Winter weather has finally hit the San Francisco Bay Area. Rain and scarily strong winds have folks in hiding this week. Make hibernation more enjoyable with this Parties That Cook Winter Recipe for rich and delicious Mexican Hot Chocolate! If you like, you can make it a party (or fiesta!) with these beer & pretzel marshmallows – a great way to participate in San Francisco’s Beer Week without even leaving your house!

*No need to feel left out: For the few cities (ahem, Chicago) experiencing oddly warm weather for this time of year, a previous blog entry is NOW applicable!*

Mexican Hot Chocolate
This recipe can also be found in our Holiday Recipes Section!

Ingredients
8 cups milk
3 disks of Mexican chocolate
3 oz of Scharffen Berger dark chocolate
1 vanilla bean pod, split lengthwise

Methods/Steps
Prep: Chop the chocolates coarsely. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add the seeds and bean to the milk.
Heat: Warm the milk, chopped chocolate, vanilla bean seeds and pod in a pot over medium heat.
Execute: While warming, constantly whisk the milk. Do not let it boil over. Keep whisking until the chocolate is melted and the mixture begins to produce steam. Remove vanilla bean pod and serve in mugs.

Serves/Makes
Makes 8 drinks