Mint hot chocolate mix

I am LOVING this fall. It's the cool and sunny kind, not the grey and rainy kind. We can still spend our days at the park, yet I can enjoy a hot drink in the morning or evening without sweating the way I might have a month ago. So it was the perfect time to create....

Mint Hot Chocolate Mix (single use)

1 tablespoon powdered milk
1 tablespoon crushed peppermint candy
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon cocoa powder

The peppermint candy can be any kind, like those random dinner mints in your purse that you got at the restaurant, or in the near future-those annoying tiny candy canes that appear on your kitchen counter because they are taped to every Christmas present and are offered in every waiting room you enter.

I crushed up my candy with a small mortar and pestle we received for a wedding present (and I was given an even bigger, amazing new one for my birthday this weekend that I can't wait to try out!). If you don't have a mortar and pestle you can put the candy in a ziploc bag and smash it with a hammer or other blunt object. Make do.

Combine mix with 1 cup of boiling water and stir well. If possible, cover cup with a plate and let it sit for 5 minutes and stir again. Once the peppermint flakes have fully melted the hot chocolate will take on an even sweeter, mintier taste. If you reheat this it's even better, so any parents with very young children will appreciate this. Everyone with small children knows that you never get to drink an entire hot beverage all the way through before you're interrupted by some disaster.

Whenever you get to enjoy this drink... well enjoy... I got two delicious sips in the morning... and the rest 10 hours later when my daughter was safely in bed...