Snow & Spicy Soy Hot Chocolate

This Minnesota girl is pretty darn happy. Snow has finally fallen in Tokyo and it hasn’t stopped since 8:30 this morning! I remember when I was a little whipper snapper, waiting for the first snow fall to blanket the lawn. I can vividly recall the way it felt to wake up in the morning to a different light coming through the window. Instead of the warm glow of autumn sun, I saw the crisp, white light of winter reflected on the walls of my room. This may sound a tad annoying to some of you. Especially at a time when most of the people I know in the United States are beyond sick and tired of the fluffy white stuff, I say bring it on!

Here’s the thing: I have not seen snow in Tokyo any earlier than February since we moved here. In fact, the biggest snow we had our first year was in APRIL! What?!? I thought crazy weather only existed in the land of lefse, pickled herring, and Twins baseball!

I was home a bit earlier than usual today, not because of the snow, and immediately made two warming dishes: 1) wonton soup 2)spicy hot chocolate. I used soy milk for the hot chocolate, which made me feel a little less guilty about the chocolate part. OK. Fine. I didn’t feel guilty about the chocolate. Not even a little. It was amazing and just what I needed at the end of a long, busy week and a day full of snow flakes floating down from the sky.

Click here for the recipe for spicy hot chocolate (just substitute the regular milk for soy if you prefer). And if you are burried in snow, do what I saw a little girl doing this morning as she rode on the back of her father’s bicycle: look straight up at the sky, stretch out your arms, open your mouth, and drink in the beauty as it melts on your tongue and flutters lightly on your cheeks.