It’s been soooo cold here- I think I heard that we’ve had just 1 day above freezing for the entire month of January??? Something like that. Even with the heat turned up, and my slippers and sweaters on, I just can’t seem to get warm! So I’ve been drinking lots of tea. And when I get tired of tea, I drink hot chocolate… You can make Mexican Hot Chocolate by adding spice like cinnamon to the hot chocolate… (and of course, a little ice cream never hurt anybody…) Yep, that’s right- a hot chocolate recipe with ice cream! It is the perfect combination of classic and caliente and it is soooooooooooo yummy… and the dash of cayenne at the end will warm you up even more! (I know it sounds strange, but try it- you’ll be surprised how good it is.)

So when you really want to warm up, try making this Mexican Hot Chocolate:

Ingredients:
1 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
dash salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
8 squares (3 1/2 oz) dark chocolate, chopped
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup half & half or whole milk
vanilla ice cream
cayenne pepper

In saucepan, combine milk, sugar, salt, cinnamon and chocolate. Whisk mixture over low heat until chocolate melts and mixture just begins to simmer. Add vanilla and half & half and heat through.

Fill mugs half way with hot chocolate. Add a scoop of ice cream. Sprinkle ice cream with a dash of cayenne and cinnamon.
Makes 4 servings.