The sounds that normally resided in my parents’ apartment were nowhere to be found that night. Gone was the quiet flipping of pages and discussion of medical journals over coffee. Gone was the low clicking of my mother’s knitting needles, gone was the dulcet humming that accompanied my father’s miniature painting. My parents, though they weren’t parents yet, brought their quiet apartment to life that New Year’s Eve.
Diana Krall croons her way through the air, coffee mugs are swept aside for champagne, and a boxy rabbit-eared TV brings the revelries of Times Square right into the heart of Hamilton, Ontario. A jigsaw puzzle of cheap lunch meat, crackers, and grocery store olives adorn glass plates, and slowly widdle in numbers as they are shared between spouses, bar one. A lone plate of goat cheese lies solely on my mother’s side of the table, as my father turns his nose up at the thought of it. He was never a fan of goat milk.
New times brought many new things into my parents’ lives: they finished school, moved away, and had a baby. Little kids don’t tend to have much of a palette for charcuterie, so my parents’ New Year’s refreshment of choice became hot cocoa. There was just one problem with this plan; regular milk made me break out in rashes and hives, and the alternative was goat milk.
My parents, never deterred by the blisteringly cold Ottawa winter, bundled me up in coats and scarves and mittens galore, and braved their way into the snow. We came back in with frozen fingertips and cheeks sore from laughter, and I somehow knew it was a memory I’d put under my pillowcase to look back on whenever I needed it.
In the kitchen, my dad began working away at two pots of cocoa; one big pot for Mom and Dad, and a little pot, just enough for one little mug of goat milk hot cocoa. Pinching his nose, my dad poured out our mugs, as we huddled up on the couch, putting on a Diana Krall record and ringing in the New Year. It’s not the greatest sacrifice my dad made for me, not by a long shot, but it’s one that warmed my four-year-old heart, and it always made winter special. I love you, Dad.
--
Recipe - Hot Cocoa for 3
Equipment:
One large pot
One small pot
Two wooden spoons, so as not to cross-contaminate
Three mugs
Ingredients:
6 tbsp cocoa powder
9 tbsp sugar
3 cups regular milk
1 ½ cups goat milk
Vanilla to taste
Method:
Photos:
1. Parent's appt NYE
2. Me outside
3. Hot chocolate then
4. Hot chocolate now
5. Preparation process
Diana Krall croons her way through the air, coffee mugs are swept aside for champagne, and a boxy rabbit-eared TV brings the revelries of Times Square right into the heart of Hamilton, Ontario. A jigsaw puzzle of cheap lunch meat, crackers, and grocery store olives adorn glass plates, and slowly widdle in numbers as they are shared between spouses, bar one. A lone plate of goat cheese lies solely on my mother’s side of the table, as my father turns his nose up at the thought of it. He was never a fan of goat milk.
New times brought many new things into my parents’ lives: they finished school, moved away, and had a baby. Little kids don’t tend to have much of a palette for charcuterie, so my parents’ New Year’s refreshment of choice became hot cocoa. There was just one problem with this plan; regular milk made me break out in rashes and hives, and the alternative was goat milk.
My parents, never deterred by the blisteringly cold Ottawa winter, bundled me up in coats and scarves and mittens galore, and braved their way into the snow. We came back in with frozen fingertips and cheeks sore from laughter, and I somehow knew it was a memory I’d put under my pillowcase to look back on whenever I needed it.
In the kitchen, my dad began working away at two pots of cocoa; one big pot for Mom and Dad, and a little pot, just enough for one little mug of goat milk hot cocoa. Pinching his nose, my dad poured out our mugs, as we huddled up on the couch, putting on a Diana Krall record and ringing in the New Year. It’s not the greatest sacrifice my dad made for me, not by a long shot, but it’s one that warmed my four-year-old heart, and it always made winter special. I love you, Dad.
--
Recipe - Hot Cocoa for 3
Equipment:
One large pot
One small pot
Two wooden spoons, so as not to cross-contaminate
Three mugs
Ingredients:
6 tbsp cocoa powder
9 tbsp sugar
3 cups regular milk
1 ½ cups goat milk
Vanilla to taste
Method:
Photos:
1. Parent's appt NYE
2. Me outside
3. Hot chocolate then
4. Hot chocolate now
5. Preparation process