When I was a young girl, my mother bought me my first pair of ice skates at a local auction.
She didn't have much money and the skates she bought were men's black ice skates and the blades were a bit rusted.
And they were too big for me, but I would wear extra-thick socks and stuff paper towels in the toes to make them fit.

My neighbor and I would go to the field behind his house.
There was a low area that would always fill with water and in the winter it made an ideal ice-skating rink except for the tufts of dried grasses that poked through the ice.
What fun we had skating.
It never really mattered to me that my skates were less than perfect or that the ice was not free of vegetation.

And then one Christmas I received my first pair of white figure skates.
It was like a dream come true. How I loved those skates!

After a day of skating I would come home and make a pot of hot chocolate.
It was always made from scratch. Not sure if they even had instant hot chocolate back then.
So here is the recipe... and it tastes just as good today as it did back then.

1/2 c. SUGAR
1/4 c. HERSHEY'S COCOA
Dash SALT
1/3 c. HOT WATER
4 c. MILK
3/4 tsp. VANILLA EXTRACT
Miniature marshmallows or sweetened whipped cream to garnish, if desired

Stir together sugar, cocoa and salt in medium saucepan; stir in water.
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil.
Boil and stir 2 minutes.
Add milk, stirring constantly. Heat to serving temperature. Do not boil.

Remove from heat; add vanilla. Whisk until foamy.

Serve topped with marshmallows or whipped cream, if desired.
Five 8-oz. servings.