Salted Caramel Hot Chocolates!

After strolling the streets looking for those last minute holiday gifts this weekend I popped into Williams Sonoma for of course the free drink samples and what did I discover? But the tastiest treat my lips ever did meet: The Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate! Yes, I know the Salted Caramel trend has been beat to death but mix it with chocolate? You can't help but jump on the bandwagon! The container is around $20 and yields 8 servings but what did I do? Marched over to Starbucks and ordered two of these bad boys for around $7.50 expensive? Yes. Delicious? definitely. But after a few searches on Pinterest I found this recipe on the blog "Pennies on a Platter" which I actually had all the ingredients for in my cabinet so bam! Free Salted Caramel Hot Chocolates for all! Enjoy!

• 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups good quality Dutch cocoa powder
• 1 to 3 tablespoons fleur de sel or good sea salt (My preference is 1-tbsp)
• 1 cup dry milk powder
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 10 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate or chocolate chips

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Heat the 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar in a large heavy pan, over medium heat, without stirring. When the sugar begins to melt, take the handle of the pan and swirl it to melt without burning. The sugar might seem to crystallize, but it will eventually melt to a deep amber color. (Can take 15-20 minutes, so be patient.)

Remove the pan from the heat and carefully add the vanilla. Whisk the caramel until smooth again, then immediately pour it onto the lined baking sheet. Allow it to spread without touching it. Set aside and let the caramel harden, at least 1 hour.

When ready to make the mix, use the back of a large spoon to tap the caramel several times into small broken pieces that can fit into the feeding tube of a large food processor. Turn the processor on, and while running, feed the caramel pieces into the tube so the processor pulverizes the caramel into a fine powder. Continue to add the pieces, a few at a time, until it is completely powder (a cloud of caramel dust will float out of the tube). Turn the processor off and follow the next steps to complete the mix.

Add the rest of the ingredients, except the chocolate, into the food processor with the caramel powder. Replace the lid and process until smooth. Add the chocolate to the bowl and process again until the mixture is a fine powder.

Store in an airtight container, in a cool, dry place for up to one month. To serve, stir 3 tablespoons mix into 1 cup hot milk.

How to thrift..

While we will never say we are expert thrifters we will say that we have collected some pretty beautiful things over the years. Like this cabinet that we had No Good Riding Hood restore to use as the Sewickley Store's checkout counter. We highly recommend you taking a peak at their facebook page for help with all of those gems you will find on your hunt.






 Before giving you our rules of the hunt we first thought we would share with you our favorite places to hunt for loot and why they are great.

The Antique Mall in Bellevue:  this place is great for smaller items like an end table or a cute antique to accent that empty dresser top of yours- and it's in a giant purple building so what's not fun about that already?

Construction Junction in Point Breeze: this place is huge! And the best part about it: things go on sale depending how long they have been there! This is the best place to find desks, tables and other pieces that are great for restoration.

Craigslist  get all the fun while staying at home just make sure you get detailed pictures of each piece before you pick it up to save yourself an hours trip each way for a vanity without a back...not that that has happened or anything...crap.

After you have gotten into the swing of thrifting with these places you have graduated to the next level! You are now ready for estate sales and yard sales where the real hunt lies! We've found the local paper to be the best place for the heads up on this outings.

Now that you have somewhere to go now here are the rules of the game::


1. If you think it's junk-it is. Simple as that. Many a trips we have had where we brought home that kind of cool looking mannequin head or whatever weird thing is may be home only to realize that it will go right into the trash.










2. Will you use it? This is a good one to think about if you are on the fence with a purchase. 9 times out of 10 you won't.


3..Is that a good price? You may be in love with something but ask yourself if you can get it somewhere else unused for cheaper.





4. The final rule: timing is everything! Yes, you do want to get to the sale early to see the cream of the crop but we've found waiting towards the end of the day always leads to the best deals since most people just want to get rid of their wares.


With all of those rules in the back of your head just remember to have fun! And check out some of the goodies we have collected that call Rosewood it's home!