We got our first big snow in Baltimore this weekend!

All the Syracuse people reading are like “yeah, okay.”

It was about 6 inches but essentially that shuts the city down.

So we’re hunkered down at home today and I was in the mood for a hot beverage and luckily remembered that we had a wedding gift that hasn’t been used yet!

Most of our wedding guests sent things off our registry or brought cards to the ceremony, but there was one single box on the gift table. The next day when we opened it we discovered that it was four hot cocoa mugs. The gifter remains a mystery to this day because there was either no card or it came loose from the box in the shuffle.

The GS wanted to write “thank you for the ____ and the hot cocoa mugs” in every single thank you note we sent out but ultimately I decided that would probably create confusion.

That said, if you’re reading and these were from you, thanks!

Last winter we went to this outdoor event hosted by a local bar and they were serving spiked hot chocolate that was extremely delicious. After I had had two of them and was feeling quite warm I watched the girl make my third and was alarmed to see that about a half a bottle of peppermint schnapps went into each cup. Oops.

Unfortunately we don’t have any schnapps on our bar cart so I had to settle for Kahlua. But use what you have, or keep it virgin.

Spiked Hot Chocolate

makes two servings

2 1/4 cups almond milk (or milk of your choice)

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

2 shots Kahlua

Heat the almond milk in a small sauce pan over medium-low heat. Stir in the cocoa powder and the vanilla, then add the chocolate chips, whisking consistently so that they melt evenly and not to the bottom of the pan.

Once the mixture is simmering, turn off the heat. Pour a shot of Kahlua into each of your mugs, then pour the cocoa over top.

Because I was feeling extra on this snowy Sunday, I broke out my Aerolatte to get these nice and foamy. This is a nice touch but not necessary. If you’re not going to foam them, just make sure you stir it so you don’t get a mouthful of alcohol at the very end.

I promise I didn’t consume any Kahlua before or after the making of this one mug, but I did for some reason forget the laws of physics and think that a piece of peppermint bark would magically float on the top as a lovely garnish. It didn’t. Made the last sip taste reminiscent of my last boozy hot cocoa experience, though.

Louise wasn’t allowed to have any because she’s not 21 yet.

Stay warm!