The white stuff arrived.
There are certain things that are a must for me when the white stuff arrives and one of those is hot chocolate.  A steaming bowl of chocolate comfort with a fluffy white marshmallow melting gentle on its surface- yes please!

 Now while I can often be found just dipping my teaspoon into a shop bought hot chocolate powder, just as most things in the kitchen, a homemade version is supremely better and a little work now and you have instant hot chocolate powder for those cold weather emergencies.

THE VERY BEST INSTANT HOT CHOCOLATE

100g chocolate of your choice
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup coconut sugar (or demerara sugar)
3 tablespoons powdered milk
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

METHOD

1. Grate the chocolate with a micro-plane grater and mix everything together in a bowl.  Using a whisk, mix everything to get rid of any lumps in the cocoa powder.  You could sieve the cocoa powder but life is just too short to sieve anything. 
2. Store in an airtight jar.  
3. To make the cocoa: Get out a heavy-bottomed pan. Measure out 3 tablespoons of your mix and add it to 1/2 cup of milk (any milk will work) and 1/2 cup of water (you could go all milk or all water if you like, but half and half is my preference). Gently warm over medium heat and whisk to incorporate the mix.  When it is just under boiling its ready to go with a few finishing touches;

It's snowing.  Like really snowing.  The predictions have gone from 10-15cm to 20-25cm and it's not slowing down. 

I love the snow don't get me wrong but as a newbie to this white stuff on this scale it's kinda scary!  I worry about driving in it.  I worry about the school bus sliding around corners with my precious Harry on it.  I know it's crazy to worry but in the UK they drill it into you that if it snows, stay in, don't drive, keep off the slippy white stuff!  Here it's just a way of life! 

I have to be somewhere at 6.30pm tonight so the roads better be kind to me! 

Somebody on Facebook wrote what is now the title of this post. 
It got me thinking.................
Many see winter as a nuisance or an inconvenience. In the UK the only difference between the seasons is the rain is warm in the summer and cold in the winter. I like winter here in Edmonton, so far! I realise with only one under our belt we really have no idea what a -35, waist deep in snow winter is really like year after year.

I have been looking longingly at the family skis on the wall and I am excited about getting back on the slopes, so the first snow fall we had this week just added to my anticipation of the snow hill opening very soon!  The pictures in this post are of our adventures in last years snow and you can see just how cool Alfie look son a pair of skis.

I would also like to add that there are a few things I dislike about winter too. I had forgotten about a few of them but was rudely reminded that winter not only brings snow but added stress to the already pushed life of a parent:

* putting gloves on children- this is both time consuming and very frustrating. No matter how I tell them to hold their fingers the thumb never goes in the thumb slot and one finger will have 2 pudgy fingers in it whilst another glove finger flops empty next to it! They insist of grabbing handfuls of snow only for their gloves to be wet and cold within minutes or they just plain refuse to keep the things on and you end up backtracking along the path to reclaim a thrown glove!

*boot sludge and coat flinging- our house was well designed to have a mud room off the garage that acts as a layer removing zone before you enter the house. My children see this room as a place to toss items of outerwear on the floor and toss gloves and scarves into hard to find places never to be paired back up with their glove partner. Snow boots and Wellingtons have magnetic properties in children and can bring in an amazing amount of snow, mud and general sludge. This in turn is spread across the floor and then transferred to the once clean socks of my little darlings as they patter across my once clean floor with muddy footprints.

* dog refusal- I get that its cold outside. My dog gets that it is cold outside and would rather pee in the warmth of the house than get her delicate pads chilly for just a minute. She has done it once and has now been banned from the carpeted areas of the house and kicked outside regularly only to stare at me through the window in cold disgust.

* snot- the cold weather brings with it a ton of bright green, runny snot from the nostrils of my children. Harry is at an age where he blows his nose or sniffs it back up and then gets told to blow his nose. Alfie just let's it run! It covers the nostrils completely and if it just catches a outward breath at the right moment you get a snot bubble. If you are a parent you know what I mean and they are gross! If you manage to avoid snot bubbles you get crusty snot. The other day I noticed Alfie was chewing something and so I quizzed him as to which cupboard he had raided;
" Alfie, what are you eating?"
" bogie's mummy""

Nice!