APDG ~ National Hot Chocolate Day - 1/31

Did any of you know that January 31st is National Hot Chocolate Day? Well of course it is.

National Hot Chocolate Day gives you the opportunity to .... you guessed it......drink hot chocolate!

Celebrated during what is arguably one of the coldest months of the year, National Hot Chocolate Day is a holiday in which people can warm themselves to their core by enjoying this sweet and warm beverage. This day is celebrated on January 31 annually, and it’s the perfect day to sit in front of a roaring fire and take a few moments for yourself.

Hot chocolate isn’t a modern invention like so many people believe it to be. No, it’s been around since at least 500 BC when the Mayans consumed this drink. And historians believe that might not even be the earliest instance of hot chocolate consumption and that it might have been ingested even before then. However, the chocolate that was consumed by the Mayans is a bit different than what modern people would probably enjoy. Mayan hot chocolate was made with water, cacao beans, cornmeal, chili peppers, and a few other ingredients, but sugar wasn’t one of the ingredients the drink had.

When the Spanish conquered the Mayan empire, they took back cocoa beans and the Mayan equipment that was used to make hot chocolate. At this point, the drink was one that was still bitter, but even so, its popularity began to spread throughout Spain and eventually throughout Europe. It was a drink that could only be enjoyed by the aristocracy, however, because cocoa beans weren’t being grown in Europe at the time and they only grew in South America.

As hot chocolate spread across Europe, it had already been spread across the Caribbean. In Jamaica, they made a variety of chocolate drinks. During the late 17th century, Sir Hans Sloane—president of the Royal College of Physicians, visited Jamaica and discovered these chocolate drinks. He couldn’t stand the taste of most of them, but he found one chocolate drink that was palatable to him when it was mixed with milk. He would take that chocolate milk to England, and would eventually form the basis for chocolate milk.

Many people confuse hot chocolate with hot cocoa, but these two drinks are distinctly different. Hot chocolate is a drink that’s made with bittersweet, semisweet, or dark chocolate that’s been cut up into small pieces and stirred into the milk with sugar. Hot cocoa is a drink that’s made from cocoa powder that’s been stirred into either hot water or milk and sweetened with sugar. Similar, yes, but not exactly the same.

We think that most people know how they should spend National Hot Chocolate Day. That they should spend the day enjoying their favorite hot chocolate either by itself or served with marshmallows, whipped cream, or sprinkles. People can also use the hashtag #NationalHotChocolateDay on social media to let everyone know how they’re celebrating this day.

Next onto our swap:

Post THREE (3) pictures and/or gifs to each of your THREE (3) partner's profiles with the theme “National Hot Chocolate Day or hot chocolate”. The pictures that you choose may be the SAME OR DIFFERENT between all of your partners. Please choose pictures that you think THEY will enjoy!

Only people with well filled out profiles may participate in this swap. I will be checking the night before partners get assigned.

If you get 3 pictures from your partner on "National Hot Chocolate Day or hot chocolate" you have to rate them a 5. The heart on the rating is for if you like what they sent.

To leave a photo on someone's profile use this code ! [ ] ( Put image address here ) With NO spaces & paste the picture's link between the curved parentheses.

Practice on your own profile first to be sure it looks good because you can easily delete there.

Pick images that are size 300 wide or smaller to be sure they fit. I go to Google images to get my pictures.

Hover over images to see their size because there will be some larger sizes there too. If you really like something click on it and go to the words SEARCH BY IMAGE and click on that. THEN go to the word SMALL and see if there is one 300 size. There are other tricks in the group thread; AN EASY way to get a small PIC from a BIG one;-)

You can find moving pictures at http://giphy.com/

Please write the TITLE OF THE SWAP ON YOUR PROFILE DECO MESSAGE too! This makes it easier for partners that are in a lot of these swaps to rate it.

Any problems, feel free to contact me.

I want to thank @anrtist for allowing me to borrow SOME of her wording.