It’s All About the Marshmallows

I don’t know about you, but when I get an invitation to spend the morning drinking an assortment of different hot chocolates, I don’t go through much of a decision making process.  So when those lovely peeps at Oddfellows Cafe let me know they were offering 3 delicious Hot Chocolates for the holiday season & then invited me over to taste them all, I was off to Capitol Hill like a rabbit at the races.  The kind of races that involve greyhounds.  And rabbits running really fast.

It was a gloriously sunshiny winter day when I strolled into Oddfellows for Friday’s Hot Chocolate Fest with Tallulah Anderson – PR guru & Company Tweeter (amongst a lot of other things) for all the foodie goodness that emanates from Smith, Oddfellows Cafe, Linda’s Tavern & King’s Hardware.  I was early, so busied myself snapping a few shots while I was lolling at the bar.  Oddfellows is just a splendid place to *loll*.  The place was buzzing with a battalion of other loll-ers…tapping on laptops, noses in kindles, buried in newspapers, chatting up a storm with their buds.  Cozy little tables for 2, long benches in the huge picture window, bar stools at the marble-topped counter & large family-style tables made of rustic wood.  It feels like an enormous family kitchen.  It’s such a great place to just hang.

Tallulah arrived, exactly on time, & we got straight down to Hot Chocolate business.  To celebrate the welcoming of the Cal Anderson Skating Rink to the Capitol Hill neighborhood, Oddfellows created a couple of extra special winter warmers to their Hot Chocolate menu.  As they are quick to point out – there is simply nothing better after a long day of ice-skating than a serious cup of hot chocolate.  And, I’m here to tell you, these are serious hot chocolates.

Classic Hot Chocolate – Guittard chocolate and warm milk.  Why mess with a classic?

Mexican Style – Carlee’s secret spice mix with Guittard chocolate syrup, this cocoa has just enough heat to keep you warm all winter!  Feel that heat in the back of your throat as it slip-slides away to warm even the chilliest of hands & feet.

Frost Reviver – Oddfellows’ classic hot chocolate, a little grown up with Dr. McGillicuddy’s Mentholmint Schnapps.  Wow, that Schnapps packs a punch.  I’d say it was hot chocolate a lot grown up.  I think it even made my legs wobble, just a little.  And, can you say, “Minty”?

But for me, the real kicker in the whole hot chocolate line up: the homemade marshmallows.  Floating right there on top of every cup – a sumptuous, dense, silky square of heaven that slowly melts to create the fluffiest, thickest foam you can imagine.

Lovingly made by head baker, Austin Hicks (above), after taking a candy class at The Pantry, these marshmallows are the crowning glory to a trio of winter wonders.  I reckon they should start bagging those babies up & selling them in cute cellophane wrappers tied up with holiday ribbon.  In the meantime, I suggest you head to Oddfellows Cafe this winter to get a steaming mug of hot chocolate with one languishing on top.

By the time we’d downed all the hot chocolate & talked the hind legs of a few donkeys, Tallulah had to head off to her next meeting.  I was ready to eat.  Enter lunch.

More tuna than melt, this was one heck of a sandwich.  Dished up on an interesting grainy bread along with a bunch of fashionably assorted greenery, this was way more filling than it first appeared.  Huge chunks of tuna – no mushy stuff here – dotted throughout & some delightfully stringy melted cheese made this a more-than-a-lunchful kind of Tuna Melt ($9.00).

After wiping my plate clean, I settled up with the effervescent Nicole & packed up my gear.  I could’ve sat there at the bar in Oddfellows all day.  Such a pleasant place to hang.  Such great grub.  Such lovely staff.

Thanks, Oddfellows, for having me over for a delightful morning of hot chocolate & great conversation.  Oh, and homemade marshmallows.  It really was all about the marshmallows.