And so it began... dun dun duuuuuunnnn...
First it "srained." (My friend Robin informs me it's called "slushing")
Then it snowed...
And it snowed...
And it snowed...
And it freezing rained and then snowed...
And it was pretty... So very pretty...
And then the power went out...
And then it came back on...
Snowmen were made...
Roads were sledified...
Driveways were sledified...
And much, much, hot chocolate was consumed.
Part of the "driveways were sledified" business meant that we were totally 100% housebound for most of the week. And that meant no running to the store for milk. For the first couple of days we had a packet or two of really, really old, mostly petrified, sugar-free hot cocoa mix that I'm pretty sure was older than the boys. (That stuff was rank but the boys would drink a mud puddle if it had a marshmallow in it...) When we ran out of the packets we were pretty stuck. But necessity is the mother of invention, right? I always have a few pouches of powdered milk for baking if I'm running low on milk. And you know what? If you put enough sugar and chocolate in with it, it makes pretty decent hot cocoa mix! A lot of the recipes I found online were for gift size portions of hot chocolate mix and I just didn't have the provisions in the pantry, so through a little trial and error, I managed to figure out a good ratio for making one cup at a time.
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Single Serving Instant Cocoa Mix
2 heaping teaspoons powdered milk
2 heaping teaspoons Sucanat (or white sugar)
1 heaping teaspoon cocoa
1 generous shake cinnamon
almost boiling water*
marshmallows or whipped cream (optional)
Stir all the dry ingredients together in the bottom of a mug and pour water in! Stir it up! Drink it up! Easy Peasy!
*If you boil the water, the powdered milk tends to clump a little, so if you bring it to almost boiling, it keeps it from happening as much.
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And thus we survived Snowpocalypse 2012. Snowmageddon has come and gone. The Snowtastrophe has passed. All 4-6 inches of it. We actually managed to get our car all the way back up the driveway last night. It's been raining for two days so the trees are clear, the roads are clear, and the snowman is pitifully pockmarked. The birds are out again and we even saw a squirrel this morning. And all of Seattle said, *Whew!* at the same time and ran to Starbucks to get their caffeine ration for the week.
Until next time, world! Keep your pantries stocked, your chins up, and your emergency lamps full!
What state are you from?
ReplyDeleteThe storm here in Washington kept me home for a couple of days because I just didn't want to drive in that mess.
Beautiful photos by the way!
Thanks! We're in Washington State, too! Near Seattle. =) It's great to be out again, yes?
ReplyDeletelol. I stocked up before the snowmageddon got started, but by the end of the week I still had to get creative in the kitchen!
ReplyDeleteI would have been a little happier with myself if I hadn't gone all Little House on the Prairie on the first day and baked bread, crackers, and biscuits thus using up a good portion of my flour and butter like some sort of crazed squirrel storing up baked goods for the winter...
ReplyDeleteHeehee! "Snowmageddon!" I love it!!! We, too, survived the snow out here in Maple Valley after nearly two days without power. Although I heard many Little House comments from my mother, we were unfortunately without your cocoa recipe. We'll have that one stocked and at the ready for next time, right alongside our flashlights and propane stove! ;-)
ReplyDeleteGlad you made it, MamaBexx! =) Sounds like you guys had it worse than we did. We were only without power for about 12 hours, but it was long enough that we got to eat soup in the dark and drag out the ol' kerosene heater. Hope you enjoy the hot chocolate!
ReplyDeleteWOW!! That's a lot of snow... I am imagine why you would need hot chocolate :)
ReplyDeleteHeehee! 4-6 inches really isn't a lot for most of America, especially this far north. But the Puget Sound and the lakes around here keep it from snowing very often so when it happens everything is paralyzed. The rest of the country laughs at us and our measly 4-6 inches, Chinmayie! =) But the hot chocolate is still yummy! =)
DeleteYour photos reminded me of Port Orchard. I have friends there but I live on the other side of the state. Walla Walla here.
ReplyDeleteIt rained off and on all day today and I'm excited to head out for a walk tomorrow. :)
Have a great walk! Hope you have better weather for it than we'll be having today!
DeleteThis ho chocolate looks really good and heart warming. The photos of the snow are beautiful as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks! It is vastly better than any store bought mix, but not quite as good as the real thing. =)
Deletehot* chocolate
ReplyDelete4-6 inches? Come to Ontario...well, not this year but usually 4-6 inches means nothing. lol
ReplyDeleteI know, right? I'm from NC originally, where feet of snow is the norm. But if there's nobody to scrape the road, even an inch is extremely dangerous! They're just wildly under-prepared...
DeleteGood grief, that is a lot of snow!!! Eeek. But I am definitely not surprised at your ability to whip something up. I just so happen to have powdered soy milk that needs a recipe to go into so I will try this!
ReplyDeleteOnly someone in southern CA would say that's a lot of snow... ;) And I had absolutely no idea there was any such thing as powdered soy milk. Does it taste any better than powdered milk?
DeleteLol You crack me up!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Liesl! Good to see you here! =)
DeleteLove your photos and I'm happy to see you survived the snow in such a delicious way. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Hannah! Hope you guys are all thawed out, too!
DeleteNothing like a hot mug of chocolate when it is snowing like that outside! You had a lot of snow there, luckily we just had some small snow showers and it lasted only few hours!
ReplyDelete