Rich and chocolatey hot chocolate

I looove hot chocolate! The more chocolaty it is the better! We once had Charlie's Sipping Chocolate at Joe Chocolate Co and it was so rich! Simply heavenly! It was really like sipping chocolate. I had had a similar concoction at another place in Seattle and it was called European hot chocolate. You get the idea - I'm always searching for real good hot chocolate. That includes searching for recipes that would make one. Not necessarily as rich as the sipping chocolate because it is not something that you can drink daily and not hurt your health; but something better than just adding cocoa and sugar to a cup of milk.

Since I trust KAF for their recipes I decided to try their hot chocolate. I made half the quantity because the full recipe seemed a lot. It turned out so good even though I used half the suggested quantity of the mix! trust me - it's the real deal!

Ingredients:

• 1 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups  semi-sweet chocolate (I was a little short on it, so used a little bit of dark baking chocolate chunks)
• 3/8 cup  milk chocolate (I used Theo chocolate)
• 1 cup (85g) Double-Dutch Dark Cocoa
• pinch of salt, optional

Method:

1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the sugar and vanilla and pulse for 5 to 6 seconds until well combined.
2. Coarsely chop the semi-sweet and milk chocolates and add them to the bowl. 
3. Add the dry cocoa and salt. Process in the food processor till everything is mixed. The mix will be slightly coarse, like brown sugar. Pour into a large glass or plastic jar for storing.
4. For each cup of hot chocolate, combine 1/4 cup of mix with 8 ounces of hot milk. Stir until all of the chocolate is melted. Top with whipped cream, marshmallows or your favorite topping. Makes 24 8-ounce servings.
5. Store airtight for 6 to 9 months. Excellent for holiday gift giving. Try packing in pretty mason jars tied with bright ribbons. Be sure to add a card with the mix directions.

Nanaville

Author: Anna Quindlen

Another Anna Quindlen book! Just like the previous one, this one too was a pleasure to read! This book is about her journey as a grandparent. The challenges, the fun, the learning, the love - she talks about every aspect of being a grandparent and what makes it so enjoyable is the fact that she's so honest about everything. How there are times when she would like to advice something for her grandchild to his parents but thinks that it is not her place to do so; or when she couldn't control herself and did actually give the advice. How she hired somebody and took formal lessons in the foreign language of her grandchild so that she could converse with them in whatever language they understood. Even though she's a first time grandmother it is amazing how much thought she gives to everything. I love her sense of humor. For example, the time when her grandchild was a baby and crying in the middle of the night. She wanted to go pick him up and cuddle him and put him to sleep but knew that his parents were "sleep training" him and would not like it. Many a times reading her feelings/reactions also reminded me of my mom. I could see her having the same feelings/reactions.

Being a parent myself, I wanted to read this book to understand the world from the eyes of a grandparent. How they feel, what they would like, their predicaments. This was just the perfect book for it.

Homemade energy gel

This year I ran my second half-marathon. If you've read about long distance running then you would have heard about energy gels/chews which keep you fueled up for your runs. When I was preparing for my first half marathon, I tried a few different chews. I didn't try any of the energy gels. Of the ones I tried, I liked Honey Stinger ones. What I didn't like was the trash that I generated in every run. I searched online and surprise, surprise I was not the only one. There were many people who shared my sentiment and hence there were already solutions to my problem. I need to make my own energy gel and then one of the reusable energy gel containers.

This year before I started my training, I thought of getting my energy gel ready. Guess what? The link that I had saved for the recipe was no longer working :(. And if you're like me then you don't want to "guess" the recipe for your running fuel! After some search I found a recipe that I liked and after trying it out on my runs I felt it was even better than last year. Of course, that is just what I "felt". Anywho, after my experience last year I decided I'm going to save the recipe on my blog in case the link stops working in the future.

I wanted to have a photo of the gel here but completely forgot about it; and turns out the quantity of the gel was (almost) just right. I hardly have any left after my final run.

Recipe:

•  4 dried, pitted dates
• 1/2 cup maple syrup or honey
• Grated zest from 1 lemon and 1 lime
• Juice from 1 lemon or 1 lime
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 teaspoons chia seeds.

I used maple syrup; the dates were medjool dates and I didn't have any chia seeds on hand so skipped that. Next time I'll try those because apparently they are supposed to be "superfood" for runners! I put all the ingredients in a blender and blended them together!

This year during my half-marathon I generated zero trash and I was so proud of it especially when I saw all the paper cups littered along the way!

Sunset Beach

Author: Mary Kay Andrews

I had so much fun reading this book! For a while, book after book I'd been reading non-fiction. This was a good change and sort of a murder mystery at that. The story is set in Florida and is about a girl who was almost good-for-nothing and then slowly builds up her life. For sure it's a feel-good story and I guess that's why it felt good to read it :)

Drue Campell, not too long back had a knee injury and can no longer do kiteboarding - which was her life. And now she lost her mom too. For better or for worse, her father who hasn't seen her for years offers her a job at her firm in another city and gives her keys to her grandparents beach-front cottage which she inherited after her mom. The fact that she had nothing going for her where she was and the thought of living in her grandparents' home where she had beautiful childhood memories, makes her accept the offer.

Moving to a new city also helps her start her life anew. The cottage needs a lot of TLC which she's happy to give. The work while not what she was looking for pays her bills and helps her meet new friends. Although Wendy - the thorn at work - her dad's new wife does make life at work a little hard at times. Then one day she comes across a case that was handled by her dad's firm and is closed. However, the client feels cheated. Drue is intrigued by the case and starts investigating. One thing leads to another and she's deep into the investigation. She has two mysteries at hand.

It's a fun read!

Lots of candles, plenty of cake

Author: Anna Quindlen

The author writes about her journey as a woman. How things changed for her with every decade, how she changed with every decade. It was a very interesting read and there were so many things that I could relate to and so many things that she said about life that I felt were spot on. There are bits and pieces from the book that have harbored a place in my mind. She says that how when you are older younger women will come to you and ask for advice. They feel there's a formula. That you do A, B and C and that will give you D. But there isn't. Also, what you want changes as you grow and as your circumstances change. And looking back so many times you feel that what happened is what you wanted even if at that time you didn't think so.
I loved loved reading the book and it's hard to give just one reason for it. It feels as if the author is right in front of you narrating, has a good mix of humor and life philosophy and feels very relatable. One of the reasons I wanted to read this book is to see her thoughts on when she's older; to understand what are the different perspectives/feelings one goes through as they age.
Bottomline: Loved it!

Tres Leches cake

I saw this cake on KAF and was tempted to try it out. While earlier I would try more of chocolate cakes, now I’m also venturing into non-chocolate cakes. The cake was so delicious! It turned out really good; a nice dessert cake (due to the sweetness).

The other thing I liked about the cake was that it used both the egg whites and the yellows equally. I don’t like recipes which use one more than the other because then there’s potential for wastage. Also, it consumes the whole box of whipping cream - saving me from another thing going waste. 

This was my first time baking a sponge cake so I was a little worried about beating the egg whites right. Also my first time whipping heavy cream. In both cases, my advice to newbies is to just have patience. The initial consistency is so different from the final consistency that it worries you if you are ever going to get there; but you do. It only takes time :)

CAKE

• 6 large eggs, separated
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup cold water
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

TOPPING

• 1/2 cup heavy or whipping cream
• 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
• 1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk; or substitute 1 1/2 cups half & half
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

FROSTING

• 1 1/2 cups heavy or whipping cream
• 1/4 cup sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" x 2" pan; line it with parchment and grease the parchment, if you plan on turning the cake out onto a serving platter. Note: Your pan must be at least 2" deep; this is a high-rising cake.
2. To make the cake: Combine the egg whites and cream of tarter in a large bowl, and beat the whites until soft peaks form. Set them aside.
3. In another large bowl, beat the egg yolks until well combined. Add the sugar, and beat until the mixture comes together and thickens. When you stop beating, the mixture should fall from the beater(s) in ribbons as you lift them out of the bowl.
4. Add the water and vanilla and almond extracts to the egg yolk mixture, beating to combine.
5. Stir in the baking powder, salt, and flour, beating just to combine.
6. Gently and thoroughly fold in the beaten egg whites, stirring until no streaks of white show.
7. Scoop the batter into the prepared pan, gently smoothing the top.
8. Bake the cake for 28 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove it from the oven, and set it on a rack. Loosen the edges with a spatula or table knife.
9. After 20 minutes, gently turn the cake out onto a serving platter, turning it upright, if desired. You can also leave it face-down if you like; you'll be topping it with whipped cream, so any imperfections on the bottom crust will be hidden. You may also choose to serve the cake right from the pan; in which case, leave it where it is.
10. Allow the cake to cool to room temperature.
11. To make the topping: Combine the 1/2 cup cream, condensed milk, evaporated milk, and vanilla or liquor, stirring thoroughly.
12. Poke the cake all over with a fork. Pour the milk mixture over the cake slowly, stopping occasionally to allow it to soak in. This seems like a lot of liquid for the cake to absorb; but don't worry, it will.
13. Cover the cake and refrigerate it for several hours before serving. 
14. Just before serving, make the frosting: Whip 1 1/2 cups heavy cream with 1/4 cup sugar until the cream is stiff enough to spread. Spread the cream over the top of the cake, swirling it with your spatula. Dust with ground cinnamon, if desired. Serve with diced mango, pineapple, or other tropical fruits; or simply as is, in all its sweet glory.
15. Refrigerate any leftover cake for up to several days.

Woman in the window

Author: A. J Finn

This novel reminded me of "The girl on the train". Honestly till I'd realized that, I was very happy with it! I'd been looking for some book that would be hard for me to put down. It didn't fail there. There was more than one day when life came in between the book and me! Of course, life always wins.

The book is about a woman who has agoraphobia - fear of open spaces. So she's bound to her home and rarely ever goes out. With all the time she has on her hand, she spends it generously between drinking, watching thrillers and keeping tab on her neighbors. More than a tab actually. She uses her camera to zoom into her neighbors windows. One such day she saw a woman bleeding with some kind of silvery thing stabbed into her. She called the 911. However, since the para medics were taking time she decided to go help the woman. This was tough for her as she could hardly step outside - let alone walk all the way to her neighbors house. As a result, she collapsed midway. She woke up in a hospital only to find out she was being questioned about her mental state. Nobody believed what she had to say. The police did not find anything that would support her theory. She doesn't loose heart and continues to dig evidence for her story. For every evidence she unearths there is an explanation of how she conjured it up. Eventually she accepts that it was always a figment of her imagination. Given how much she was drinking and how alcohol does not mix well with her medications and all the thrillers she'd been watching, she had imagined it all up. Until one day when she found evidence that could not be refuted. That day changed her life.

Loved reading the book! It always kept me on the edge :)