Greyson’s Hot Chocolate Recipe

Since Hazel was a tea drinker and Leila was a coffee drinker, I knew for Pip I wanted something different, which is why I chose to give her an obsession for hot chocolate!

Greyson is an excellent mate, and in Fated he admits that he learned how to make homemade hot chocolate specifically for her. I went through a lot of recipes in figuring out what ingredients he needed and I tried a few recipes myself, but I was more than a little surprised at all the requests I got for Greyson’s recipe, so here it is!

Ingredients:

• Approximately 1 cup milk of your choice (Whole or 2% cow milk will make for a creamier, richer taste, but if you REALLY want a rich flavor, add some cream or half and half)

• Sugar (I use a large tbsp but you might want 2 tbsp depending on if you choose to add toppings and how sweet you like your drinks)

• Baking Cocoa Powder (A heaping tbsp, but again you can add more to adjust for your taste and based on the cocoa powder you use)

• Large pinch of Cinnamon

• Large pinch of Nutmeg

• Splash of Vanilla extract (I’m very generous with my vanilla–it smells soooo good–so I usually add two splashes.)

IMPORTANT NOTE: To get your hot chocolate to taste the best, you really want to focus on the kind of cocoa powder you use. Most recipes I came across recommend Dutch Cocoa–I bought mine at Penzey’s Spice–but I also used the Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa powder for baking, and that turned out fabulous as well. (I also made some with store brand baking cocoa powder. It was tasty, but the Ghirardelli and Dutch cocoa was definitely a big step up. If you don’t want to buy the fancy baking cocoa powder, I’d suggest you cheat and add in a few semi sweet chocolate chips to melt in the milk!)

Second note: Adjust the cinnamon and nutmeg to your taste–the less sugar you use the less spices you’ll want to use, or the nutmeg can make the chocolate taste slightly bitter. In general I’d say use more cinnamon than nutmeg–nutmeg is a very flavorful spice!

Heat the milk in a saucepan on the stovetop–don’t let it boil or it will get this gross skin on it–and stir near constantly. Once it warms to a drinking temperature you want, stir in all of the above ingredients.

I personally think it tastes best when topped with whipped cream and/or marshmallows! (Especially whipped cream because then you can add sprinkles or chocolate or caramel drizzle if you’re feeling fancy!) But Greyson is not going to stretch his cooking skills, so he typically gives it to Pip without anything extra. (Unless he needs to apologize for something. Then out come the sprinkles!)

Does anybody have homemade hot chocolate recipes they’d like to share in the comments? I was astounded by the huge varieties in recipes I found when I was doing my research, but as I experimented I realized it mostly comes down to personal taste! If you are curious about the other recipes I found I linked to most of them on this Pinterest board.

Magiford: Tom and Dale are real

It’s been a week since Fated launched, so now it’s finally time to unleash the Magiford themed/spoiler-filled posts! Warning: if you haven’t read the entire Pack of Dawn and Destiny trilogy yet, don’t read on!

Now, let’s talk bout the two characters you meet in Fated who are near and dear to my heart: Dale and Tom.

Friends–despite supporting different football teams, which is nigh impossible–Tom and Dale are two Alphas who break the typical werewolf stereotypes given their chill personalities, hidden strength, and age. Besides taking down scruffy Alphas with ease and being able to spot Greyson and Pip as mates, you can see glimpses of their great strength in don’t-care-attitudes and their hobbies, namely, fishing.

While wild wolves are not opposed to splashing in rivers, werewolves aren’t super fond of big bodies of water like lakes, but Tom and Dale’s biggest hobby is fishing, something now other wolf besides Young Jack shares with them.

Tom and Dale also take great pride in their almost-junk vehicles, are ardent fish fry connoisseurs, and avid football fans. (In case you aren’t aware the Packers are an American Football team from Wisconsin and the Vikings are a team from Minnesota. There has historically been a fierce rivalry between these teams, but people aren’t always loyal to whichever State they live in. Hence the good natured ribbing between Dale and Tom regarding their team loyalty.)

These two characters are essentially my homage to rural and Northern Wisconsin (and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan). Having been born and raised in Wisconsin I wanted to introduce a couple of side characters who really show off the charm of the culture unique to this area–like fish fries, supper clubs, fishing, football, etc. Also…I wanted to share some of the funny stuff/sayings we use here! 😉

I have a feeling many of you think I highly exaggerated Tom and Dale, but in reality I kept them true to the source, and some of their lines are direct quotes from one of my uncles. 🙂

But don’t take my word for it! There is a Youtuber who specializes in exposing the humor of this exact way of life, so I wanted to share a few of his videos with you. He is exaggerating the accent a bit, but you might find it helpful to watch so you can understand how Tom and Dale sound when then talk.

This first video pulls double duty and gives you an idea of what it’s like to live in a small Midwestern town. Although in reality Timber Ridge is more cutesy looking then this and has more stop lights since the pack has worked hard with the city (and Mayor Pearl) to promote tourism

This particular video is great since it explores the expression “Ope!” which has made an appearance in other Magiford books as well.

Short Story: A Family Tea Party

Champions…………THANK YOU! Pack of Dawn and Destiny is turning out to be my best selling series so far, and you guys have rallied behind Pip and Greyson in a jaw-dropping way! I thought I had two or three days to get the short ready for you. HAH! You showed me!

Friday night I went to sleep, happy that you Champions said you enjoyed Fated and the end of the Pack of Dawn and Destiny trilogy, thinking I had plenty of time to finish editing the extra short story. I woke up Saturday morning to the beautiful and shocking surprise of 200 reviews! Suddenly I had a whole lot of panic because the short story wasn’t corrected, and my typo hunter’s computer was broken.

I figured you all wouldn’t mind if I let it slip until today while I my typo hunter and I texted back and forth trying to figure out an alternative way for her to read it, and then I woke up to THIS. 812 reviews/ratings, on a book that launched Friday. Champions! I don’t even know what to say! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’m so humbled, so happy, and so appreciative. Thank you for your loyalty, I’m so happy you enjoyed Pip and Greyson’s story, and I really hope it made you laugh.

To celebrate the launch, I have a short story! But, first, a bit of background! Typically I like to do more light-hearted/100% fluff extras, but I’d noticed a lot of people were curious about Greyson’s family, so I decided to do a short about that. Unfortunately, that meant it wouldn’t be as sweet as I typically like.

However…I was going to keep this under wraps because I won’t be able to work on it for about two weeks (I’ve got a few top priority things I NEED to take care of this week, like taxes) so I wasn’t going to tell you all, but, hey, you Champions got Fated over 800 reviews in less than three days so I think you deserve it. I’m going to write a second short story about Chase and Chrysanthe, and this one will be 100% pure sugary fluff.

I’ve been planning to write it since I was about halfway through Fated and I wanted to show you all what happens between the two of them, so I’m pretty excited about it! (Although, if you haven’t read Court of Midnight and Deception yet, this is your hint to read it so you’ll be ready for the short!) But yes, keep an eye out, and in a little over two weeks, you should get to see their story.

Finally, what you’ve all been waiting for, here’s the short story!

A Family Tea Party: Click Here for the short story!

I hope you enjoy it even if it isn’t pure fluff, and thanks again for all of your support and love, Champions. You’re the best readers an author could ask for! 😉