One of Mitchell’s favorite treats was hot chocolate. When it snowed around the holidays he always asked me to make my ‘famous hot chocolate’ (at least Mitch thought it was famous) so he could sit by the window and watch the snow fall and enjoy a warm treat. Our family has many good memories surrounding this activity – so I thought we’d share it with all of you.

There is nothing original about it; in fact, I’m sure Pinterest is filled with a hundred thousand variations. But this was our simple recipe and it was something Mitch loved. Some of you might like it, too.

It is fairly simple to make:

1) Warm milk to a boil over the stove.
2) Add chocolate shavings (Mitch really liked Lindt Milk Chocolate)
He would often take candy bars and use a cheese grater to make the shavings
Generally, 3 ounces of chocolate for every 2 cups of milk works well.
3) Slowly stir chocolate shavings into simmering milk and whisk until completely dissolved
4) Add chocolate to preferred taste
5) Whipped cream, with a puff of cinnamon and sprinkled graham cracker crumbs on top always made it feel extra special. Sometimes Mitch even wanted crushed candy cane on top. 

As with so many things, what we do is often less important in life than how we do it. Having hot chocolate was fun, but making it together as a family made both a treat and a memory. And memories are infinitely sweeter and last much longer.

We have several other things we made as family traditions I will share over the next few weeks/months. Tonight, as Ethan and Wyatt helped me take this photo of some ingredients, we remembered the fun times and the sweet times … and our hearts grew in gratitude.

I was reminded that while we might give each other gifts this season … love, time and attention are some of the greatest gifts we can give each other.