HOT COCOA -- HOMEMADE

[UNEEK]

Remember that Hot Cocoa is good for you, but Hot Chocolate is not the same thing. Below is the way Hot Cocoa is made....I add a little more cocoa and a little more vanilla...oh boy....Read the article below..UNEEK

Southern Belle's Hot Cocoa

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1 pinch salt

1/3 cup boiling water

3 1/2 cups milk

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup half-and-half cream

Combine the cocoa, sugar and pinch of salt in a saucepan. Blend in the boiling water.

Bring this mixture to an easy boil while you stir. Simmer and stir for about 2 minutes.

Watch that it doesn't scorch. Stir in 3 1/2 cups of milk and heat until very hot, but do not boil!

Remove from heat and add vanilla. Divide between 4 mugs. Add the cream to the mugs of cocoa to cool it to drinking temperature. Add peppermint schnapps for an extra bit of warmth! Sweet! Hot Cocoa May Prevent Heart Disease

Cocoa Has More Antioxidants Than Red Wine, Tea

By Brunilda Nazario, MD

on Thursday, November 06, 2003

WebMD Medical News

Hot cocoa has more disease-fighting antioxidants than tea or red wine. Nov. 6, 2003 -- Sweet news, as winter approaches: Hot cocoa has more disease-fighting antioxidants than tea or red wine.

And the heat may help propel them into the bloodstream. Extensive studies have shown that black tea, green tea, red wine, and cocoa are "major" sources of antioxidants called phenols and flavonoids -- antioxidant chemicals found naturally in foods that can help prevent chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer, writes lead researcher Ki Won Lee, PhD, a food science researcher with Seoul National University in South Korea.

Lee's study appears in the latest Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. In their study, Lee and colleagues performed a complicated chemical analysis of cocoa, black tea, green tea, and red wine, finding that cocoa had the highest levels of antioxidants, twice as high as red wine, and nearly three times stronger than green tea:

. Cocoa had 611 mg of phenols and 564 mg of flavonoids.

. Red wine had 340 mg of phenols and 163 mg of flavonoids.

. Green tea had 165 mg of phenols and 47 mg of flavonoids.

. Black tea had 124 mg of phenols and 34 mg of flavonoids.

"These results suggest that cocoa is more beneficial to health than teas and red wine in terms of its higher antioxidant capacity" and ability to fight damage leading to heart disease and cancer, writes Lee. One caveat:

"Even though a bar of chocolate exhibits strong antioxidant activity, the health benefits are still controversial because relatively large amounts of saturated fats are present," Lee says.

"However, a cup of hot cocoa has a much lower level of saturated fats (0.3 g per serving) than a bar of chocolate (8 g per 40 g bar)."

Heat may help trigger release of more antioxidants, Lee writes. The new finding makes hot cocoa a compelling addition to our kitchen arsenal of cancer and heart-disease fighting foods.

[SgtFuryUSCZ]

***///

and don't forget to take the spoon outta the cup,

or risk getting a

bad case of eye-poke.

jus' sayin'.....

[UNEEK]

DEFINITELY DESERVES AT LEAST ONE GOOD BUMP -- UNEEK

Peace and Love To You All ~ You reign over the unspoken word - Once you speak and release it - it reigns over you - choose wisely -

"He who is wise will keep an open mind until he has fairly tested the various proofs that are available to him"

To be persuasive, one must be believable;

To be believable, one must be credible;

To be credible, one must be truthful.

[cha cha]

:D

Great quotes!! Thanks Uneek

[smee2]

Just dropped by to see what kind of crazy was currently being written and read here and WOW ... the real deal COCOA ... SUPER WOW!

Growing up where the winters are really cold and snow very deep and getting to work, or school, or home again was quite often and challenge and frequently impossible ... my mom used hot cocoa as the warm up before leaving and again when arriving home.

I was about three when she first allowed me to kneel on dad's chair at the kitchen table and stir the cup until he got there for breakfast. She would put cocoa, and sugar (sometimes brown but usually white) and some milk, or cream in the cup ... enough so that you had to stir it up and make almost a roux with it. Then when dad arrived at the table and sat down mom would fill the cup with boiling water and he would stir it up for himself. But the memory of being allowed to "make" his cocoa on cold winter mornings will be a happy one for me for ever.

Oh the vanilla ... Dad taught me to make real coffee ... in a percolator on the stove top ... remember those? ... glass with a metal stand in the middle with a basket on top for the coffee? Anyway, once it was all set up, he taught me to put a little vanilla in the water. Even when mom went to the new craze, the Melita coffee system, we would put vanilla in dad's coffee after it was through the filter. And it wasn't until then, and I was in my teens and still made dad's hot cocoa for him, that he told me that when he had hot cocoa at home, as a kid himself, his mom put vanilla in it, and it was really good, but something special because in those days I guess you didn't get the inexpensive artificial vanilla, but used the real deal. And in those days ... both world wars days ... sometimes getting vanilla was difficult, rationing and all that. So dad hadn't taught mom to do that for him, thinking it was too expensive. Well, by the time I was doing some baking myself, and I knew that even the genuine vanilla wasn't so expensive, I started putting it in his cocoa and man, what a difference it made. Sometimes a bit of cinnamon was added too, but the vanilla is the real deal in making a great difference. If you haven't tried it, and don't want to go to the trouble of the recipe posted here, just try putting a little vanilla in your version of hot cocoa or even the store bought hot chocolate mix. It does make a difference!

Thanks for posting, and giving me a chance to reminisce. Love it.

smee2

[UNEEK]

Just dropped by to see what kind of crazy was currently being written and read here and WOW ... the real deal COCOA ... SUPER WOW!

Growing up where the winters are really cold and snow very deep and getting to work, or school, or home again was quite often and challenge and frequently impossible ... my mom used hot cocoa as the warm up before leaving and again when arriving home.

I was about three when she first allowed me to kneel on dad's chair at the kitchen table and stir the cup until he got there for breakfast. She would put cocoa, and sugar (sometimes brown but usually white) and some milk, or cream in the cup ... enough so that you had to stir it up and make almost a roux with it. Then when dad arrived at the table and sat down mom would fill the cup with boiling water and he would stir it up for himself. But the memory of being allowed to "make" his cocoa on cold winter mornings will be a happy one for me for ever.

Oh the vanilla ... Dad taught me to make real coffee ... in a percolator on the stove top ... remember those? ... glass with a metal stand in the middle with a basket on top for the coffee? Anyway, once it was all set up, he taught me to put a little vanilla in the water. Even when mom went to the new craze, the Melita coffee system, we would put vanilla in dad's coffee after it was through the filter. And it wasn't until then, and I was in my teens and still made dad's hot cocoa for him, that he told me that when he had hot cocoa at home, as a kid himself, his mom put vanilla in it, and it was really good, but something special because in those days I guess you didn't get the inexpensive artificial vanilla, but used the real deal. And in those days ... both world wars days ... sometimes getting vanilla was difficult, rationing and all that. So dad hadn't taught mom to do that for him, thinking it was too expensive. Well, by the time I was doing some baking myself, and I knew that even the genuine vanilla wasn't so expensive, I started putting it in his cocoa and man, what a difference it made. Sometimes a bit of cinnamon was added too, but the vanilla is the real deal in making a great difference. If you haven't tried it, and don't want to go to the trouble of the recipe posted here, just try putting a little vanilla in your version of hot cocoa or even the store bought hot chocolate mix. It does make a difference!

Thanks for posting, and giving me a chance to reminisce. Love it.

smee2

Hey I loved reading your memories -- thanks for sharing -- it even took me back to my childhood and making it myself -- I have developed the habit of buying the premixed envelopes and was fairly content with them for a while -- a lot less now - if you go by their directions you only get dirty water - I use 2 envelopes for 1 cup and it still does not taste like real chocolate --

It may be just me but even the cocoa these days seems to have a lot less flavor - I find myself always adding some form of additional chocolate to the recipes -- Have you noticed? I have started buying the dark special blend cocoa -- which PROBABLY use to be our reg cocoa -- lol

Off topic maybe but I buy Half & Half instead of whole milk -- I think the half & half is what our reg whole milk use to be -- everything has been watered down - stretched -- and price inflated -- Or so it seems to me lol

I am going to experiment with the recipe above and your suggestion - I do not drink coffee but on rare occasions - this would be such a treat - and I love cool whip on top yummy yummy for the tummy !!

[snooz]

Just dropped by to see what kind of crazy was currently being written and read here and WOW ... the real deal COCOA ... SUPER WOW!

Growing up where the winters are really cold and snow very deep and getting to work, or school, or home again was quite often and challenge and frequently impossible ... my mom used hot cocoa as the warm up before leaving and again when arriving home.

I was about three when she first allowed me to kneel on dad's chair at the kitchen table and stir the cup until he got there for breakfast. She would put cocoa, and sugar (sometimes brown but usually white) and some milk, or cream in the cup ... enough so that you had to stir it up and make almost a roux with it. Then when dad arrived at the table and sat down mom would fill the cup with boiling water and he would stir it up for himself. But the memory of being allowed to "make" his cocoa on cold winter mornings will be a happy one for me for ever.

Oh the vanilla ... Dad taught me to make real coffee ... in a percolator on the stove top ... remember those? ... glass with a metal stand in the middle with a basket on top for the coffee? Anyway, once it was all set up, he taught me to put a little vanilla in the water. Even when mom went to the new craze, the Melita coffee system, we would put vanilla in dad's coffee after it was through the filter. And it wasn't until then, and I was in my teens and still made dad's hot cocoa for him, that he told me that when he had hot cocoa at home, as a kid himself, his mom put vanilla in it, and it was really good, but something special because in those days I guess you didn't get the inexpensive artificial vanilla, but used the real deal. And in those days ... both world wars days ... sometimes getting vanilla was difficult, rationing and all that. So dad hadn't taught mom to do that for him, thinking it was too expensive. Well, by the time I was doing some baking myself, and I knew that even the genuine vanilla wasn't so expensive, I started putting it in his cocoa and man, what a difference it made. Sometimes a bit of cinnamon was added too, but the vanilla is the real deal in making a great difference. If you haven't tried it, and don't want to go to the trouble of the recipe posted here, just try putting a little vanilla in your version of hot cocoa or even the store bought hot chocolate mix. It does make a difference!

Thanks for posting, and giving me a chance to reminisce. Love it.

:)/>

smee2

Yep Vanilla :D and not any kind...Go for the best, try Tahitian Vanilla....A taste of that will slap your brains out :lol:

Thank you Uneek...Love it

SnooZ