All right, Jules is out for the rest of the week and I’m hijacking this blog. You’re all mine for the next 4 days, so buckle up.

Little known fact about ol’ Chris here, I worked as a bartender (no, I don’t drink – it was a non-alcoholic bar and yes, I realize that doesn’t make me a real bartender) for about 6 months in college. Jules actually hired me for that job long before we were married, or had even started dating. In that spirit, I decided to share some of my favorite summer drinks this week, starting with an old-time favorite of mine, the frozen hot chocolate. Yes, I realize it’s not “hot” if it’s frozen. It’s not literal, yeesh.

My first experience with frozen hot chocolate was at Dairy Queen in Rexburg, Idaho, my Sr. year of high school. It was cheaper than a blizzard, and bigger to boot. Win win. It quickly became one of my favorite cool treats, and even though DQ doesn’t have it on the menu any longer, we have a local restaurant here that does. And lucky me, I paid attention to how they made it last time I was there, and now I make my own. This recipe makes enough for two people:

* 3 cups ice
* 3/4 cups heavy cream
* 1 cup skim milk (if you use 1% or 2%, then use more milk and less cream)
* 2/3 cup Hershey syrup
• Whipped cream (I just use the canned stuff)
• Hershey chocolate bar

Put the ingredients with the *’s in a blender. Blend until super smooth. Pour into a cup, top with whipped cream and use a grater or microplane to shave some of the chocolate on top of the cream. Aaaaaaaand:

This is one of our favorite night-time drinks in the summer. Pop some popcorn, toss in a movie and knock back a couple of these bad boys and I think you’ll find all is right in the world.

So I hope you find some time enjoy one of these this week. This is a “classic” version, but you can flavor them with all kinds of stuff, so feel free to make adjustments and come back and share what you did. Peace out!