Hot Cocoa

Hot cocoa isn't something one should agonize over. Yet, every year around this time, hot cocoa becomes a thorn in my side. Is this brand gluten free? How about that brand? What about that flavor? The artwork on the package has changed - has the formula also changed? Do I have time to call the manufacturer to play a game of 20 questions? (The answer to that last one is NO!)

Hot cocoa should be easy.

So, now I make it myself. Every ingredient in this recipe is a staple in our house. As an added bonus, I can pronounce and identify all the ingredients! Like most scratch versions of convenience products, this tastes miles better than any mix. I will NEVER go back to those little packets.

Hot Cocoa
1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup dry milk
splash of extract if desired
hot water

Mix the dry ingredients in your mug. Add a cup or so of hot water. Stir. Add extract. Drink.

You can, of course, leave out the dry milk and substitute hot milk for the water. Hot soy, almond, rice, or any other kind of milk would work here, too.

Hair cut

WG detests having her hair cut. She's got some sensory processing issues going on and a trip to the hair salon completely wigs (ha!) her out. She's had her hair cut professionally once. There was a kid's salon in town that I took her to a few summers back. She did okay there (and I figured it was a kids salon, so they would be used to the screaming) but it went down with the economy and no longer exists. I can't subject a regular hair salon to WG. The poor stylists at supercuts don't make enough money to have to deal with her. I also feel bad subjecting WG to a regular hair place when I know it makes her extremely upset and uncomfortable. So, I cut her hair myself. I cut her hair around Thanksgiving and decided it was time to do it again last weekend.

Here she is, post-haircut. It went better this time, probably because I read up on how to cut hair. I'm going to buy a pair of hair scissors for the next cut, though. (I've been using fiskars.) Note the "chewy P." Sometimes the only thing that helps WG to hold herself together is to chew. She had two chewy P's going during her haircut.