Pecan Caramel Hot Chocolate

Yummy hot chocolate. If only Lupita were around to share in this splendid treat.

Past Vegan Mofo prompt- on the 24th- imagine what a well known person would eat if they were vegan. I would pick Lupita N'yongo. She would have organic napkins over her expensive attire to protect from maple syrup slathered pancakes and cinnamon sprinkled hot chocolate. I would be in her company. We would sip sweet confection, rummaging thrift shops and mixing bohemian flare with prestigious upscale. Naturally, she would be happy to sit for me while I paint her holding an oversized mug! Yes!
By the way, have you all seen Lupita's Vogue yet? Talk about best use of the October month for a fashion magazine. I don't buy or subscribe to fashion magazines in general, but the Lupita spread made me so happy, especially alongside the article. Smart, talented, sweet, and beautiful, Lupita is certainly a woman of our time. I adore her immensely. I was so crushed to not be able to score a ticket to the sold out Eclipsed- the off Broadway show she co-stars in written by Danai Gurira (yes Michonne!). It features the brilliant Zainab Jah (who played a brilliant female Hamlet this year) who also starred in Gurira's The Convert. Oh well. I'm sure someone will tell me how wonderful the performance was by Lupita and Zainah....

Lupita in Vogue.

Woman painter palette of the moment is Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. She is a painter, writer, and poet born in London 1977. Yiadom-Boakye has adopted a French Impressionistic style that is all her own vernacular. On large to small scale canvases, she sweeps the history of thick, lush brushstrokes loosely across the composition plane with contemporary outlined burnt umber skinned figures playing against the browns family, a competition both opponents win. Psychological depth invites viewers to lure into neutral tones, become seduced by subject matter and the beguiling rendering. Often Yiadom-Boakye inserts a pinch of surprising color, a pinch of sophisticated light that garners intriguing focal point.

Half of a Dozen Dead, 100 x 180, oil on canvas, 2010.

Hot chocolate comes to mind- a special kind. Thanks to Califia Farms for concocting a new line of sweet, addictive almond milk creamers. The pecan caramel is simply divine. I have added it in my hot tea, a chocolate sauce, a milkshake. Just that little note of sugared nutty flavor gives dessert beverages and sauces pizazz. I love melting chocolate chips into milk for a satisfactory instant hot chocolate. By including a bit of Pecan Caramel Creamer, things turn wickedly delicious real fast.   

Pecan Caramel Hot Chocolate Ingredients and Preparation

Three ingredients equal one good hot drink.

1 1/2 cup almond milk
1/4 cup Califia Farms Almond Milk Pecan Creamer
1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips
pinch of cinnamon (optional)

In a small saucepan, combine almond milk, pecan creamer, and chocolate chips, slowly gradually until all of the chocolate chips have dissolved into melted bliss.

Top with cinnamon. Best to drink beside a fireplace with a scandalous romance novel in tow. Sip slowly and daydream.