Applesauce and Hot Chocolate

Homemade Applesauce

3 pounds apples (such as Fuji, Gala, or Honeycrisp), peeled, cored, and chopped
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Add apples, water, lemon juice, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt to a large saucepan. Stir everything together to coat the apples evenly.

Place the saucepan over medium heat and cover with a lid. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the apples are very soft and breaking apart easily when pressed with the back of a spoon. Remove the saucepan from the heat. This can also be done in a slow cooker.

For chunky applesauce, use a potato masher to mash the cooked apples until they reach your desired consistency. For a smooth texture, use an immersion blender directly in the pot to puree the applesauce until smooth.

Let the applesauce cool slightly, then transfer to an airtight container.

Refrigerate for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 3 months. 

Hot Chocolate Mix
Venison for Dinner

2 cups organic cane sugar
11/2 cups raw cacao
1 tablespoon good salt

Set out a quart jar with a lid.
Measure 1 cup of sugar into the jar, stir the salt into it. Add 1 cup cocoa, 1 cup sugar, then the last 1/2 cup of cocoa. Put a lid on and shake well.

Hot Chocolate By the Cup
To make a cup (or just a few cups) of HOT chocolate measure out your milk into a pot.
For every mug of hot chocolate use 1 tablespoon of mix. Warm it up and serve!

Instant Pot Hot Chocolate for a Crowd
Pour a gallon of milk into your Instant Pot, turn it onto sauté to get it warming up.
Measure in 1 cup of hot chocolate mix. Keep an eye on it and stir the milk so it doesn't burn to the bottom. Keep whisking to mix in the hot chocolate mix as it warms up.
When it's hot enough, turn on to "keep warm," leave the lid off, and your guests can help themselves!

Chocolate Milk
Fill a half gallon jar 2/3 of the way full with milk.
Add 1/2 cup hot chocolate powder, and blitz with an immersion blender. (Or you could just do a couple cups of milk and the powder in a normal blender, and mix into the rest of the milk) then top up the jar with more milk.
Give it a shake before you pour as some will settle.

HOT CHOCOLATE STIRRERS

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

Toppings:
Candy canes, crushed
Mini marshmallows
Sprinkles

Heat the heavy whipping cream on stove top, stirring so that it doesn't burn.

Meanwhile, pour the chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl.
Once the whipping cream is boiling, remove from the heat and pour directly over the chocolate chips.
Let mixture stand 4-5 minutes.
Add ground cinnamon to the bowl.
Stir the chocolate mixture until smooth and creamy. Tip: if the chocolate chips do not fully melt by the heat of the whipping cream, microwave the bowl for 30 seconds.
Spoon mixture into the molds. We are using small Dixie cups.
Sprinkle any desired toppings on top of the chocolate.
Place the popsicle sticks into the center of each chocolate square. They should stand straight up.
Put the molds in the refrigerator and allow to set up, approximately 3 hours.
Once the chocolate has set up, remove each stick from the mold.
Heat up milk of choice, and stir in the chocolate until completely dissolved.