Happy National Hot Chocolate Day! Story about Caffeine War

Happy National Hot Chocolate Day! Have you had a nice cup of hot chocolate today yet? If you had just a coffee, pour an extra cup to enjoy this fantastic food holiday!

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Well…but to me, I have to excuse attending today’s event. As I am pregnant, I have to be away from caffeine now. So all I can enjoy is brewing, pouring, sniffing, and imagining how tasty they are while looking at my husband truly enjoying them every single day. Sigh…I think it’s like a torture!

 

<Small but Important Note from Tanooki>

Caffeine intake isn’t a big no no to pregnant women. Even though it’s true that they are recommended to limit how much caffeine they take each day, they can still enjoy about 2 cups of caffeinated tea/coffee in safe zone. (Trust me, my Dr approved it too.) Caffeinated drinks such as coffee, tea or chocolate drinks are typically targets of strangers to give some “appreciated” comment to pregnant women. If you don’t know her, don’t give any comment for what she eats/drinks…it’s none of your business. A few days ago in my pregnancy online class, someone bursted with anger because that happened to her on that day. 

 

But unfortunately, my husband’s belief is “as long as it’s not really recommended, cut them off to be safe zones.” As a result, I’m not drinking any coffee (even decaf!) tea, and chocolate(especially dark chocolate. For milk and white chocolate, I can enjoy them with my husband’s approval which rarely happens) since I got pregnant. I really want to continue complaining, but well, let’s shift to my childhood memory. 

 

When I was a kid, I used to drink home brewed barley tea every day. But after I went to primary school and visited my friend’s house, I noticed they drank fancy cool home brewed oolong tea. The flavor was amazing, so I asked my mom to switch oolong tea from barley tea, but her reply was like “ah…no, barley tea is better” without saying anything more than that. As a result, I don’t remember if I had drunk oolong tea or other types of tea as my primary source to stay hydrated in my house until I moved to the US. The time when I finally noticed what she meant was when my co-worker got pregnant and told me that barley tea is actually caffeine-free. I wish I had known that earlier so that I could appreciate my mom’s hidden love. 

 

I’m sorry for what I did: during hot, humid summer days, I emptied out the cooled barley tea bottle all by myself and didn’t make another batch but ran away from the kitchen. Meaning, my brother had to boil the water, put the barley tea bag, wait until it’s brewed, pour fresh-but-still-too-hot-as-a-cold-glass-of-barley-tea so opened ice box in the freezer, and found another empty container. I’m sorry, and it happened to my brother countless times. 

 

Also since today is National Hot Chocolate Day, I think I should talk about hot chocolate so let me share a story. Do you know Milo, a chocolate flavored drink? For those who don’t know, Milo is a powdered hot chocolate mix originated in Australia. To make a nice cup of flavorful chocolatey drink, all you need to do is just mix the powder with either boiled water or milk. So, how many teaspoons, or possibly tablespoons are mixed with 8 oz liquid is the key to make it yummy. As a result, we as kids used to judge each household based on how generously they mix the powder. The one who made the richest milo, was our favorite place to have playdates. 

 

And the same thing happens for making Calpico (a Japanese popular milky, sweet yet tangy beverage. No it’s not hot chocolate and caffeinated drinks but let me proceed talking about it) They have straight-type in PET bottles (wow expensive in amazon!!) today, but when we’re kids they only had a version of the condensed liquid type available, so typically the kid’s mom made a glass of calpico by mixing it with water and served us. As rich as the flavor is, the better. But some households wanted to make the Calpico last as long as possible, they added too much water so the flavor got too bland… And yes, as some of you may know, the name of Calpico is only used outside of Japan because especially for the English speaking country, Calpis sounds just like “cow-piss”

 

Are you enjoying hot chocolate today? If so, I’m jealous! Enjoy every sip…I mean, every gulp of them! 

 

<The Key to Make the Day Happy>

Want some kicks too? Mexican Hot Chocolate

Add berry flavor! Berrylicious Cocoa

Keep it simple! Chocolate Milk

Enjoy home cooking and your own creation of homemade food:)