December Book-a-Day 7: Who'll Pull Santa's Sleigh

Santa's reindeer are sick! With Christmas Eve right around the corner, what's a jolly old elf to do? Audition some replacements, of course!

Book

Who'll Pull Santa's Sleigh Tonight by Laura Rader is a great book to use with a discussion of problem and solution. Santa's balloon sleigh caused quite a few giggles with my class and they were full of suggestions to solve Santa's problem. They loved seeing the would-be helpers. In the story, Mrs. Claus eventually comes up with the perfect reindeer cure: hot cocoa.


I can't think about hot chocolate without craving a warm mug full! Of course, that's not going to work since I should be headed to bed, but why not fix some for yourself?

Hot Chocolate

I'm sure Alton Brown has hot chocolate down to a science, but these days I'm jonesing for the snickerdoodle kind. I'm so addicted that I happily drive to the divey coffee shop next to the Greyhound station so I can get my fix. :) I've tried making cinnamon hot chocolate (aka Mexican hot chocolate) at home, but it DOES NOT come out right. I quick perusal of Google's resources makes me think that the key is to use a cinnamon stick since ground cinnamon leaves behind a powdery pile. I may have to give this recipe a try.
If cinnamon HC doesn't ring your bell, this site has 25 hot chocolate tips. One of them is bound to tickle your sweet tooth!
Happy drinking!