Nutella hot chocolate

We are all in need of some serious tender loving care! It's Monday, I am back at varsity feeling like I have forgotten what sleep is and already wrote a test. Yes, bring on the TLC! 

And so here is a recipe for Nutella hot chocolate. Yes. NUTELLA HOT CHOCOLATE! (Everyone please calm down!!)

What you need:

• 1 cup of Milk
• 2 tablespoons of Nutella (or a bit more!)
• 1 teaspoon of cocoa (suggested if you'd like a more intense chocolate flavour) 
• Pinch of cinnamon
• Whipped cream and marshmallows

What to do:

1. Pour about 1/4 of the milk into a saucepan on medium-low heat. 
2. Add the Nutella and whisk until blended. Slowly stir in the remaining milk. 
3. Add a pinch of cinnamon and whisk until hot and frothy. 
4. Carefully pour the mixture into a mug, add whipped cream and marshmallows if you so desire.
5. Let the hazelnut hot chocolate happiness begin!!

{Taken from: deliciousdrinkrecipes.blogspot.com}  

Decadent chocolate mousse

So I have survived this weekend's brutal storm of terrifying thunder, flashes of white hot lightning slicing through the midnight sky, pelting hail, gale force winds shaking my windows in their paint-peeled wooden frames, pelting hail, the churning ocean and bitter coldness. 

I definitely think that we all could use some comfort food (also my lovely's family is down for the weekend!) And so this recipe came to mind:

I made this to impress my future in-laws... and let's just say that they were seriously impressed :) I love anything with chocolate and this is pure decadence and will satisfy any craving (I highly recommend doubling the recipe - a single recipe is shown below - because you will definitely be wanting more!)

What you need?

• 100g  (or 3 1/2oz) of dark chocolate (good quality)
• 1 Tbsp milk
• 2 eggs, separated
• 35g of castor sugar
• 150ml (or 5fl oz) of double cream

What to do?

1. Place the dark chocolate and milk in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Melt and combine until smooth. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
2. Place the egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl and whisk until thick a creamy.
3. Whisk in the melted chocolate gently. (When I did this I so brilliantly got my one finger stuck in the moving whisk/mixing things - and yes, the mixer was ON - needless to say it was VERY sore! So just be careful, or make sure that it is switched off at the wall before you push those prongs into the handheld mixer - lesson learnt). 
4. Whip the cream in a bowl until peaks form. Gently fold in the chocolate mixture until combined - take care not to over mix. 
5. Whisk the egg whites until still and fold into the chocolate mixture. (Yes, now you may lick all those yummy spoons!)
6. Spoon (I like to use a spatula) the chocolate mousse mixture into a serving bowl, or individual serving containers, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (it is worth it).
7. Decorate with chocolate shavings, or crunchy biscotti and strong coffee, or a dollop of whipped cream :)

Go and impress your family!

Chocolate chunk cookies

Winter is raging. It is icy. Rain clouds have replaced the clear blue skies and wonderful warmth of the past few days. Across the country snow has fallen. And so, here is something that you can do to keep warm - bake American-style chewy chocolate chunk cookies. In my family we make these at least once a week - they really are THAT good! Within thirty minutes you will have gone from wanting, to making, to baking, to eating.

What you need:

• 2 eggs
• 1 1/3 cups of firmly packed brown sugar (that yummy sticky sugar, or you can just use white sugar and add a good squirt of golden syrup)
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla or caramel essence
• 1 1/4 cups of self-raising flour (or normal flour with a tsp of baking powder)
• 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips (or at least 2 100g slabs of dark chocolate roughly chopped into lovely large chunks of goodness) - personally, add as much chocolate as you like, for a true chocoholic believes that you can never have too much chocolate!
• 1 to 1 3/4 cups of either oats, walnuts, raisins or coconut (or a combination) - we usually add either oats (to make us feel "healthy") or crushed pecans 

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 180/200 C (or around 400 F).
2. Using an electric mixer (or your arm and a whisk - which will really warm you up!) beat the eggs and sugar together - for about 1 minute or until the mixture changes to a lighter colour.
3. Stir in the oil, essences, sifted dry ingredients and remaining ingredients (basically throw everything else into the bowl).
4. Cover and cool in the refrigerator for 30 minutes (I don't think we have ever done this step before - we just cannot wait!) But for those of you that have a little bit more baking patience, this is so that the mixture hardens to prevent the cookies from spreading while they bake (for us the oats usually hold the cookies together nicely).
5. Place spoonfuls of the cookie dough mixture onto a grease baking tray or two. If you have a really sweet tooth you can roll your cookie balls in icing sugar and then place them on the tray to bake.
6. Bake for about 10 minutes or until slightly brown. Allow to cool for 5 minutes (like that is going to happen!)
7. Enjoy while still warm - with a tall glass of cold milk or crumbled over a bowl of ice-cream :)

When I lay in bed, under my blankets, licking the melted chocolate off my fingers, all warm and cozy, I remember all those who are less fortunate than me... I have been so blessed and have so, so very much, while many in SA suffer in this freezing cold. Give thanks, be humble, share! Leave your safe, comfortable life and help those who go without, let your prayers become action, take a plate of cookies to your neighbour, go through your cupboards and fill boxes for the shelter down the road, donate blankets at your local supermarket, get involved in a church outreach or community project, smile at a stranger, make a small but loving difference :)

a walk

I woke up to gentle winter sunshine filtering across the grey sky and stormy ocean.

Me: Love, rain has been forecast... are you sure we should go walk the dog?

R: Yes, it will be fine :)

Me: (Looks up at the ominously gathering, thick, dark clouds - seriously, you would've thought that we were smarter than that!)

And we were off. When the howling wind was so bitterly icy and painfully cutting we should've realized that this wasn't our greatest idea...

Me: Ahhh - I can't feel my face! And my ears are aching... (Right now you are probably shouting, "Turn back, turn back!")

But, of course, we carried on. The rain started to pour soon afterwards. We threw our hoods over our heads, clutched them with our numb fingers to keep them on, and started to run. The wind was frightfully strong that at one point we had to struggle to keep moving forward (all I could hear was my own gasping breath as we stumbled along the rocky path). I didn't even last for a minute running, and so we had to walk all the way back in the rain. The dog was shaking and we were shivering.  

As we arrived home, dripping and frozen, the rain began to ease, and behind the clouds I could see the faint glow of the sun. Now huddled under piles of blankets, after a scalding hot shower and into warm (dry!) pyjama's  (and my favourite socks) exhaustingly clutching a mug of hot chocolate, we are laughing about it! I can smile because we will never forget that absolutely horrible, yet wonderful, walk... 

R: So, are we going on a walk tomorrow?

Me: (Gives him just one look)

A slumbering sun

"I'll dissolved when the rain pours in, 

when the nightmares take me, 

I will scream with the howling wind,

It's a bitter world and I'd rather dream" 

{Owlcity - Lonely Lullaby*} 

A crisp, cold morning. A quiet train station. Not a single person in sight. Listening to the sounds of the murmuring ocean as its waves gently surged up and down the rocky shore, fishing boats rising and falling. Watching the trains silently slide past, coming and going. See the wavering lights of the lighthouses flicker across the deep, dark waters. Midnight blue faded away into the rising of the slumbering sun. The faintest flushed pinks and golden oranges the last whispers of summer. A breeze blew, blushing my cheeks, a scarf wrapped tightly around my neck to keep the ice away. I could see the grey clouds tumbling over the mountains along the horizon. 

The rain rages and the wind wages war against the cool glass of the window. A steaming mug of soup, warm toast and soft socks keeping me cozy. Lighting candles, melting chocolate, sipping tea while I read in the bath. Snuggled in heaps of blankets, so thankful, so content, watching Pride and Prejudice :) Only one thing could make this even more perfect. You.