Hot Chocolate

Hello again everyone. 8 days since my last post breaks my own weekly post rule!

My friend Jess, from my post about music and la oreja de van gogh, has started her own blog! She doesn't know anyone in the blogosphere yet - say hi?

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Hot chocolate barely needs description to become a necessity in these cold Winter months. Summer needs ice cream, and winter needs drinking chocolate. The Aztecs started the fashion a long time ago, even before bars of chocolate. It was a bitter, spicy drink (unrecognizable today) And the aztecs didn't even serve it with chocolate biscuits, whipped cream or marshmallows!

These days the liquid is barely noticeable underneath my thick layer of squirty cream, my pink and white markmallows, my cinnamon, my chocolate sprinkles... Besides, the actual hot chocolate part is fairly dull. It's just hot milk with chocolate powder in (unless you can be dedicated enough to melt real chocolate and whisk into hot milk on the hob).

Recent studies show that the beverage has many health benefits thanks to the cocoa in the instant chocolate powder. This has antioxidants, just like those found in red wine and tea (don't you just love those antioxidants?) and until the 19th century it was even used medicinally to treat stomach diseases and prevent catarrh- if successfully I don't know.

In Spain they drink hot chocolate much thicker than we do, and often eat it with churros. I love churros - it's fried batter rolled in sugar.

I think we're all going to need a bit of heated chocolaty upliftence as November drags through to December which goes on to January. Its not getting any warmer, not for at least another 3 months - 90 whole days. Or at least, it won't unless you indulge in a delicious, steaming cup of sweet, sugary, chocolaty goodness...