we picked the song for our first dance: the bird and the bee's cover of the bee gees' "how deep is your love." i really really want to listen to it over and over but i'm afraid that i will get sick of it! it's in my head though and sometimes i start singing it, but the lead singer's voice is so high that i end up trying to do it in falsetto and it is so bad. oh well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i feel like "how deep is your love" should segue into huey lewis and the news' "the power of love" because back to the future, but eggboy is gunning for "boom clap." (such hip, that boy, i can barely keep up.) either way, i can't hardly wait to wiggle my bum on the dance floor as the new mrs. egg.

throughout all of this weddingness, i've been trying my best to be in the holiday spirit as well. we don't have our little tree up yet, but i did kick off hanukkah last night with cauliflower gouda latkes (like these but with gouda instead of feta) and those turkey zucchini cumin meatballs from jerusalem. i topped them off with some sumac greek yogurt and oooooooh yeah baby, sooo delicious.

in another world, i'd continue on down this path paved with latke nachos, sriracha cheddar latkes, poutine latkes, and maybe the thanksgivukkah brussels sprout latkes, but over these next ten days (!!!!!!!) i've got an entire dessert table to bake, a zillion pies to prep, and vows to write. and come this weekend, visiting family members and a donny to hang out with!!

so here is a simpler wintery festive treat: hot chocolate. until embarrassingly recently, i'd only ever made hot chocolate from a store-bought mix, and that might have been why i phased it out of my life. most of those mixes are soo wildly sweet that i always felt like i'd have to choose between hot chocolate and sufganiyot or some other holiday dessert, out of fear of sugar overload. but a hot chocolate recipe from hemsley + hemsley, which uses coconut milk as the base and just a touch of sweetener, inspired me to revisit my old friend. of course, as with nearly everything in my life, i added tahini. the result is nutty and not too sweet. it's rich in texture, yet subtle in flavor, and crazy easy to make.

tahini hot chocolate

makes 2-4 servings

ingredients

1 (13.5 oz) can light coconut milk

1/4 c cocoa powder

3 tb tahini

2 tb honey, or more to taste

1/4 tsp salt

a splash of vanilla extract

a pinch of cinnamon

clues

whisk all ingredients together and warm over medium heat. serve with whipped cream, marshmallows, a cinnamon stick, candy canes... even a little cookie cake*!

*the mini cookie cake in these photos was made using hampton creek's just cookie dough. omg you guys, it's so good. it's dairy free and egg free so obviously, yes i've been eating it raw with a spoon. for the mini cake, i baked some in my mini cake pan with sea salt on top and it was magical.

-yeh!

thank you so much to hampton creek for sponsoring this post! all opinions are mine mine mine!