This morning as I write, I'm sipping a cup of hot chocolate with a little splash of pure orange extract. The combination of quality chocolate and the fragrance of an orange is heavenly. My hot chocolate is very basic. I heat up a cup of soy, rice, cow or almond milk. Once steaming hot, I add a heaping tablespoon of rich quality cocoa. From here I play, sometimes I feel like cinnamon, almond extract or just basic vanilla. Other days I experiment with peppermint, orange or pumpkin spice. My hot chocolate doesn't have any added sugar, although I usually use vanilla flavored milks. Some days I combine my hot chocolate with toast or a fresh orange. Dallas likes his with sugar and usually the old standard- marshmallows. Hot chocolate is very personal.
Even though I still drink hot chocolate in the summer, there is nothing like that first cup when the days start getting dark and cool. This morning it is raining outside-perfect.
You may be wondering, what in the world does hot chocolate have to do with the topic of being residue free? Taking time to relax and enjoy the simple pleasures of life maybe the best way to live residue free.
On one of my book shelves lives a book about chocolate: Chocolate a Bittersweet Saga of Dark and Light by Mort Rosenblum. Before drinking my first sip this morning I read a couple of pages.
A reflection from a chocolate master: Michel Chaudun. Page 174
"Chocolate has always brought me great pleasure, being a gourmet and a gourmand, I have always loved it... Chocolate is marvelous; it brings a smile to the lips, it makes eyes shine, and it flutters the eyelids... I think above all it is a drug, nicely seductive, which marks the sweet hours of our existence. Bitter as the pain it consoles, but sweeter than the love it inspires."
Wishing you and happy and healthy home,
Denise
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