Written by For our prompt of “Cocoa” today, I thought back to when I was a little kid and how I loved getting a mug of hot cocoa when the weather got colder. And, marshmallows on top were the coolest part for me at the time. So, we have a pair of little mice attempting to make a mug of cocoa with marshmallows as best as mice can. While I love actual hot chocolate melted into a gooey goodness, it was mostly just the powdered cocoa version of the drink when I was a kid. Though one could just use cocoa, of course, there were little packets that just required hot water. While this was fun, since I could make it all by myself, I didn’t care for the packets with little marshmallows inside. They were tiny and bizarre. After magically reconstituting to something that resembled a marshmallow, they immediately melted into a gooey white dot. It was all rather disappointing. I wanted giant marshmallows that filled the mug in an almost ludicrous fashion instead. That just seemed like much more fun!
Today, however, I honestly don’t like marshmallows anymore. Something changed drastically in my tastes and now they’re just a distant memory. That said, a roasted marshmallow over a fire was fun as an adult, and the charred bits added a touch of added flavor. But, I didn’t really love them as much as I enjoyed the experience of roasting them with friends. That, and watching those same friends all try to eat one without getting burned or getting a face full of goo, particularly after a few beers. Yet it’s been more than a decade since I’ve been camping so that’s all just a memory as well. But hot cocoa is still something I adore, even without the extra blobs of sugar. Philippe makes both hot cocoa as well as hot chocolate, and while I do still prefer the latter, it’s rather ridiculous to imagine turning down chocolate in any form that it comes.
And while we’ve no hot cocoa on the menu for this evening, we have somehow managed to make it back to another Friday, which means it’s pizza night! That’s one of my favorite childhood things that has thankfully never changed for me. Though my chicken pesto pizza with a cauliflower crust might have caused the little version of myself to scrunch up his nose in distaste. Philippe gets an all vegetable version with goat cheese that I’m sure Little Charlie would have avoided like the plague. It’s funny how some things change dramatically, yet others stay just as they always were back then. I’m equally just as impulsive and silly as I was back when I was a kid. I still don’t take life too seriously, and instead focus on having serious fun while living it! It think that’s why I don’t simply feel young at heart, I feel physically young. Both my heart and mind are set on keeping that childhood joy alive and well, which includes all of the best moments from back then, like making hot cocoa.
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Like many things, I think the marshmallow of our youth was made with different ingredients. Today’s version doesn’t compare. Just as well. While hot cocoa/hot chocolate actually have the many health benefits of chocolate – lowering blood pressure, etc. – I don’t think marshmallows have any. They were still delicious though.
Yeah, I don’t think even the marshmallows we had back then could claim any health benefits! hehe… but I enjoyed those so maybe it is just that they messed up yet another food over the years! hehe 😉
Yep Charlie you and I are a lot alike there with being kiddish. I drink cocoa three times a day or two. But real Hershey’s Natural cocoa, nothing in it but cocoa powder, and milk and hot water. No sugar. Yes no sugar, I gag when I use sugar. This Italian likes her food real. And I drink it after wine! Nice to see you have so much fun — keep it up when you are my age too, they wil lthink you are beautifully nuts and love every minute of you.
I think pure hot cocoa and wine is a perfect combination indeed! Wonderful! 😃💕 Hehe… yeah for being beautifully nuts. It’s really the only good way to live!
Love the mice and their little hot cocoa adventure, Charlie!! Way too hot down here to even think about hot cocoa but I am looking forward to some cooler days in the future and a truly decadent steaming hot cup of hot chocolate.MMMM. something to dream about.
Thanks so much, Mary! 😃💕 Yeah, it warmed up here a bit as well, but still not super warm. I’m happy for the little chill left in the breeze to keep things autumn!
I’ve spent a lot of time figuring out how to get four marshmallows into my cocoa cup.
hehe!! Indeed! Especially the giant ones!! 😃💕
That flying mouse 🐁 with the marshmallow is too CUTE! I love him! 💕 Charlie, the Bible says that the way that a man thinks so is he. The way that you think about yourself, your life is exactly what you manifest. That’s why you look and feel joyful and happy because you have that joy in your heart and a positive attitude. When I got injured, on my first appointment, after meeting my doctor, he said that I was going to do great. I must’ve looked puzzled so he explained that patients with bubbly, happy, and positive attitudes heal way better and way faster than debbie downers. I have had people get upset with me because I laugh too much or joke too much or I am too bubbly. My next door neighbors, 2 sisters that are younger than me, have made it very clear that they hate me. They are sour puss, angry, bitter people. They hate every neighbor on the block. Again, they are younger than me by a decade, but they look so old and haggard. In what condition will they be in at 60? 70? Yikes!
Like you, I ate so many marshmallows in my childhood that they gross me out now. Cotton candy, too. I LOVE hot chocolate with “marshmallows.” I agree those baby marshmallows are a joke. I never thought much about the difference between hot chocolate and hot cocoa, Charlie. DUH! Now I have to try it!
Enjoy your pizza. 🍕🍕🍕
Marisela the difference is that hot chocolate is comprised of cornstarch (for smoothness), artificial junk, and preservatives and very little cocoa. It is not good for you. Cocoa especially pure natural cocoa (Hershey’s in Canada) is just cocoa powder and nothing else except good stuff such as iron. It tastes honest, not like gooey sweetness. I drink it without sugar because I don’t like that, milk, and hot water. Yummy. That is goood for you.
Thanks so much, Marisela! 😃💕 Yeah, I think a positive outlook is the best and only way to live a happy and healthy life! We DO heal faster that way! Yeah, those treats from my youth are too sweet for me! I love the spicy hot chocolate as well!
Nice doodle Charlie. When my grandson was younger, we’d cycle along the canal and stop at the cafe where he would have a mug of cocoa with marshmallows on top. Great memories.
Thanks so much, Gary! 😃💕 Aww that sounds like a beautiful memory indeed! Fun!
Charlie, I drink cacao every morning. Mmmm😋, rich chocolatey goodness with stevia, my collagen, and unsweetened chocolate almond milk. When I see it in print it looks like a horrible potion but its actually packed with antioxidents, calcium, and protein, plus cacao helps me breathe. I only miss the first sniff of morning coffee, even after being a coffee drinker for over forty-five years! Me healthier and chocolatey yumminess😊 What I do want to know: how do you get the mice to help? Mine aren’t as helpful in the morning…
That sounds like a lovely way to start the day indeed! 😃💕 hehe… mice, as you can see from this doodle, should probably never be asked to help! lol
Great dioodle Charlie!
Thanks so much, Fatima! 😃💕
Meanwhile, back at the house the menacing mice are bathing in Farmer Brown’s hot cocoa. This is so cute. Love it!
hehe! Yesss!! Thanks so much, Lori! 😃💕
Awwww, I wish I had mice in my kitchen to do comical stuff like that. lol no I do not. I really like how you captured the mouse jumping through the air with the marshmellow!
Thanks so much, Shawn! 😃💕 Yeah, I don’t think you’d actually want their help in the kitchen! lol
Well I do love cocoa, but maybe not if mice have been frolicking in it! I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to stay mad at them for long if they were carrying little brollies.
Cauliflower pizza crust is a new one. It has to be nicer than it I am imagining 😛 The goat’s cheese sounds good, though!
hehe! Yeah, I think it would hard to stay mad at mice having this much fun! lol 😃💕 Actually on the cauliflower crust, we’ve only found one version that we’ve ever liked from one pizza place. hehe… it’s not good in general it would seem. But if you find the right one, it’s delicious!
OMG! This doodle is totally begging for a story.
Aww thanks so much, Laura! 😃💕 Glad you enjoyed this one!
Hello Charlie,
Those mice are too cute and the cocoa looks delicious! My first thought was that the mice think of the cup of cocoa as a warm swimming pool and the one jumping in with the marshmallow thinks he can use it as a float. And the tiny umbrella is to die for. And I agree marshmallows are not so great after all. Somehow I could never develop a taste for them – even in hot chocolate. And just like Little Charlie, Little Mugdha too feels like running away when faced with the task of eating cauliflower, so imagine my joy when last year the doctor told me I need to cut it out of my diet for a few months. 🙂 🙂 🙂 I hope you get your big mug of hot cocoa this very weekend. 😉
Love,
Mugdha
Thanks so much, Mugdha! 😃💕 hehe! This was a fun one to make! Oh wow! So you actually got a note from the doctor to avoid what you didn’t like. That’s lucky indeed! I’m not sure if I’ll get cocoa this weekend as it warmed up a touch her, but it’s coming as soon as the temperatures drop again, I’m certain!