C & H not the sugar.

Newspaper comics have a special place in my heart. I don't know why but I love to read them. My beautiful bride laughs at me because when I have the funny pages in my hands I have to read them in a certain order and don't even think about reading them to me or spoiling punchlines. Reading the Funnies is serious business. My three favorite of the syndicated strips include Cul-De-Sac by Richard Thompson, Lio by Mark Tatulli, and, last but not least, Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson.  Watterson's portrayal of adolescent hedonism contrasted with a philosophical intelligence beyond Calvin's six years has made for some well beloved moments snuggled in a blanket with a C & H collection in front of me. It's also made for some milk through the nose moments which has made me reluctant to drink anything while reading.

The inspiration for today's post comes from Calvin's mom. One day, after playing out in the cold snowy weather, Calvin's mom bundles him up in front of the fire with a mug of hot cocoa, some peanut butter crackers, and some comic books, which sounds a little bit like heaven to me. I wanted to personalize it a bit and changed the crackers to vanilla frosted graham crackers (chocolate would be better on their own but since the hot chocolate recipe is rich enough to satisfy your need for chocolate for a few hours or minutes I felt vanilla was a better match.

 

I have to warn you This hot chocolate is so rich you may need to add some milk to it or keep a glass of water handy. It's really good but I don't want to be responsible for putting anyone in a chocolate coma. So enjoy at your own risk but I give my full and complete endorsement to do just that. So without further superlative verbosity I give you...

Creamy Crockpot Hot Cocoa {Best Ever!}

from 

Mrs. Happy Homemaker

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups whipping cream
• 1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 6 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups of chocolate chips (milk chocolate OR semi-sweet depending on how sweet you like it. I have a heck of a sweet tooth, and I love the milk chocolate, but others prefer the semi-sweet)

easel.ly