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A French-Inspired Garden and Home by Judith Stringham

French Hot Chocolate for Valentine's Day

Wednesday, February 7, 2018



PARIS is on my mind in the midst of a dreary February day, overcast with a fine mist, and unfulfilled promises of much-needed rain. Just the kind of day that calls for hot chocolate, staring out the window at the drizzle, and flashing back to hot chocolate in France. 



A typical breakfast in French hotels in the 1980s included a freshly-baked croissant, jam, and real hot chocolate...

served in your room. 

Even the modest 2-✰ hotels that fit 3-4 high school students per room served breakfast in your room. Teacher-chaperoned student tours to France with hotels in town centers kept costs down for students by using older hotels. Hotels with patina and worn charm from decades gone by. Hotels with every room different, nooks and crannies, and winding narrow halls with steps up and down on the same floor. 




But, every hotel served those amazing croissants, jam, and luxuriously rich hot chocolate made-from-scratch with milk and creamy smooth cocoa. No packets of cocoa mix and hot water. 




Now three decades later here at home, Godiva HOT COCOA comes the closest to the breakfast French hot chocolate. Directions remind you hot chocolate is best made with milk. YES. Delicious enough to serve with raspberry-filled shortbread cookies on a dreary misty everyday February day or on a special February day... 

 Valentine's Day



Top with real whipped cream and pink white chocolate heart sprinkles to bring some French joie de vivre (exuberant enjoyment of life) to the day and to chase away dreariness of winter.




Little heart chocolate sprinkles are not just for designated special days on the calendar. Heart sprinkles are for French-inspired everyday joie de vivre





And those heart-shaped raspberry filled cookies? 

memorable moments with laughter and cookies 






Day dreaming of days in Paris hotels with hot chocolate... 


✫ ✧ ✩ ✨ ✯ ✰ ✪ 

Should I tell about seeing stars last week? 
Seeing stars when I ran into a large low growing horizontal tree limb, bounced backwards to the ground, and hit the back of my head on the stone wall around the tree? 
Seeing stars from the HUGE lump that immediately jumped up on the back of my head? 





Emergency room visit, head and back scans, follow-up with neurologist... 
Full recovery with no long-term health effects in progress... 
but I've been slow moving, and once again, the blog moves down the list.

But, Godiva Hot Cocoa and raspberry filled cookies are spoonsful of sugar that make the days better. 



SOURCES 
I bought some of the items featured in this post from Home Goods. Here are direct links to the manufacturers' sites.