Rich & Creamy Hot Chocolate {Italian style}

Hello everyone!

How many of you watched the SuperBowl yesterday??... well, I hope you were all SeaHawks' fans, because for the Bronco Fans it has not been a very good afternoon.. :(

It was so disappointing that at the end of the game I had to find a way to cheer up and the first thing that popped in my mind was the Hot Chocolate I used to drink in Italy. What's better than a dense and luscious hot chocolate?? And when I say dense I mean it! Every time I make hot chocolate for my children (the store-bought kind) it's basically a hot chocolate-milk.  The kind I used to drink is like velvet, it sticks gently to the spoon.. but it's at the same time liquid enough to drink.

If you have never had it you should try it... and the secret is very simple!

RICH & CREAMY ITALIAN STYLE HOT CHOCOLATE

• Your favorite kind of Hot Chocolate {I used the "double chocolate" Starbucks brand}
• 1 full tsp of Corn Starch each serving
• sugar {only if you need it}
• Cold Milk

Mix the cocoa powder and the corn starch together in a pot. Add as much milk as directed (usually one cup per serving). Stir on low heat... never stop stirring! Let it boil a little bit and serve hot.

 

Yesss! The corn-starch does the magic!

 

What's your favorite kind of hot-cocoa? Share your recipe... I would love to know!!!

 

xoxo,

 

 

Merenda time!!

Merenda is the Italian word for "afternoon snack". Today, under my husband's request, I made Churros for the first time! I found the recipe on the online magazine Bon Appetit, one of my favorite magazines. They are basically fried eggy dough covered with sugar. They didn't come out too bad, the frying oil was probably a little too hot so they came out crunchy on the outside but not completely cooked inside. They were edible though... they are almost all gone! :) I also served, to my husband and children, a delicious hot chocolate. It was great!!
I was curious to know more about this crunchy Spanish snack..I knew it came from Spain and it's very popular all over South America and Mexico, but I found out it was a recipe made by Spanish shepherds, to substitute fresh bakery goods. Churro paste was easy to make and fry in an open fire in the mountains, where shepherds spend most of their time. I think it's interesting...
Here's a picture taken earlier to show you how they came out! Bon Appétit!!