Young Prince/Princess Drinking Chocolate aka Cocoa!*

2 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
6 teaspoons raw sugar
1 Tablespoon milk (of choice)
pinch of salt
several drops of vanilla
2 cups whole milk (of choice)

*Makes two cups

Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl to make a batter. Warm 2 cups milk. Add one rounded Tablespoon batter per cup of milk. Heat a bit more, and whisk until frothy. Do not boil. Batter can be kept in fridge for a few days. This cocoa is not too sweet or dense, but yummy all the same.

This recipe is more child-friendly than my other Puttering Princess/Prince Drinking Chocolate recipe.  Unless you don't mind your toddlers walking the ceiling or swinging from door to door. :)

Making mini daisy crowns...

Winter was handing out its usual cold packs of frost and snow—a good day, by any writer's standards, to get some work done. A no-excuses-day. A day to write until eyes stung from looking at the screen too long and fingers were darn near plunked out.  (Double socks, old jeans, oversized cardigan... who needed a comb? Oh, hi husband.) 

I was indeed lyrically productive; started a new story, worked on an agent pitch for a beloved mss, wrote a catalog bio for my latest book, tweaked through two PB manuscripts. Busily-busily-busily, life was but a dream. Until...I noticed, next to my desk, two dot-sized piggy eyes staring at me. "Make me a daisy crown," the unblinking eyes squeaked. Yeah, they did. And um, if you're like me, you would never disobey a pink piggy. So, I made my way to the craft closet.
And voila! I fashioned these little swirls of daisyness. ↑
Then I made even more. Because, well, because it was snowing. Hard. And I was puttering. Hard. And the crowns were so mini-a-ture and cute. Besides,  pink piggy wanted lots! Yeah, she did. (Each measures: an inch and half across. ) 

Now, I attach the miniature crowns to Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots? bookmarkers as give-aways. Smart pink piggy. 

Never underestimate a puttering writer with pipe cleaners, silk daisies and a glue gun.