Operation make marshmallows proved to be harder than we thought. Not because it’s hard, we’ve made them before, but because finding kosher gelatin was hard! Thanks for all of your comments on Twitter and Facebook, we finally found it at Moisha’s.

Now, this is no regular hot cocoa powder—this is thick, delicious and creamy hot chocolate, even when it’s made with skim milk! But try it with whole, it’s even more delicious.

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What are you giving out for mishloach manot this year? What’s the most creative mm you’ve given or received? What about your best costume? Richie is going as a glow-in-the-dark skeleton. Happy Purim!

Hot Chocolate on a Stick from 30 Pounds of Apples

Ingredients:

• 9 oz. milk chocolate
• 7 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
• 1.5 oz. cocoa powder (1/2 cup, loosely packed)
• 4.5 oz. powdered sugar (1 cup, loosely packed)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• pinches of cinnamon and cayenne pepper, optional
• homemade marshmallows

Directions:

1. Sift together the powdered sugar, cocoa powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Melt it over a double boiler.
3. Mix together the melted chocolate with the dry ingredients. The mixture should be very thick.
4. Spoon the mixture evenly into a silicone ice cube tray. Flatten the tops and put a popsicle stick into each hot chocolate cube. (We got 28 1-oz. hot chocolates on a stick.)
5. Once they’re all dry, pop them out.
6. To use, heat up about a cup of milk, let the chocolate stick dissolve for about 5 minutes, top with homemade marshmallows and enjoy!

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Stephanie has had the pleasure of working next to the folks of P&H Soda Co. for the past month at Madison Square Eats, an outdoor popup food fair. Not only did she drink tons of gourmet soda (her favorite flavor was ginger-lime, by the way), but she also learned that Anton, the owner, was once on TV with Martha Stewart! When she sent me this video back in February, she never even heard of Anton or his soda company, but knew I would be interested in making Anton’s cream soda at home; I’m so glad I did!I don’t even like cream soda*. But I do like the idea of making my own soda! Two years ago I made ginger ale with my sixth grade class, and since then I became very interested (read: obsessed) in making my own soda. Root beer has been on my research and to do list for a long time, but with the many ingredients involved, I haven’t gotten around to it (and no, root beer extract doesn’t count). For the ginger ale, we used yeast to get the carbonation. This time around, I actually made a syrup and added it to seltzer.

*I never really drink soda. And I never really liked cream soda, so I had no idea that it was just vanilla flavored soda. I love vanilla! And turns out, I really liked this cream soda. So maybe I like store-bought cream soda, too.

Cream Soda Syrup, adapted from P&H Soda Company:

• 2 cups organic cane sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 cups water
• Juice of one lemon
• Vanilla bean, halved and scraped

Directions:

1. Combine sugar and 1/4 cup of water in a small pot and bring to a boil until the mixture is dark amber, or 280 degrees on a candy thermometer.

2. Turn off the heat and add 2 cups of water. Turn the heat back on, and add the juice of one lemon and the halved vanilla bean, making sure to scrape the seeds into the mixture.

3. Bring to a boil, then turn off heat and let steep for one hour. That’s it! So easy!

4. To make it into soda:
Fill your glass with ice, add enough syrup and top with seltzer. The amount of syrup is really up to you. I usually add a shot of syrup, fill with seltzer, and taste. Then I add a tablespoon of syrup at a time until I get my desired sweetness.

Ever been to Starbucks and spend way too much money on a drink? I know I have. And I love their passion tea lemonade. So when I bought Tazo passion tea from the supermarket, I had an idea. Instead of only drinking it hot with a little bit of honey, why not prepare some iced passion tea and drink it just like at Starbucks? I added some homemade lemonade and it was a hit! A little more lemonadey than the Starbucks kind, but that can definitely be tweaked according to taste. I definitely like it that way.

Fine, mine’s not shaken. Though I guess to make it more authentic you can mix it up in your cocktail shaker. I stirred mine and loved it anyway, so I’m not sure the shaking makes SUCH a big difference.

Look! I used only two teabags and made a huge pitcher of iced tea with it – how easy (and cheap!) is that? Make sure you have giant pitchers or measuring cups. And make sure that these can handle boiling water, because exploding glass is not fun in the kitchen. and  Those 8-cup Pyrex ones would be amazing for making a drink like this. I wish I had one of those, actually. I used a bunch of big pitchers I have lying around. And I actually had to go scrounging for mason jars and measuring cups to combine the lemonade and iced tea. Not so fun. I think I’ll buy some more things to make this in because I know I’ll be doing it a lot, especially when the warm months roll around.

Tazo Passion Tea Lemonade Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 Tazo passion tea teabags
• 7 Lemons, squeezed
• 1 cup sugar
• 8-9 cups water, divided

Directions:

1. Make the tea: Boil 4 cups of water and add the teabags. Let steep until cool. Remove tea bags. (You can do this step in the morning, let it sit all day, and when you get home from school/work/errands, continue with the rest of the steps)

2. Combine 1 cup of water with the sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir, making sure all the sugar is dissolved. That’s your simple syrup! Let cool.

3. Combine lemon juice (I got about 1 1/3 cups from 7 lemons), simple syrup, and 3-4 cups water. Taste to make sure it’s not too lemony or sweet. Add more water or lemon juice to taste.

4. In a pitcher, glass, cup, or whatever you use to drink or store drinks, combine lemonade and tea, using a 1:1 ratio. Mix well, and add ice if desired. Drink up!

Don’t forget to share this with your friends! It’s easy enough to make again if they finish it before you get a chance to even taste…

I love apple cider, and especially love it from the farmer’s market. If I’m stuck at home, though, this will have to do. On a cold winter night, it’s sometimes better than hot chocolate. We can make this delicious stuff all through the winter. I know it’s not technically winter yet, but it’s cold enough here in New York now to call it winter!

No, I didn’t make the apple cider on my own. But I did add ingredients to it to make it extra special; the whipped cream is a must.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup apple cider
• 1 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons whipped cream

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, combine apple cider star anise, syrup, and cinnamon stick.

2. Heat over medium low heat to steep flavors.

3. When hot, pour into mug and top with whipped cream. Enjoy!

Everyone in the Deal area is going crazy over Rook Coffee Roasters. Yes, we agree, it’s delicious! And adorable and cute and teeny. You know why their iced coffee is so delicious? Because they cold brew it. And they use organic milk. Okay, it helps that they have good quality coffee and everything, but cold brewing is a big deal. They just rock is all.

We’ve been cold brewing our coffee ever since 2007 when the New York Times posted an article about it. We were hooked, and never went back to chilling hot coffee again!

Okay, so I didn’t use the greatest quality coffee this time, but one of the greatest things about cold brewing is the fact that it’s awesome anyway! and Chock full o’ Nuts was on sale last week, so I had to buy it.

Cold brewed coffee is super strong, so either dilute it with some water or have it “latte style” with half coffee and half milk. I like my coffee creamy, so I opt for the latter, but it’s also quite amazing with water (1:1 coffee to water ratio) and a splash of cream or milk. If you’re a fan of the smokey flavor, add some hickory chips in the cold brew and sweeten it – that’s a New Orleans style brew for you.

As long as you have a Ball jar (where can we get those GIANT ones, please?), some coffee, and filtered water, you can make great coffee at home. No fancy machines needed. You don’t even need measuring cups, because the measurements are marked on the jars.

After straining, it keeps in the fridge for a couple of months! So now you can enjoy a refreshing cup of iced coffee every Shabbat and during all of these holidays we’re in the midst of!

I know you’ll miss the beach, camp, and summer in general. But amazing iced coffee is one thing you don’t have to miss all winter long.

Cold Brewed Coffee from The New York Times:

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup of coffee to every 1 cup water
• Filtered water (I use water from my Brita)
• A tiny pinch of salt (optional) – I like listening to Alton about everything. He puts salt in his coffee before brewing to get the harshness out of it. Without brewing, there really is no harshness, but salt brings out flavors, and we LOVE coffee, so we put a teeny pinch of salt.

Instructions:

1. Add coffee to jar (I use a 3-cup mason jar, so I put one cup of coffee)

2. Fill Jar with water (3 cups)

3. Let sit on counter for 12-24 hours.

4. Strain coffee grinds – I just pour it straight through the coffee filter in my coffee maker. Sometimes I put some cheese cloth or a coffee filter over another mason jar and pour it through, but that involves me standing over it for a while. This is WAY easier.

5. Enjoy the iced coffee any way you like it! My favorite is some crushed ice, half whole milk, and half coffee. What’s your favorite way to drink coffee?

Like the “green” coffee cup? It’s from Starbucks. A grande reusable double walled plastic cup. It rocks. If you see it there, buy 20, because they sell out fast. We also have a “venti” one with a candy-cane striped straw! Oh, and Starbucks gives you a discount if you use it. Other places aren’t so interested in filling it for you, but they’re perfect for bringing coffee from home!

Maybe you don’t have friends coming over for a dinner party, but the first official day of summer is definitely a means for celebration, so celebrate with this cool cocktail! Or save this recipe for a summer picnic or barbecue.

White strawberry sangria:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup water
• 6 big strawberries
• 1/2 lemon, cut into half moons
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 bottle Sauvingnon Blanc
• A handful of blueberries

Directions:

1. Make simple syrup by heating the water and the sugar over a medium flame, stirring often, until the sugar is completely dissolved. Let cool for a few minutes.
2. Cut up the strawberries and put them in a pitcher. Pour in the simple syrup
3. Add the lemon slices, lemon juice, wine and blueberries. Stir and refrigerate.
4. Serve over ice , garnished with strawberry slices.

I know it isn’t really hot chocolate season, but this is the reason that you need this post. Ever get home and just really want a mug of hot chocolate only to realize that you have no more little packets Well, after making this you won’t need any.

This is Alton’s recipe, just halved – you can change it up however you want, by adding more sugar or less sugar, omitting the cayenne (though I think it gives it a nice kick) or putting 3 tablespoons into your milk instead of just 2. Alton says to use nonfat powdered milk in his recipe, and then mix with water. I don’t have that in my house, so I just didn’t add it and mixed mine with milk.

Oh, and serve (or drink) this with your homemade marshmallows!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup dutch process cocoa (the better the cocoa you use, the better your hot chocolate will be)
• 1 teaspoon fine-grain salt
• 2 teaspoons corn starch
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. Combine ingredients. (If you have a mason jar, just measure and shake…you can store it in there, too. I didn’t have an empty one).

2. Put two teaspoons of mixture into milk and heat. Enjoy!

The best part? No more buying packages of hot chocolate and still being able to enjoy hot chocolate any time. Keep it in your pantry for whenever you feel you need a warm mug of hot chocolate.