Hot Cocoa Bar (and a recipe to share!)

 

My husband and I wanted to do something special for the associates at his store. Life can be crazy busy for retail workers over the holiday season. We wanted to say "thank you" for all the extra effort. And what better way to show appreciation than sugary drinks and snacks? 

I have done the hot cocoa bars for several years now...at church for the ladies events, and now for my husband's stores, too. It is so easy to pull out the tablecloths and signs and pre-lit Christmas trees that I keep handy in a box in storage.

We picked up all the paper products from Walmart.

I also purchased most of the baked goods there the day before the event. We live in a college town, and technically, we are part of Detroit metro area. As you can imagine, we have a diverse population, so I wanted the pastries to reflect that. We had different kinds of baklava, we had coconut macaroons, and we had traditional frosted sugar cookies. I even made a middle eastern shortbread cookie called graybeh. Not everyone celebrates Christmas, and I wanted to be sensitive to that, while reflecting a sense of celebration for all.

And because it was Ed's birthday, there was cake...chocolate cake, Ed's favorite!

In addition to all of the Keurig holiday KCups and Swiss Miss KCups, I decided to make a homemade crockpot hot cocoa. Oh boy, was it good! Everyone wanted the recipe! I found the recipe here:

https://www.persnicketyplates.com/best-scratch-slow-cooker-hot-chocolate-no-powder/

I improvised a bit, but used this as my starting point. Rich and creamy and decadent! You will definitely want to try this at your next holiday celebration! I plan on making this one again for our holiday open house this weekend.

It's definitely hot coca weather here. We are expecting snow at the end of this week. Looks like it could be a white Christmas!

Blessings on your Monday, café friends!