Hot cocoa, also known as hot chocolate is an international drink. It isn’t a beverage for just winter season or cold climates, since this delicious drink made with coco powder, and hot whole milk, and sugar to sweeten it, is very soothing and fun to drink for little ones and grown ups.
I grew up drinking hot coco with my breakfast, and never ever dreamt of adding anything else to my chocolaty milk, till now. More chocolate with added flavors.
Marshmallows, salted caramel, mint chocolate, even for fun jelly beans. It is super easy to make with your entire family, and a step by step video will give you some more ideas on how to make these flavor boosters for hot drinks, and even for dressing up vanilla ice cream for a jaw dropping presentation. I hope you enjoy making them, and if you come up with more ideas please share it with me.👍😋
Cooking and baking has always been a fun hobby that I have enjoyed immensely. I am an average cook that loves to experiment with cooking healthy meals. I enjoy baking, just simply because I am addicted to chocolate, and for me a lovely pastry with coffee, and tea is a trip to heaven and back☺️
Christmas peppermint bark
This year, more than ever in my life 😥 I have been cooking and baking for my family, and now for holidays I have decided to bake new goodies and find my new favorites.
I started with :
Pizzelle
Pizzelle 👩🏻🍳 every Christmas we enjoy eating these lovely lightly sweet giant snow flakes all day long when we travel to see grandparents. This Christmas I had to bake our own batch 😳 I pulled out my pizzelle maker which I had received years ago as a Christmas gift, and used grandmas’s recipe. After a couple of tries they came out perfect snow flakes 😋
Italian wedding cookies
Italian wedding cookies 👩🏻🍳 they are made with crushed almonds, and coated with powder sugar, and look like small snow balls. They are beautiful to look at, and are lightly sweet, and believe me when I say 🤣 you can’t stop at just one.
Cranberry bars
Cranberry bars 👩🏻🍳 using leftover cranberry sauce from thanksgiving meal, I baked these thick delicious bars with two flaky layers of dough, cushioning a layer of my chunky cranberry sauce, and a layer of walnuts. I am already thinking of making more of these bars with almonds. This is my absolute new favorite 👍
Peppermint barks
Peppermint bars 👩🏻🍳 I have always bought them as gifts for friends, and loved having them during holidays. This year never found the time to purchase them on time, so I decided to make some. Couldn’t perfectly layer the white chocolate over the dark chocolate, but the result was a swirl of dark and white with crushed peppermints that made little ones very happy to crush and spread over the baking dish. Easy, fun to make, and very delicious. Next time I will make it thinner, so it would be easier to cut, and I have more to eat👍
I wish you all happy cooking and baking💕please check out our YouTube channel. And please subscribe and leave your comments. I love reading them and sharing more videos with you. https://youtu.be/Qb8lgNMk8AY
I can list many things we are not doing this Christmas, but I realize I will be only whining, and not respecting the facts that this has been a historic year. The events of this year has changed many lives, and will change the way we used to entertain for many years to come. Special days like birthdays, anniversaries will be remembered as not so memorable, and our photos will be good evidence of that, but we also know family get togethers during Halloween, thanksgiving and Christmas will never be the same again.
In my Family events that get us together include our grandparents, and close relatives. Their presence is necessary and important to us, and their visits has always left an impression on our children. Every occasion matters, and they are memorable. This Christmas family visits are not possible, and to keep grandma, and grandpa part of our fast growing family (one day they are toddlers, next day they are teenagers) we are staying in touch using everything accessible to all of us.
Sending pictures while trimming the tree, baking, and decorating the yard has kept our family close and involved. Trying to create memories together while not being in the same space. Keeping it together until things are back to normal !! “after all tomorrow is another day”❤️
During the holiday season, decorating has become an important note on our todo list, right after shopping and baking cookies. For my family holidays always called for traveling, and cooking. And this year unfortunately traveling is out, entertaining is out and we are left with cooking, baking, and keeping our family busy, happy, and healthy.
During holidays making ornaments to decorate the Christmas tree became a way to also entertained our guests, specially the younger ones. Nieces and nephews, grandparents, and classmates, will spend time putting together a ginger bread house, or get crafty and make ornaments, to keep or give as gifts. This year with a smaller number (no guests ) we are still planning on making paper garlands, and ornaments, decorating, baking, thinking of our family, friends, and just be thankful and grateful during the holiday season.💕
To see step by step instructions on how to cut a perfect angel and a Christmas tree garland Please click on this video 🎄 https://youtu.be/nJDlqF70Z_I we love to read your comments💕 so please watch, leave a comment, and subscribe👍
Cranberry sauce is delicious, super easy to make, and so good for us. these small red berries loaded with vitamins, add more flavor, and amazing color to our holiday table.
How to cook cranberries👍
Please click on my video link to see step by step directions on how to make a delicious, simple cranberry sauce for your thanksgiving meal.
This is a fun project that my family actually loves to work on without complaining. It is part of setting our table for our family before sitting down to give thanks for all the wonderful goodness around us.
This year we are setting a smaller table, but the work is still there, and we need place cards to be clear who is sitting where. Yes for the three of us !! Our fun project started with gathering our supplies. We get creative and try to be colorful, interesting, and unique.
Cinnamon sticks wrapped in colorful ribbon holding a place card Used a sharpie on Christmas tree balls
Please watch my video for more photos on how to make fun, natural, beautiful place cards with your family👍 Have a wonderful, safe holiday season💕
We can add more flavor, and color to the turkey platter with herbs, fruits, dry fruits, edible flowers, and yummy vegtables. Decorating the platter can be really fun for the little ones in your family too.
This mess free DIY fall center piece is easy, fun and inquires a walk outdoors among the pine and oak trees.
If you ever look for an excuse to enjoy the early fall, take a leisurely walk to collect your supplies to create a very beautiful useful natural center piece. It would be a great reason to spend time outside with your family and get everyone’s creative suggestions to put together several centerpieces for any room in your home.
It is still spring, and most of us up to now have enjoyed pleasant weather.
This weekend we are worried about tornadoes and severe rain, but having to stay home & staying in touch with the news & being more aware, hopefully more of us will spend this weekend in the safety of our homes. Easter celebrations was less entertaining & more of a reminder of how much the world around us has come to a slow crawl.
Heavy rain kept us inside, so we didn’t see the Easter bunny. But the sweet bunny left us a beautiful basket filled with everyone’s favorite candy. Our lunch with the family and grandparents was less formal, and we had everyone on face time instead of having everyone over at our house for Easter celebrations.
We managed to take more photos of spring blooms, before they are blown away by heavy rain, and know next year our photos will have our grandparents with us, eating, laughing, and sitting next to each other.🌞
It is still spring, and most of us up to now have enjoyed pleasant weather.
