(Skinny) London Fog - Earl Grey Latte

London Fog - Earl Grey Latte

This is my FAVORITE thing to order at Scooters, our local coffee shop.

At Scooters, I order a Skinny London Fog.

If I find myself wanting one, and I am at Starbucks, I call it a Skinny Earl Grey Tea Latte.

Earl Grey tea is my most favorite.  Add a little vanilla syrup and steamed milk and a little froth to the top?

Come to Mama!!

Now, I make mine "skinny" by using skim milk and sugar free syrup, but if you can afford the calories, be my guest and use whole milk and SUGAR! ;)

(Skinny) London Fog - Earl Grey Latte

Earl Grey Tea loose or tea bag

Boiling water

1/2 cup skim milk

2 teaspoons sugar free vanilla syrup

The mug I used is pretty large, it holds almost two cups, so you may need to vary the amount of milk to the amount of tea you have.

Add boiling water to tea at steep for about 5 minutes.

Stir in 2 teaspoons of vanilla syrup.

(you can also substitute sugar and vanilla extract in place of the syrup, start with 1 teaspoon vanilla and add sugar to taste)

Use 1/2 cup of milk to make your steamed milk and froth to top your tea.

HOW to FROTH Milk at Home

Stir warm milk into tea then spoon foam on top.

Enjoy!

How To: Froth your own milk at home

How often do you find yourself warming up with something from your local coffee shop?

I love warm beverages anytime, but especially when it's as FRIGID as this winter has been.

But those lattes can hurt your budget "a latte!"

I actually have a capuchino maker stashed up in my pantry, that has a milk steamer, and I do get it down from time to time, but I will let you in on a little secret about me, I hate having clutter on my counter!

Drives me CRAZY.

I love coffee and tea lattes, and this works SO DARN GOOD!

Especially when you want one in a hurry!!

How To: Froth Milk at Home

What you need

Jar with a lid

Milk, your choice

Place desired amount of milk in jar leaving at least half of jar empty, for room to froth.

Place the lid on the jar and SHAKE!!

I shook mine for about 30 seconds or so.

Remove lid and heat in the microwave.

I started at 30 seconds, but added a little more time, because I like my beverages HOT.

Watch it, though, because it will GROW!

(I need to add a picture of this!! -- my kids were giggling like crazy!)

With a spoon, hold the froth part back as you add your hot milk to your beverage of choice. Stir. 

Spoon froth on the top of your beverage.

Warm hands.

Sip.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Peppermint Stirring Spoons

I am one of the room moms for our twins' 5th grade class, and this Friday is their Christmas party.

My kids are lucky, they still get Christmas parties... I have talked to many friends, and their kids have "winter" parties.  I LOVE singing Christmas Carols and singing the kids all dressed in their Sunday best at their programs.

I am thankful my kids go to a Catholic school.

We are doing this cute craft I found on Pinterest

and having a hot cocoa bar!

My daughter and I made these cute Chocolate Peppermint Stir Spoons!

They couldn't be easier to make and so good in hot cocoa!!

Want to make your own cocoa mix?

CLICK HERE

Chocolate Peppermint Stirring Spoons

48 plastic spoons

6 candy canes crushed

2 cups chocolate chips

2 teaspoons crisco

Crush your candy canes.

Line cookie sheets with waxed paper. Rest spoons on edge of cookie sheet.

Melt chocolate chips in microwave for about 1 minute and then 30 second intervals until you can stir them smooth, add crisco and stir until incorporated.

**I used a glass 2 cup measuring cup ... worked great to pour the chocolate into the spoons!**

Pour chocolate into spoon well, and tap the spoon to make the chocolate pool evenly in the spoon.

Add crushed peppermints and place in the refrigerator to set up.

Swirl it through some hot cocoa and Relax....

Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix

I made a housewarming gift basket for my brother and his family last weekend, and it turned out super cute!

I'll blog about it AFTER the holidays ... but the cute basket included this homemade hot cocoa.

I searched Pinterest, and read different recipes, but found this one from a blog that I love called wonkywonderful.com   You have seen recipes from Nicole on my facebook page, she shares there every now and then, and her stuff is always AMAZING.

So hers it was!

rich and thick and stirred into hot milk ... no water here, friends!  

Do you have a Tuesday Morning where you live?  I love going in that store, it's sort of like digging for buried treasure.  It's where I found this "Chalk it up" Glass jar.  I love how it looks like a barrel.

This is one of my favorite mugs, given to me by my dear friend, Traci.

(aint that the truth??)

Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix

wonky wonderful

1 cup cocoa

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup instant coffee creamer

1/2 cup Ovaltine

Combine and store in an airtight container.

Add 3-4 Tablespoons to a an 8 ounce cup hot milk and stir.