“Have yourself a merry little Christmas.” That song has been echoing in my mind. A little Christmas. A simple Christmas. I don’t know if I can hold onto that zen when I visit my daughter & the”littles” over the holidays, but I’m hanging on to that feeling now. And these Chocolate Swirl Meringue Cookies are helping me!

Best Hot Chocolate
Tis the season – for hot chocolate. A double chocolate hot chocolate! Deep. Rich. Dark. Chocolate. Real Chocolate. And Cocoa. With Frozen Whipped Cream. Yeah, you heard me right. Best Hot Chocolate with Frozen Whipped Cream.

Rustic Chocolate Truffles
Usually you’ll find me making truffles in the winter – maybe for Christmas or New Year’s but today it’s July. I guess anytime is a good time for truffles, but beware – truffles and excess heat don’t mix. These poor babies got a little warm and then I tossed them in the fridge so they lost a bit of their gorgeous shine.

The Inner Sanctum Chocolate Cake
I remember nothing else about the day – but this I do remember: I came home and the November 1997 issue of Gourmet was in the mail. I leafed through, as I often do, looking at the photos before a more (hopefully) thorough reading later on. I was instantly captivated by this humble little five-ingredient cake. I made it that night, and many, many times since. Too many times to count. This is “our” cake.

Intensely Chocolate Syrup
With a few pantry ingredients and about five minutes of time, you can whip together a chocolate syrup that is so unbelievably good it doesn’t even deserve the same name as they store-bought kind. It’s so good, you’ll feel sorry for every poor creature out there who has never had the opportunity to taste this elixir.