National Chocolate Day! ...is Not Today.

You missed it. I almost missed it, but then I forgot to tell you about it. Whatever, I'm sure you're already into the bag of Snickers that are supposed to go to the kids. Up here on the Lake we will have no Trick-or-Treaters-you can bank on it. Back in San Diego we only had kids a few times, but that meant we could pile our own kids in the car and head to popular tract-house neighborhoods and let them run wild.

But back to National Chocolate Day. It was Thursday. No one sent me a card, so I had a mini-celebration all by myself. I made chocolate covered cranberries to see if they would be a nice addition to the holidays- oh, and they are! Tart and chocolate- my tongue went a little crazy when I tossed them in my mouth.

After I cleaned up the chocolate pan-with my fingers- I was reading my hoity-toity, New York Magazine and read about a drink from Italy called- il bicerin- which I did not taste when I was there...but that's another story. I did find a recipe on The Google, which I then tweaked just a little. It has chocolate and espresso mixed together with my secret ingredient added and, oh my- its Multi bene!

So if you don't want anymore Snickers or Smarty’s and you want to be a grown-up tomorrow night, toss some cranberries into some melted chocolate and fire up the espresso machine. And don’t answer the door.

Bicerin- Adapted from David Lebovitz
Two servings
It’s important to use a clear glass; you need to be able to see all three or four layers.
To make a bicerin, warm one cup whole milk in a medium-sized saucepan with 3 ounces (90 gr) of chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate. Whisk the mixture until it begins to boil, then let it boil for 1 minute, whisking constantly
Afterward, remove it from the heat and set aside. Make a shot of  espresso.
Fill the bottom third of a clear, heat-proof glass with the warm chocolate mixture. Pour in some coffee or espresso. (If you want to help it create a definite layer, pour it over the back of a spoon, into the glass.) Add a small dash or so of Baileys Irish Cream. (Tweak!)
Top with a nice swirl of sweetened, freshly-whipped cream.