Spiced Chocolate Coffee-Stove Stories

 

My mother had a newspaper column called Stove Stories. She maintained that so many family meals were ladened with memories. Her articles included the stories and the recipes.Long after she died, I put them together in a blog https://stovestories.blogspot.com and of course, I use them.

This is my own stove story.

My daughter and I were visiting a mutual friend in Einseidlen, Switzerland. CB was a former colleague. We'd shared the company flat when we worked for a company in Neuchâtel. She and my daughter were about the same age. It was the type of relationship that even if we hadn't seen each other for a long time, it was like yesterday when we did.

The Swiss German village has existed since medieval times, and in the snow it was like walking in a post card. Coming back, our cheeks rosy, CB made Spiced Chocolate Coffee.

• 8 cups brewed coffee
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup chocolate syrup
• 4 4-inch cinnamon sticks broken
• 1 1/2 whole cloves
• Garnish, cinnamon sticks, sweetened whipped cream cocoa powder and chocolate shavings.

Combine first 3 ingredients in a 3-quart slow cooker and set aside.

Wrap spices in a coffee filter or cheese cloth and tie with kitchen string and add to the slow cooker. 

Cover and cook on low for 2-3 hours on low in the slow cooker or 50°F/10°C in the oven in a ceramic casserole.

Remove and discard spices.

Ladle into mugs and garnish.

We sat in CB's living room looking out at the snow-covered field. Her dog Einstein sighed periodically. Newton, the cat, was curled up on the couch. 

Life doesn't get more contented than that.