Adventures in Booze: So Here is a Thing That is Delicious

Here I am with another recipe that has half-assed measurements and doesn’t even come with pictures this time. But I’m drinking right now in the chill of my kitchen and had to share.

Hot Orange Chocolate

A handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips (or probably like somewhere between a 1/4 and an 1/8th a cup). You can use whatever small chocolate pieces you have lying around. When I’m feeling really fancy, I’ll use the delicious dark chocolates they give you after meals at Cheesetique.
A similar amount of orange liquor, enough to cover the chocolate. You can use Cointreau if you like it sweet. I’ve been using Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao for orange without more sugar.
A pinch or so of ground cayenne pepper. Adjust to taste. Start small if you’re a spice wimp. It can add up fast.
1 cup (8 oz) of milk or milk substitute. I use unsweetened soy.

Place your chocolate, orange liquor, and pepper in a bowl or largeish coffee mug and microwave for 30 sec. Remove and whisk smooth. The chocolate shouldn’t need much heating. Slowly whisk in milk and then microwave in short burst until warm. You don’t want to get it too hot or you’ll get a nasty skin on it. Drink and be warm.

You can, of course, do this all on the stove which may be more time effective if you’re making a large batch. But for just one person, the microwave works great.

Orange and chocolate is a very common, tasty combination. Chili and chocolate is actually how it was originally enjoyed by its native discoverers and how you can find it in Mexican hot chocolate. All three together are pretty much my favorite thing ever for a chilly night. You can also throw some cinnamon in there for a feast for the senses. Everyone else is probably doing apple cider drinks right now (and I’ve got a few of them on tap) but today called for chocolate.

Thursday Pics

Red Devil Crab

Micro Crab

New crustacean pets. The top crab is a Red Devil crab, which is a terrestrial rainforest crab. They can live in water for a bit, but will eventually drown. They really prefer to be on damp, humid land so I’m creating a vivarium for them.

The second is a Thai micro crab. This is a true aquatic crab who’s body maxes out at about the size of a pencil eraser. They’re living in the aquarium I have at work right now with a bunch of cherry shrimp. I rarely see them as they are well camouflaged and are quite small.