Winter Day Hot Chocolate Party

What do you do when the weather outside is frightful? When sleet and ice close schools early, but there’s not a single snowflake to be found?

Well, you could stay inside and pout and complain about the weather.

Or you could throw an impromptu hot chocolate party for the neighborhood.

That’s exactly what we did last week when the dreaded “wintry mix” started falling and making the roads all slick.

I’d been wanting to have a hot chocolate party for quite a while. I even have a canister in my pantry with all the supplies — various hot cocoa mixes, flavored marshmallows, candy canes and peppermint Tootsie Pops to use as stirrers.

Throw in some homemade marshmallow pops and some snowflake plates, cups and napkins (bought at the after-Christmas clearance sales), and you have all you need to turn a blah, cabin-fever day into a party to remember. (For more hot cocoa party tips and ideas, check out these this Google+ hangout by Randi of Dukes & Duchesses.)

The little one and I spent a few minutes making snowman marshmallow stirrers and candy and sugar-coated marshmallow pops. (Thanks to my friend, Marty at Marty’s Musings for the easy and kid-friendly marshmallow pop recipe.)

Now, her recipe didn’t say anything about taste-testing, but my little sous chef insisted.

We set up our spread on the front porch and invited the neighbors over.

Though the weather was frightful, we had quite a few guests who put on their hats, coats and gloves and braved the frigid temperatures and slick roads to come party with us. A few neighborhood pooches even got in on the action.

The kids really enjoyed the marshmallow pops.

And the hot chocolate. You can see it on their faces.

And in the end, it didn’t matter that there wasn’t any snow on the ground.

A game of red light, green light takes on new appeal when it’s played on an icy road.

So, the next time the weather outside is frightful in your neck of the woods, get outside in it and throw a party.

It looks like we might have the chance again today. The forecasters are calling for more ice before the weather turns warm again on Tuesday. That’s winter in the South for you.

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