Chambord Flavored Hot Chocolate
Are there things that send me into an absolute tiz around the holidays? Yep, but that’s nothing particular to this time of year. There’s lots of things, all year round, that turn my thong into a twisted set of anal beads faster than any stupid holiday related thing. (Bad drivers, whiners…) That is, unless you’re talking about egg nog. What in the hell is a nog anyway? Try looking it up in any culinary dictionary…it’s just not there. I have an extreme dislike of egg nog. Not that it’s ever done anything bad to me, there’s just something about the flavor and consistency that just makes me want to gag. Even though the poster child of holiday cocktails has rum in it, it’s still not enough to save it for me.
My holiday cocktail of choice is hot chocolate. Yeah, I know, hot chocolate isn’t a cocktail. It is in my hands! Hot chocolate takes me back to my childhood days (yes, I too was an innocent child once upon a time – no, I was not hatched or birthed by a bottle of bourbon), lugging a sled up the hill in the neighborhood I grew up in. Our sledding hill was the embankment of a sewer plant. (Wow, as I just typed that I realized how gross that sounds – for the very first time.) Winters in Cleveland meant everything containing even the smallest amount of moisture was frozen rock solid (including the inside of your nose), so our sledding run did not smell. “Suicide Runs” were everyone’s favorite. One person on a plastic sled came down one hill and another person on one of those ‘fancy’ wooden sleds with metal runners came down the other hill at the same time. The challenge was to do this without running into each other. And this wasn’t like chicken, to see who would flinch and move out of the way first. This was barreling full speed ahead and praying that we were able to line ourselves up properly by using our keen eyesight and gloved hands to draw the perfect imaginary line we would be flying down and pass each other at the bottom with only inches to spare. We all loved that run and all got at least one good scare from it. I got an emergency room visit out it one time. Oops! Sorry mom for making you sit in the emergency room all day Super Bowl Sunday.
We weren’t the brightest kids, but somehow we all survived. And no one’s parents were charged with child endangerment.
Anyway, after a long day of sledding, someone’s mother would make us hot chocolate with those tiny little marshmallows floating in it. The ice would melt off our feet (puddling on the floor) and our noses would turn from Rudolph red to a healthy pink again as we sipped.
We’ve all grown up now and don’t go sledding anymore. In fact, most of the old group doesn’t even live in a snowy area anymore. I guess we were smarter than we thought – we were smart enough to move out of the cold and yuck. But I admit, I do still like to visit the snow from time to time. Even I need a break from the sun and surf from time to time. So after a long day of skiing a cup of hot chocolate takes me right back to my sledding childhood. Since I’ve grown up, my tastes have changed a little bit though. Now I like spiked flavored hot chocolate…and my favorite flavored hot chocolate involves Chambord.
You can add this libation to my list of Chambord cocktails that I really enjoy. The raspberry flavor is subtle, so it’s a drink that you can sip and enjoy for a while.
I know I’m probably going to be tied up and whipped by my food blogger brethren, don’t tell them I enjoy it, so here goes. I usually make hot chocolate from scratch (it’s almost as easy as pouring it out of an envelope), but when you mix alcohol with it and put some nice topping on it like homemade whipped cream or marshmallow fluff, you can absolutely use instant hot chocolate – just be sure to make it with milk.
There are lots of hot chocolate recipes out there, but I’ll give you a simple one that you can whip up in no time. Top your Chambord hot chocolate with whipped cream or marshmallow fluff. I’ll even give you a simple recipe for marshmallow fluff. It is the season for giving after all.
