Cold Weather, Hot Drinks

[Jacob Petersheim]

There are plenty of "old standards" for this category, but maybe we have more unusual alternatives to suggest or even twists on the mundane.


Cutting way back on carbs I shouldn't be going for the old standby of hot chocolate. Yet it can be hard to resist when tea and black coffee just don't cut it anymore.

Since I haven't found an alternative sweetener yet that tastes good to me, I've concocted a "lower sugar" brew:

12 ounce cup
1 single-serving packet of "Swiss Miss" instant hot chocolate
3 teaspoons of nonfat dry milk powder
2 to 3 teaspoons of unsweetened cocoa powder
small amount of butter or even olive oil (optional)
very warm black coffee to fill, added little by little with a lot of stirring and clump-crushing
carefully microwave up to piping hot, don't let it boil over

It is very rich and creamy and I'm careful to sip it to make it last. It might seem bitter to some, but not so much as high-cacao dark chocolate.

 

[Jacob Petersheim]

Savory alternative:

12 ounce cup
1 chicken bullion cube, crushed
1/2 teaspoon of freeze-dried spinach powder
add a little boiling water, stir to dissolve
4 ounces of tomato sauce
black pepper, onion powder to taste
add more boiling water, stirring
carefully microwave if necessary

Sort of a quick cup of soup. Many variations are possible.

 

[Don Alaska]

Hot mulled cider or wine also works. Your recipes sound intriguing @Jacob Petersheim but I am far too lazy to go to the trouble.

 

[Don Alaska]

I don't know if you are familiar with this YouTube channel, but it concentrates on the 18th century and extends to 1820 to cover the pre-Industrial Revolution period.

 

[Marie Mallory]

I don't know if you are familiar with this YouTube channel, but it concentrates on the 18th century and extends to 1820 to cover the pre-Industrial Revolution period.

I had some 'medicine' yesterday, a Heineken beer.

This 112 year old man has a plan,

 

[Don Alaska]

I had some 'medicine' yesterday, a Heineken beer.

This 112 year old man has a plan,

Goes to show that you should strive to remove stress in your life and do what makes you happy and makes you feel good. !2 cigars a day and 4 whiskeys I think he said along with church and a good companion.

 

[Marie Mallory]

Goes to show that you should strive to remove stress in your life and do what makes you happy and makes you feel good. !2 cigars a day and 4 whiskeys I think he said along with church and a good companion.

He lived a good life and an exceptionally long one. he thanked God and was good to people.

 

[Don Alaska]

I think 80 or more all-time cold records were broken recently. Global warming strikes again. Is this weather modification or a result of goinf into the solar minimum.

 

[Marie Mallory]

I think 80 or more all-time cold records were broken recently. Global warming strikes again. Is this weather modification or a result of goinf into the solar minimum.

I don't know but isn't an unusually warm weather pattern the start of a coming ice age?

 

[Jacob Petersheim]

I've decided that may my "spinach-tomato soup" drink might need caution. Spinach contains a lot of oxylate, and who needs kidney stones?

I'm thinking about looking for something like a freeze=dried kale powder to alternate with. These powders are nice because they're so shelf-stable when you don't or can't get out for fresh produce. Like when snowed in.

 

[Don Alaska]

I don't know but isn't an unusually warm weather pattern the start of a coming ice age?

Yep, a warming always precedes an ice age. Like I said before, the glaciers rely more on snowfall than temperature and you get more snow with "warmer" weather (within limits, of course). In other words, it will snow more at 20 F. than at -20 F. because the atmosphere contains more moisture. The Southeast Panhandle of Alaska has much more glaciation than does the area around Fairbanks, and the Panhandle is more like Seattle weather than Interior Alaska. It is referred to by Alaskans as "The Banana Belt" because it is so warm relative to everywhere else in the state, but it has a LOT of glaciers.

 

[Jacob Petersheim]

Latest wacky ingredient for cup o' soup: powdered carrots.

I'd bought some freeze-dried green peas and some diced carrots in cans for Winter time "can't get out" meal ingredients. Rather than wait until too late though, I opened these since I plan to use them over this Winter and not hold them until The Apocalypse or something.

So I took some of the carrots and ran them through my little coffee grinder until finely powdered. This is working great in my single-serving soups made using boiling water and a bit of microwaving.

 

[Don Alaska]

Latest wacky ingredient for cup o' soup: powdered carrots.

I'd bought some freeze-dried green peas and some diced carrots in cans for Winter time "can't get out" meal ingredients. Rather than wait until too late though, I opened these since I plan to use them over this Winter and not hold them until The Apocalypse or something.

So I took some of the carrots and ran them through my little coffee grinder until finely powdered. This is working great in my single-serving soups made using boiling water and a bit of microwaving.

Interesting idea @Jacob Petersheim

 

[Dead2009]

I think 80 or more all-time cold records were broken recently. Global warming strikes again. Is this weather modification or a result of goinf into the solar minimum.

We're heading into winter. It's gonna be cold, lol. It's not you but I laugh when people in hot states complain that it's too hot. Like....you're in Florida during the middle of summer, it's GOING to be hot out.

 

[Jacob Petersheim]

Ordered some freeze-dried mushrooms. I'll buzz some of these to powder as another addition to "instant" cups of soup.

I try to make these with half a bullion cube, but now I wish I'd picked up some premade stock since I'm not cooking a lot of meats. I use boiling water to halfway and mix, then microwave to bring up the temperature. Let it sit, then fill with more boiling water and sit again. So not instant but "easy cook" instead.

I'm becoming fond of my savory sippables. Some work better with garlic powder, others onion powder, and one gets a little bit of granulated dried lime and a squirt of pineapple juice!