the game with a slight chill and a cup of hot chocolate on my mind.

As soon as I got home, I hit the pantry and dusted off one of my favorite kitchen gadgets - my hot chocolate maker. This gadget consists of a glass pot and lid, which has a hole in top to receive a frother. You simply pour milk into the pitcher, heat in the microwave, add chocolate or cocoa and sugar, hit the button the the frother, and in a few whirs you'll have a rich, delicious cup of steaming hot chocolate. It's so simple.

Why settle for the instant stuff when you can have homemade in an instant?

Dump chocolate into pot of hot milk.

Give it a whir with the frother to combine chocolate and milk.

I have an old family recipe that I normally use, but since I overstocked on Ghirardelli sweet ground chocolate, I decided to use that. The recipe is on the back of the container. Also, the only place nearby that I've found this product is at Fresh Market in Ridgeland. There's usually a recipe on the cocoa container, too.

And no cup of hot chocolate would be complete without extra sweetness added to the top. My daughter and I prefer whipped cream, my son likes marshmallows, and my husband likes both.

Found these micro marshmallows at Fulmer's General Store in Richton a few weeks back.
Perfect addition to a rich cup of hot chocolate.

 My hot chocolate maker was a birthday gift from Williams-Sonoma a few years back. I checked their website and couldn't find one, but I did find a couple different versions on Amazon.

Bonjour Pink Hot Chocolate Maker on Amazon.com

Bodum Chocolatiere Glass Hot Chocolate Maker/Frother on Amazon.com