usually Ovaltine but the last time I looked for it I couldnt find it so this time it is Great Value brand and I can tell

My favorite: HOT CHOCOLATE MIX

1 (11 oz.) jar Coffee Mate
1 (8 qt.) box powdered milk
1 (2 lb.) box Nestle's Quik
1 box powdered sugar

mix the above ingredients. Store in covered container. Mix 1/3 cup mix to 1/2 cup hot water for hot chocolate.

Coffee Mate is like Cool Whip, there are healthier alternatives.

I am a hot cocoa (not hot chocolate) fanatic --and I make a cup each morning to go with my cinnamon swirl toast. Yum! Making hot cocoa is a bit of a relaxation ritual for me. I use my Mom's old Revereware pot: 1 cup milk, 1 rounded coffee scoop (2T) Hershey's or Ghirardelli baking cocoa, 1 1/2 T sugar (or 2 pkts Splenda) and a 1/4 tsp. Baking vanilla. Heat all and stir with a French whisk to increase the froth. This time of year I may stir in some crushed candy cane or a cinnamon bear to add some holiday cheer :)

Personally I am fine with Nestles Quick made with whole milk. But I have also made hot chocolate from grated chocolate bars. I have a Cocomotion that really whips it up.

Sometimes I add cinnamon. I drop a peppermint into my cup or use a candy cane as a stirrer. Like whipped cream on top, don't care for marshmallows.

Of course, lol! Always a comeback, Fudd!

Had a camper back when and always had the above recipe to drink around the campfire.

My recipe is dead simple. For every cup of milk, add one heaping teaspoon of Dutch processed cocoa powder and one and a half teaspoons of sugar. Whisk in saucepan until desired temperature is reached. Add one or two teaspoons of vanilla once you take the pan off the stove. For best results, use Valrhona, VanHouten or Droste cocoa, in that order of preference.

My Mom always made us hot cocoa with Frys Cocoa on the stovetop and that is what I do most of the time. Frys is Dutch processed but I never looked it up to see what that means, it just always has been. If I want something quick like in the middle of the night when I wake up wanting a hot drink I use Tim Horton's Hot Chocolate mix with a tsp of Frys cocoa. I make a paste with a little bit of milk first then add the boiling water stirring as I mix it. This gives me a nice foam on the top. When I make it with cocoa powder I call it hot cocoa and when I make it with a mix I call it hot chocolate. Best hot chocolate I ever had was the thick hot chocolate we were served for breakfast in our hotel in Paris. First time I ever heard the term Dutch processed was when I started watching Martha Stewart

As I usually am not more than arm's length from a cup of coffee, I haven't had

hot chocolate in years. It seems to smell better to me than it tastes for some

reason.

I can't remember the last time I had hot cocoa. It's been decades.

Droste - use the chocolate pudding recipe but leave out the cornstarch

Choceur - use the Keurig to add hot water and then add some half & half

Elmer....That's an old Tupperware recipe. Glenda didn't invent it. ☺ When I left home my mother made a batch, put it in a large Tupperware flour canister....and put a note on it, "bottomless, bring home to refill". ♪memories♪

I don't drink it often, so mostly use Swiss Miss packets, made with milk. Anyone who drinks Hot Chocolate for health is probably kidding ;-)

I have some Keurig - Swiss Miss k-cups. The box is several years old and

un-opened. No idea if it's any good.

I came across a fun DIY Christmas gift youtube post about Hot Cocoa bombs. Then #1 DD said they were all the rage. Search it out--very fun looking!!

I have been following David Lebovitz on Facebook, and now I want to go to Paris for hot chocolate.

Gray wings, you just sent me down a David Lebovitz rabbit hole. Did you see he is doing Belgian hot chocolate on IG today? Hmmm ... his recipes are always perfection.

PS I just found his Parisian hot chocolate recipe, oh, goodness I will try that. I love hot chocolate that has a pudding consistency. The Belgian recipe has cinnamon in it which is a no-go for me.

The only time I can face hot chocolate is if it’s really, really cold and I’ve been outside for hours. I couldn't stomach it for breakfast. Much as I couldn’t face some of the mountainous meals described on the breakfast thread. In my mind hot chocolate is effectively a meal rather than a drink. So I probably don’t have it more than once or twice a year when I take it in a flask when I’m out walking in winter.

btw I’m never quite sure what ‘hiking’ means in US English. What is the difference between a hike and a walk?

We love this recipe, I make it often.

https://www.melskitchencafe.com/wp-json/mv-create/v1/creations/534/print

I remember going to restaurants in Buenos Aires where there would be something on the menu called a Submarine. It was a cup of very hot milk served with a small bar of chocolate. You put the chocolate in the milk and stirred while it melted. Or, you put part of the chocolate bar in, made very milky hot chocolate, and ate the rest of the bar.

The most delicious drink I've ever had, of any kind at all, was hot chocolate at the Cafe George V in Paris a couple of years ago. It was a cool rainy day when we stopped there for lunch and the entire meal was delicious!

"Elmer....That's an old Tupperware recipe."

Seriously?

Like so many these days, we try to stick to real food and real ingredients.

Several comments above are consistent with my approach to hot chocolate - it's a simple thing to make using a good quality European cocoa powder (whether Dutch, Belgian, French, Swiss, German, or whatever), whole milk and even a bit of cream if it's desired to be richer, and sugar. There's no need to include the output of a chemistry lab.

Yes, I know, there is a process to produce cocoa powder. It's the only alternative. Once that's produced, it can be used as is without adding other extraneous chemical ingredients.

I don't mind a packet. I'll use water or milk, sometimes add powdered coffee mate. Ready whip or marshmallows if we have some on hand.

On occasion, I treat myself to a decadent hot chocolate. As well as cocoa and milk, I add sugar (1 tbsp), 1-2 tbsp rum and a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Other than the chocolate/cocoa if you do not like an ingredient either leave it out or put in a substitute that you like. Most recipes are not written in stone even thought some think they are. Now that I have some fresh fennel seeds instead of hot chocolate I may make hot fennel seed milk sans chocolate.

btw I’m never quite sure what ‘hiking’ means in US English. What is the difference between a hike and a walk?

floral, I think of a walk as something done on flat ground and usually on a paved surface. No real exertion is required. A hike often involves a change of grade, non-paved trails, and going through woods rather than along a street. And best to wear some sturdy shoes/hiking boots for the latter.

nicole: That's an old Tupperware recipe. Glenda didn't invent it. ☺ When I left home my mother made a batch, put it in a large Tupperware flour canister....and put a note on it, "bottomless, bring home to refill". ♪memories♪

YES!! and I still have Tupperware with many miles on each, especially the hamburger press!

I have a great recipe for pumpkin dip using cool whip and serve with mini graham crackers :o)

When you hit the big 80, I say go for it. Whatever you feel like eating or drinking, (in moderation) just enjoy!!!!

You got that right, georgysmom2. Turning 81 for me has not been good.

A favorite memory for me too is my Mom making hot cocoa on the stove with Hershey's cocoa and milk, not sure what else. But then we'd have toast with it. I can see me dipping that toast into the hot cocoa right now. mmmm. Guess I'll have to make some soon.

Glenda's mix reminded me of when I had seven kids at home! I seems that someone was always making a new batch! It was really handy to have on hand.

I had a big mug of that on Saturday morning for breakfast. I used some kind of mix and added some whole milk to cool it down. It was good. We too used to have hot cocoa made with milk Hershey's cocoa and sugar.

Sue

Thank you, Bookwoman. It sounds as if your ‘hiking‘ is what we’d call ‘going walking’. My walking buddies and I usually do somewhere between 10 and 15 miles on any terrain in any weather. We wear walking boots, not shoes, and proper outdoor gear. Shoes, even tough ones wouldn’t be up to the job as we walk all year round in all weathers and in our climate that usually means lots of mud and water. Walking boots also give better ankle support and foot protection on rocky and uneven surfaces. ‘Hiking’ would be a step up from walking probably involving 20 or more miles per day, a large pack and most likely camping. We have a vast network of what we call public footpaths as opposed to trails, although there are some long distance footpaths called National Trails. They’re well mapped and signposted and walking is a big national pastime. Walking on a flat, paved surface, if it was called anything, would just be ‘going for a walk’ not ‘going walking’. Weird isn’t It?

I've recently discovered the mexican hot chocolate in a powder mix. I use that with milk.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Abuelita-Drink-Mix-Hot-Chocolate-11-2-Oz-1-Count/33784568?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&wl13=2094&&adid=22222222253447309553&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=468184119748&wl4=pla-294493680140&wl5=9031321&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=local&wl12=33784568&wl13=2094&veh=sem&wl18=showcase&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhsvv9rT27AIVZBh9Ch1l2QIDEAQYAyABEgKcLfD_BwE

I use a blender bottle (that I call a "whisky" bottle (meaning it has a little whisk in it, but implying the liquor)). It bugs the daylights out of my child! It's the little things. Teehee

Depends on how many of us are having hot chocolate. We'll say it's just me. Dump in 8 oz of milk, eighth cup cocoa, eighth cup of sugar, a shake of salt, and the top goes on. Shake shake shake, and the whisk blends it up. Take the top off and pop it the microwave for 30 seconds. Takes two or three different times of that. Before I pour it into a cup, I'll add a half teaspoon of vanilla or almond extract. Sometimes I add three tablespoons of cocoa, rather than the two (which is an eighth of a cup). Or if there are two of us it's 12 oz of milk, with three tablespoons of cocoa (or four of I'm feeling frisky), three tablespoons of sugar same process as before. There have been times I might add a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch to thicken it up. Or for my child, use peppermint extract.

The whisky bottle is the best for this whole thing. Nobody wants lumps in their hot chocolate.

https://www.blenderbottle.com/

When you hit the big 80, I say go for it. Whatever you feel like eating or drinking, (in moderation) just enjoy!!!!

It's funny how Glenda and other elders here, along with those of us right behind them continue to enjoy good health having eaten all this "artificial" food for most of their lives while so many chemophobics spend a whole lot more time at the doctors managing their conditions.

"When you hit the big 80, I say go for it. "

Sure, whatever anyone wants to do. Life is about personal decisions.

I'm not sure how that influences food items though because I promise you that hot chocolate or anything else made of top quality real ingredients instead of chemical laden highly processed ones will taste much better.

With food and drink, isn't getting the best tastes and flavors the objective? That's what most people choose to go for.

As a child hot chocolate was Droste cocoa + sugar + whole milk, made in a saucepan on the stove. The last time I made it, it was a Swiss Miss packet + milk, nuked. Sadly, my grandkids think it's Hershey's syrup + milk, also nuked. Waaay too sweet for me.

I chuckle about the use of 'hike' by young adults today. They generally mean a simple walk. I see people asking on the Hawaii forums about 'good hikes to take with a two-year-old.'

When my aunt and uncle moved to Yorkshire for two years after WWII they discovered that 'taking a walk after dinner' meant trekking to H and back for hours in the cold and damp. My aunt wrote to my DM, asking for her saddle shoes.

Swiss Miss makes a Dark Chocolate version which we prefer. A full shot of espresso or extra-strong French Roast, and at least 1 to 1-1/2 inches of softly whipped heavy cream. Yum!

@glenda, I also make that pumpkin dip with cool whip. It’s a big hit. I serve it with ginger snap cookies instead of graham crackers.

lilra55 use ginger snaps as well, just could not think of the name, lol

wildchild2x2 AMEN

Glenda, I still have some of Great aunts Tupperware and MANY more newer ones. You cannot beat a great made product like Tupperware. I sold it for 10 Plus years. I love it!!

DH and I have rediscovered gingersnaps and now have a designated canister -- to keep them 'snappy'. Hmm...could be that's why my front teeth are chipped. Oh-oh.