It only takes two ingredients and two steps to make the richest, creamiest hot chocolate you've ever had, without ever opening a powdery mix. Instead, just reach into your fridge for whatever kind of milk you like and grab a handful of chocolate chips. You'll have a steaming hot cup of cocoa in minutes.

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Things You\’ll Need

• 1 cup of milk

• 3 tablespoons chocolate chips (a scant quarter cup), store-bought or homemade

Step 1: Warm the Milk

In a small saucepan, warm your milk over medium heat. Stir often to keep it from boiling and scorching, otherwise you'll get "pudding skin" on top.

Tip

It's better to use the stove because you can keep an eye on the milk to avoid boiling, but a microwave would work as a second choice. Just heat in 30 second intervals until hot — 60 to 90 seconds total.

Step 2: Stir in Chocolate Chips

Turn the heat off and quickly use your whisk to stir in the chocolate chips.

Tip

For more flavor variations, add the zest of an orange, a pinch of instant espresso powder or a sprig of fresh mint. It's already very rich as it is but optional toppings include the classics: marshmallows, whipped cream or a drizzle of chocolate over either one.

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To really make this something special, try making your own homemade chocolate chips. It's a real treat!

And adding homemade marshmallows will send this drink over the top!

Things You\’ll Need

• Towel

• Measuring cup

• Barley

• Food Scale

• Sheet pan

• Pot

• Cheesecloth

• Strainer

Making your own malt extract gives you more control over the finished flavor.

Malt extract is used in beer and breads to create various flavors and as a sugar souce for yeast development. Malt extract can be purchased in dry, powder form, or wet, syrup form. Dry powder form can be kept in dry storage without any special packaging. Pre-made malt extract is typically purchased in cans if it's in syrup form. If you make your own syrup malt extract, it should be used right away or canned to keep it from spoiling. One benefit of making your own malt extract is that you can make it as dark or light as you want during the toasting process.

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Step 1

Wet the towel with hot water and ring it out until it is wet, but not dripping.

Step 2

Weigh 1 pound of barley grains with a food scale or purchase the grains in a premeasured 1 pound bag.

Step 3

Spread the grains out in a single layer on a sheet pan and lay the towel over the grains to moisten them and make them warm under the towel. Leave the pan in a warm place, such as a window or the top of an oven, for two days.

Step 4

Check the grains, they should be sprouting. If they are not sprouting re-wet the towel and leave the grains covered. Check them each day until you notice a small sprout from the grains.

Step 5

Remove the towel and place the sheet pan with the grains in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit to allow them to dry. Check the grains after 20 minutes. Remove them when they are a light amber color and smell lightly toasted.

Step 6

Cool the barley on the sheet pan for about 20 minutes, then pour them into a small pot.

Step 7

Measure 1 gallon of water and pour it into the pot with the barley. Cook the barley over medium heat until a thin foam rises to the top and the mixture begins to thicken. This should take about 30 minutes, depending on the amount of barley used.

Step 8

Pour the mixture into the food processor. Process the grains on high for 10 minutes to puree the grains into the thickened liquid. If the mixture becomes pasty, add small amounts of water until the consistency is syrupy.

Step 9

Line a strainer with cheese cloth and pour the processed mixture through the cloth. Discard the solids remaining in the cheesecloth. Reserve the liquid that comes through the cheesecloth, this is your finished malt extract.

Tip

To make a darker and nuttier tasting extract, toast the barley longer in the oven.

To make a dry extract powder for dry storage, eliminate the cooking in water process and process the dry toasted barley in the processor until it becomes a powder.

Things You\’ll Need

• 1 active dry yeast package (.25 oz)

• 4 cups granulated sugar

• 1 12 oz. bottle of grape juice concentrate

• 4 qts. Water

• 1 sterilized gallon glass jug

• 1 latex balloon

• 1 rubber band

Make your own grape wine at home with a few basic ingredients.

Homemade grape wine does not require many ingredients, but you will need to remain patient during the process. Once all the ingredients are combined, the sugar will begin turning into alcohol and it will release gasses that cause an attached balloon to inflate. Once the sugar stops producing gasses, the balloon will deflate and you can enjoy your homemade grape wine.

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Step 1

Combine the active dry yeast, sugar and juice in the jug.

Step 2

Pour the water into the jug.

Step 3

Rinse the balloon out with warm water. Place the balloon over the opening of the jug.

Step 4

Secure the balloon with a rubber band.

Step 5

Place the jug in a dark location. The temperature needs to remain at 70 degrees F. The balloon will inflate.

Step 6

Remove the balloon after it deflates. This usually takes anywhere from 2 weeks to one month. Pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy!

Star anise flavors sambuca. Image Credit: Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images

Sambuca, a cordial, finishes meals with, or in place of, dessert. It's semi-sweet anise flavoring complements coffee with cream or stands well by itself. The complexity of its flavoring pairs well with dark chocolate and cinnamon in pastries and confections. Sambuca's high alcohol content typically prevents its freezing in home and commercial freezers, making it the ideal chilled after-dinner drink.

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About

Genuine sambuca hails from Italy. Although the cordial comes in red, blue and black varieties, most sambuca has no color and appears completely clear in the bottle. It contains between 40 and 50 percent alcohol by volume and is flavored with star anise, elderflower oils, licorice root and sugar. Some sambuca varieties also contain honey. U.S. retailers must differentiate genuine and imitation sambuca types with labels.

Freezing Liqueur

Pure alcohol freezes at -173 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature unlikely to occur in nature or in freezers. Because drinks like beer and wine contain more water than alcohol, they freeze easily in home freezers if left long enough. Liquors that contain more alcohol than water, such as sambuca, freeze at lower temperatures than those at which home freezers run, making it nearly impossible to freeze them regardless of the length of time in the freezer.

Factors

Although the alcohol concentration of sambuca and sambuca-type liqueurs may vary, most high quality varieties contain over 40 percent alcohol. With such a high concentration of alcohol, sambuca must be stored at temperatures below 0 F to freeze solid. Even at temperatures that low, and down to -20 F, sambuca only partially freezes. If the sambuca freezes in a home freezer, it's likely been watered down in the bottle. Adding water raises its freezing temperature closer to that of water itself, 32 F. Sambuca labeled at lower than 80-proof contains less alcohol and may freeze in a home freezer.

Serving Sambuca

Even though sambuca doesn't freeze, store it in the freezer to keep it chilled. Traditionally, pouring chilled sambuca into a cordial glass over three coffee beans symbolizes good luck for the drinker; an even number of coffee beans signifies bad luck. Alternatively, store the liqueur at room temperature and serve a shot in coffee with cream and allow the sambuca to sweeten the beverage.

Things You\’ll Need

• 3 pounds wine grapes

• 3 pounds granulated sugar

• 1 1/2 ounces active dry yeast

• 1 3/4 ounces wheat germ

• One gallon purified water

• Two-gallon ceramic jar

• Long wooden spoon

• Cheesecloth

• Two-gallon vessel

• Rubber gloves

Make your own wine the ancient way.

While making wine at home can be a complex process involving lots of specialized equipment, the tradition of wine making goes back to antiquity. The technology needed is as simple as boiling water and crushing grapes. The fermentation of wine requires grapes, yeast, sugar and water. The right conditions and sufficient time for those four ingredients will yield delicious wine.

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Step 1

Sterilize the jar and wooden spoon. Pour boiling water in the jar. Stir it with the spoon for several minutes. Pour out the water.

Step 2

Clean the grapes of any dirt, debris or insects. Remove any rotten or broken grapes. Rinse the grapes in water several times. Spread them out to dry. Rinse off the wheat germ several times spread it out to dry.

Step 3

Pour the grapes into the jar a little at a time. Use a spoon to rupture all the grapes in the jar before adding more of them. Don't completely smash the grapes; make sure each one has its skin broken open. Pour the water over the grapes.

Step 4

Activate the yeast by mixing it with one cup of warm water and two teaspoons of sugar. Mix and wait five minutes. If the mixture bubbles, you were successful. If it does not, try again with water that is not as warm. The ideal temperature is only about 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Pour the active yeast into the jar.

Step 5

Pour the wheat germ into the jar with 1 1/2 pounds of the sugar. Mix thoroughly. Place the lid on the jar so it's airtight. Store the jar in a cool, dry place.

Step 6

Stir the contents of the jar once daily for the next three weeks. Use a clean and dry spoon and completely reseal the jar.

Step 7

Strain the contents of the jar into your secondary vessel through the cheesecloth. Slowly pour off the liquid from the jar and, while wearing the rubber gloves, squeeze the liquid out of the grapes into the vessel. Remove any sediment from the fermenting jar. Strain it all into the vessel.

Step 8

Pour the strained liquid back into the fermenting jar along with the remainder of the sugar. Stir the mixture a few times to mix the sugar. Reseal the jar and replace it in the cool, dry space. Wait at least three more weeks before opening the jar again. The longer you wait, the more alcohol will be produced by the yeast.

Step 9

Skim the liquid off of the surface to drink without mixing or jostling the jar. The sediment will have settled to the bottom; so the wine on the surface should be clear and good. You can strain it again through cheesecloth for clearer wine.