Chocolate Syrup

• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 cup tap water
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Find a 2 quart saucepan. In it, mix the cocoa and water with a wire whisk or fork. Heat the chocolate water over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add the sugar and continue to stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and boil for a full 3 minutes. Remove the syrup from the heat.

Add the salt and vanilla, stirring to blend. Pour the syrup into a clean pint sized canning jar, or a clean catsup container. Put a good lid on the jar and store it in the fridge.

Use this chocolate syrup to make chocolate milk, or serve it over ice-cream. This is remarkably similar to Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup in the can.

When it comes to cheap drink recipes, it’s hard to beat the old-fashioned switchel. It is similar to lemonade, and was made quite a bit in the old days when folks didn’t have lemons around.