I love almost everything about winter. I love the colder weather, I love the snow that falls to cover the ground and tree limbs, and I love taking any chance I get to be outside and enjoy the unique time of year. There is nothing better than taking a long winter hike or spending a few hours outside building a snowman with children or friends. As much as I love being outside, sometimes the cold air gets to me and I just need a break. My favourite way to warm up after a cold afternoon is to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate.


I’m not sure what it is about hot chocolate that I love so much. It seems to be the perfect beverage: warm, creamy, milky, and filled with lots of chocolate. What is there not to love about that? I have friends who prefer a latte or a cup of tea. You will never see me being unfaithful to my favourite drink. Whether I am at home, work, or visiting with friends at a local coffee shop it is hot chocolate that I will always choose.


I guess part of why I love hot chocolate so much is because it reminds me of my childhood. I have many fond memories of mom fixing me a cup of hot chocolate after a long day of playing outside or sometimes, or, if I was lucky, after just an ordinary winter school day for no reason at all. After my mom mixed the ingredients (whatever they were) just right, I got to add marshmallows to the top. I loved this part. I could adorn my cup of hot chocolate with as many tiny mallows as I wanted. After experimenting with several amounts of mallows in my hot chocolate I remember finally settling on thirteen as the perfect number to place in my cup. Unlike most people, the number thirteen was a magic number to me, or at least it felt magical because of the way those thirteen marshmallows made my hot chocolate even better.


As an adult, I have continued to love hot chocolate just as much. I love coming home from a long day of work and stopping in the kitchen to make a perfect cup. I have a special recipe that I have been using for a few years now and it just keeps tasting better. Friends and family have asked me to share it but I just cannot bring myself to do it. Maybe if they appreciated hot chocolate as much as I do then I’d let them in on the secret. Until then, I’ll keep my recipe to myself and enjoy inviting them over to share good conversation over my now-famous hot chocolate. I guess I’ll even let them put in their own marshmallows and try to find their own perfect