glutenfreedirtcheap

It’s 100 degrees outside, but inside my little ranchita, it’s slightly too cold.  Yeah, there is a Trane on the roof, but at twenty years old, it kind of does “too-hot-on-the-second-floor” or “too-dang-cold-on-the-first”.   (And,”No, I don’t have dual-zone thermostats,” you pretentious yuppie.)

I’ve been at home for much of the day, finishing what is essentially a very long paper–it’s an appeal on an assault–for someone who is likely to spend a much longer time in a place that is way too hot. *

I’m cold, and the usual caffeine just isn’t cutting it, and I still have to do page numbers, and it’s 6:00 p.m.   In honor of the person for whom the, ahem, paper, was written, I decided to make hot chocolate with cinnamon and red pepper, like they do in Mexico.

This is the thing about chocolate–lots of manufacturers cut their cocoa powder with wheat.  Hershey’s does not, so it’s good for this recipe.

8 tablespoons Hershey’s Cocoa Powder

8 tablespoons sugar

2 cups almond milk

2 cups water

dash of sea salt

sprinkle of crushed red pepper (The one with the girl in the sombrero on the label, from the mexican foods aisle, is cheaper.)

dash of cinnamon (or 1/4 teaspoon, for those of you who actually have measuring spoons)

Kitchen apparati:

1 tablespoon

1 measuring cup

saucepan

small prayer for the downtrodden, preferably in Spanish.

Pour all the ingredients into the pan.  Stir well with the tablespoon.  Heat on medium for about thirty minutes, to give the spices time to infuse.  Let cool for about another thirty minutes.  Count your blessings.

This is particularly good at about midnight on ice.

Cost:  About $3.00 for four servings.

*That would be the TDCJ, not hell.