some more Valentine's sweets

I wanted to make Valentine's cards with Liam and River to send out to our loved ones, but it just didn't happen this year.

But what did happen was this better-than-Hershey's homemade chocolate sauce.
And with just a few ingredients, the recipe couldn't be much easier:

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
1 cup cold water
2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

instructions

1. Combine the sugar, cocoa, and salt in a large saucepan. Whisk in the water until combined. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until it reaches a boil. Boil for 3 minutes, continually stirring.

2. Remove pan from the heat and stir in vanilla extract.

3. You could use the syrup at this point, but it won't siginificantly thicken up until it has cooled. Store in the refrigerator in a covered container. I use a mason jar.

We are loving this syrup over a scoop of ice cream, but a brownie or chocolate cake wouldn't be bad either. Liam loves this special treat: a spoonful stirred into his milk for some chocolate sirree (syrup...).

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Ever the romantics, Gabriel and I are planning an evening at Barnes and Noble together, browsing the books and maybe even getting a treat in the cafe. My mom is coming over to watch the kids. We're living it up!