On Wednesday night, my dad came up the stairs and said, “There’s a box for you. It was sitting on the porch.” And I started chanting, “my cocoa swap is here! my cocoa swap is here!” as I ran around my room trying to find the scissors (for the packing tape). My dad stood patiently and waited because he loves seeing what comes in the mail for me. He always wants to know what books I’m getting for review, etc. etc.
Please share a favorite tea snack, especially if it is a treasured recipe! To be honest, I drink tea all day, every day… so there isn’t one particular thing that I have to have with my tea. However, there are some things that if I’m eating them, I need tea. It’s like Frank Sinatra says, “you can’t have one without the other.” Chocolate: I just find it gets too rich and sickly-sweet in my mouth. My boyfriend is a chocoholic, so I often hint towards a cup of tea when he brings out the tin of chocolates. Peanut butter: I love peanut butter on toast, so it is a wonderful breakfast combo with my morning tea Biscuits: such as HobNobs, McVities Light, Arrowroot, or any other sort of digestive. I love dipping them in tea! My mouth gets too dry if I eat them plain. Cookies (different from biscuits): They are also good dipped in tea, but not necessarily vital. Just, enjoyable! Morning: In order to wake up, I enjoy tea. It’s not so much the caffeine, since I have it before I sleep too, but I think it is the routine. If I needed to pick a snack or a recipe, I’ll share my new Pumpkin Spice Loaf (Starbucks style). I searched the internet everywhere, and literally tons of websites claimed that this recipe was “thee” Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Loaf. WRONG. I tried so many recipes, and had tons of wasted ingredients (although my dad enjoyed the baked goods)… [...]
I really enjoy Weekly Topics for a swap. I think it’s a neat way to keep you involved during the “quiet period” between signing up and receiving a package. Here is the Cocoa Swap Question #3: Marshmallows/Whipped Cream – The big debate: How do you prefer you top your cocoa? If you like marshmallows, do they need to be the big ones, little ones, homemade, gourmet, flavored? If it’s whipped cream, is it fresh, the kind in the can, flavored? Or are you a fluff gal? Or… do you like your cocoa naked? Tell us about how you top off your favorite cup of chocolate! I am whipped cream all the way. In the can… and straight into my mouth. No, but really… canned whipped cream is great on top of hot cocoa. Did any of you have the peppermint whipped cream from Starbucks over the holidays? To. Die. For. If you’re making whipped cream fresh though, you better have some pumpkin pie or strawberry shortcake on hand! Marshmallows are just more of a “roast over the fire and make s’mores with” kind of treat. They don’t get gooey enough in hot cocoa. Or Marshmallow Alphabet! Did anyone used to do that with their fingers? Mash up marshmallows into goo and then form letters with your fingers?… yeah me neither…. Naked cocoa is fine too, which is how it usually is as I don’t regularly stock whipped cream. But I have a question, what is “fluff”?
I guess #1 was our questionnaire…. or the Scavenger Hunt? Or I might have missed it completely. Anyway, the Weekly Topic for the Hot Cocoa Swap is to share how you would make your Hot Cocoa, which is an excellent question! Sometimes, in a pinch, I suppose just powdered packets with hot water will suffice. However, if you want to get personal, I will tell you my SECRET to amazing hot cocoa. This is the Aerolatte. It mixes your chocolate… AND foams the milk! That is all you really need to a lovely, creamy, foamy cup of hot cocoa. All you do is stick the aerolatte in your drink and turn it on. It rotates the little whisk at the bottom and tada! I love to do it on the stove, put a few pumps of hazelnut syrup in my cup, and then pour in the hot cocoa in, and dollop the foam on top! Every time I use it, it makes me think of Willy Wonka and his chocolate river! MRS. GLOOP: What a disgusting, dirty river. MR. SALT: It’s industrial waste, that. You’ve ruined your watershed, Wonka. It’s polluted. WONKA: It’s chocolate. VERUCA: That’s chocolate?!? CHARLIE: That’s chocolate. VIOLET: A chocolate river. GRANDPA JOE: That’s the most fantastic thing I’ve ever seen. WONKA: Ten thousand gallons an hour. And look at my waterfall. That’s the most important thing. It’s mixing my chocolate. It’s actually churning my chocolate. You know, no other factory in the world mixes its chocolate [...]
Do you have a favorite tea source? Do you shop online or in a local store? My favourite tea shop is in England and it’s called Whittard of Chelsea. This Tea-For-One set (pictured right) was purchased from there. I absolutely love their fine bone china. One day I plan to get a whole set from there for my own dining/serving pleasure. But for now, I just make the occasional purchase. I did get quite the scare this Christmas… with the recession, Whittard almost went out of business! I had made plans to buy my tea set immediately if that happened, but fortunately they were bought out by a bank. *phewf* Tetley is my everyday staple. I just really enjoy it. I do like other black teas, I have bought teas from Whittards before, and The Secret Garden in Kerrisdale (an area here in Vancouver) is very luxurious. Also Steeps, The Granville Island Tea Company, and Murchies are all local too. They are great resources, but I don’t go through enough loose/special teas to warrent a lot of visits, although Steeps is a sit-down tea shop too.
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