Cocoa and Pebbles

OMG, the food-gasm continues even as I think about this now....  But let me start from the beginning today...

So the very, very strange winter continues.  In all my life, I can't remember a milder winter.  It was 0 degrees today, not entirely unusual, but there's no snow to speak of and it's been like this so far all winter.  This is not a singular exceptional day.  this is every day this winter.  The light breeze coming off of Lake Ontario felt more like late March than early February.  Now, with the wooded trails iced over (as we discovered last weekend), we thought it would be a good day to head down to the waterfront and let the dogs splash around in the water. 

Apparently, after WW2, there was a man-made sandy beach here in Ajax.  Old pictures suggest it was beautiful until one powerful winter, the water came up high and washed the whole beach away and it has never since been rebuilt.  I would love it if they'd rebuild the beach.  This time, it would be prudent to build a man-made breaker-wall, creating a cove to protect the beach.  It would take many, many tonnes of sand to make this beach sandy once again, and probably not the best thing to do to mother nature, but it certainly would be awesome for the residents here.  There are many spectacular natural beaches along the toronto waterfront.  We got short-changed out here in Ajax.  We got pebbles and cliffs--scenic, but not swimmable.

Boy, the dogs were in heaven.  Chinook took the opportunity to sniff around looking for mischief, but Zephyr felt the need to lead a full-scale assault on the little waves rolling into the pebbly shore.  She always chases the waves like a maniac.  She exhausts herself doing this, and then about an hour later, has to pee, like, 15 times. 

But the weather was spectacular.  So spectacular, in fact, that I found this little guy on the pathway just a little ways from the beach.  I'm not sure he knew what he was doing.  I kid you not, this is a live caterpillar, crawling across the pavement.  This is probably the sign that comes before the apocalypse or something, but it was strange to see, for sure.  He shouldn't be out until about April or May.  He's a little confused.  He's not going to find much green stuff to eat--there's no leaves on the trees or grass growing anywhere.

Eventually, the wind picked up and it started to get colder so it was time to head home.  I was pretty hungry and chilled by then.  Warm as it was, it was still a couple of hours spent by the lake in the wintertime, so the cold can get into your bones pretty good.  What I really needed was some hot chocolate to warm me up.

Just this morning I found a recipe in my email from Chatelaine for Mexican Hot Chocolate.  So what is a hungry, cold paleo girl to do?  Paleo-ify herself some hot chocolate, of course!

This is, hands down, the thickest, richest hot choloate I have ever tasted.  Steve and I both had food-gasms and had to go sit down to enjoy this for a little while.  If you're having a chocolate craving, this is waaay richer than just eating a piece of dark chocolate.. Guaranteed you will not need more chocolate for some time after this gem.  If you have good-quality dark chocolate, use that in place of the Bakers chocolate and chocolate chips--you want about 160-200 grams or about 6 squares of the chocolate bar.

Mexican Hot Chocolate

Makes 3-4 servings

1 cup canned coconut milk

2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or plain, it won't make a difference)

1 square Baker's unsweetened chocolate

1/3 c semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

4 tsp cocoa

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp arrowroot powder

splash of vanilla

Directions:

Do not shake coconut milk can!  Using a spoon, lift 2-3 tbs of the fatty coconut milk cream out of the can and set it aside.  Stir in a splash of vanilla.  Heat remaining coconut milk and almond milk in a saucepan until it begins to steam.  Add chocolates, cinnamon, arrowroot, and cocoa.  Wisk frequently as chocolate melts and mixture will thicken (alot!).  When it's hot enough to your liking, pour out into mugs.  Add a dollop of coconut-vanilla cream to each mug.  It will sink slightly, adding a flavour burst to the middle of each mug.  This drink will be almost thick enough to drink with a spoon.  Believe me, you will be hard-pressed to drink a full cup of this.  It's like liquid pudding.  It is absolutely spectacular.  If you've never had a food-gasm yet, this may very well be your first.  Trust me.  You won't regret it.  You don't even need to feel guilty.  Its dairy-free, sugar-free hi-fat goodness in a mug.