The Kitchen

What you'll need

• 2 cups milk (any kind — dairy, oat, almond, whatever you have)
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons sugar (adjust to your taste)
• A tiny pinch of salt (trust me)
• A splash of vanilla if you have it
• Marshmallows, whipped cream, or nothing at all

How to make it

1. Pour the milk into a small pot over medium heat. Don't rush it — milk likes to be coaxed, not hurried.
2. While it's warming, whisk in the cocoa, sugar, and that tiny pinch of salt. The salt makes the chocolate taste more chocolatey, somehow.
3. Keep stirring gently until it's hot and steaming, but not boiling. Boiled milk is grumpy milk.
4. Add a splash of vanilla if you're feeling fancy.
5. Pour into your favorite mug — the one that feels like home in your hands.
6. Top with whatever makes you happy, or nothing at all.

What you'll need

• 1 cup butter, softened (real butter if you can, but whatever you have)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2½ cups flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• A pinch of salt

How to make them

1. Mix the soft butter and sugar together until it's fluffy and cheerful.
2. Add the egg and vanilla. Mix until combined.
3. In another bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, a little at a time. Don't overmix — the dough doesn't like to be fussed with too much.
5. If you want to cut shapes, chill the dough for an hour, then roll and cut. If you don't, just roll into balls and flatten with a glass.
6. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 8-10 minutes. They should look almost underdone — they'll firm up as they cool.
7. Decorate if you want. Or don't. Plain cookies are just as loved.

What you'll need

• 4 cups apple cider or apple juice
• 1 cinnamon stick (or ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon)
• 3-4 whole cloves (optional, but lovely)
• 1 star anise if you have it (fancy, but not required)
• A few orange slices
• A drizzle of honey or maple syrup

How to make it

1. Pour the cider into a pot.
2. Add the cinnamon, cloves, star anise, and orange slices.
3. Heat gently over medium-low. Let it simmer for 10-15 minutes — the longer it simmers, the more the spices infuse.
4. Your kitchen will smell like a hug.
5. Strain into mugs (or don't — some people like fishing around the spices).
6. Add honey or maple syrup to taste.
7. Hold it with both hands. Breathe it in. Sip slowly.

What you'll need

• Bread (any kind)
• Butter
• Cinnamon and sugar, OR honey, OR jam, OR peanut butter
• A blanket to wrap yourself in while you eat it

How to make it

1. Toast the bread until it's golden.
2. Spread butter on it while it's still hot, so it melts into all the little holes.
3. Add cinnamon-sugar, honey, jam, or peanut butter — whatever you have, whatever sounds good.
4. Eat it in bed if you want. I give you permission.

What you'll need

• Everything from the regular hot cocoa recipe
• ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
• A candy cane for stirring (optional but recommended)
• Crushed candy canes for topping

How to make it

1. Make the regular hot cocoa recipe.
2. Add the peppermint extract right at the end. Start with less — you can always add more, but you can't take it out.
3. Pour into your mug and add crushed candy cane on top of the whipped cream.
4. Stir with a candy cane if you're feeling festive.

What you'll need

• ½ cup butter, softened
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup flour (microwave it for 1 minute first to make it safe)
• 2 tablespoons milk
• ½ cup chocolate chips
• A pinch of salt

How to make it

1. Mix the butter and brown sugar until fluffy.
2. Add vanilla, then the heat-treated flour, then the milk.
3. Stir in chocolate chips and salt.
4. Roll into balls, or just eat it with a spoon. No one's watching.