Beach Treat: Hot Chocolate that will Melt your Heart

February 14, Valentine's Day. 'Tis the day to celebrate LOVE!  AND CHOCOLATE!

And why do love and chocolate go together?  Research has discovered that “Chocolate gets right to the heart of sexual pleasure by increasing the brain’s level of serotonin, the feel-good brain chemical. Serotonin plays a major role in positive mood, emotional health, proper sleep and balanced appetite, contributing to numerous behavioral and physiological functions.”

So if you're in need of a dose of serotonin, along with the best feel-good drink around, try this one for Chocolate Hecho à la Espalola , which translated means “The Spanish made chocolate.”  But what it really means is “drinkable melted chocolate that will make you feel wicked and divine and goooo-ooo—ood!”

Chocolate Hecho à la Espanola

4 -1/2 cups whole milk (divided)

1 pound semisweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli)
      broken into bits

1 tablespoon cornstarch

¼ cup sugar

½ cup fresh whipped cream

Bring 4 cups milk to a boil over high heat.  Remove pan from heat and add chocolate and sugar.  Stir regularly until chocolate is melted.

Mix cornstarch with remaining ½ cup milk.  Stir into chocolate.  Return to heat and stir until thickened, approximately 10-20 minutes.

Serve hot and topped with a dollop of whipped cream.

Enjoy! 

PRESCRIPTION FOR LOVE: A Short Romance Just in Time for Valentine's Day

<<At one point in my writing career I focused on Romance. here is one of my short stories I dug out of the back of my closet in honor of this day of ROMANCE.>>

         

Maddie wasn’t sure she could take another step.

          “Which grocery store shall we hit tonight?” her sister Kara asked.

          “Huh?”  It was all the response Maddie could muster as they finished the grueling eight-mile run along the beach.  She bent at the waist and rested her elbows on her knees as she sucked in lungfuls of refreshing salt air.

          “I’m thinking the Green Grocer over on West Washington might be good.” Kara, who was in far better shape than Maddie, sounded less like a steam locomotive puffing up a mountain and more like someone who had just finished a game of Wii bowling. 

          Maddie had assumed, erroneously, that joining her sister on an after-work run would replace their usual evening activity of late—man hunting.  Kara had read in a magazine that a good place to meet eligible bachelors was at the grocery store, so the sisters had been cruising a different one every night for the past three weeks.  So far, they hadn’t met a single eligible man.    

          Using the railing to support herself, Kara stretched out her calves.  “It’s right next to that new gym and lots of hungry, freshly showered men will be stopping by to pick up something quick and easy for dinner.  I hear they have the best barbecue in town.  That’s sure to attract my kind of guy.”

          The last thing Maddie wanted tonight was go shopping for a potential life mate, especially the more-brawn-than-brains type that Kara favored.  Maddie was more interested in an intellectual renaissance man.  And no doubt they were all already home preparing a gourmet meal whilesipping a glass of chardonnay and listening to some cool jazz music.