I could tell you who I'm voting for in the presidential elections, I could lecture you about health care in the United States, but that's not where I'm at right now.

It's almost 2:30 in the morning, and I'm getting ready to go to bed.  But I'm having what is quickly becoming my favorite bedtime treat before I go.  Hot cocoa and cinnamon toast.

First you have to understand that I do everything from scratch.  For a variety of reasons that don't matter right now.  But I made this bread two days ago, so I'm starting with homemade white bread.  We're talking substance, we're talking texture and body.

The cocoa is a mugful of Silk soy milk, a pinch of kosher salt, a rounded teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa, and 4 teaspoons of sugar.  And a splash of vanilla waiting in the cup.

So, put the bread in the toaster oven.  Pour a mugful of soymilk (or regular milk, or ???) in a pan on medium heat.  Add the cocoa and sugar and salt to the soymilk and whisk briefly.  It won't combine well until it warms up a bit.  So, whisk it every minute or so.

Now the toast is done, so pull it out and butter it.  Now, sprinkle it with a layer of sugar, maybe a couple of teaspoons.  And then cover that with cinnamon, preferably Saigon.  Pop it back into the toaster oven.

The cocoa should be starting to steam now.  Whisk it more frequently, maybe lower the heat a bit.  The vanilla should be in the mug by now.  Check the toast.  You want it to get to the point where the sugar is melted and bubbling.  Take it out and put it on a small plate.

At this point, the cocoa should just be starting to bring up a bubble or two from the bottom.  Whisk it one more time and turn it off.  Take it to the sink and pour it into the mug with the vanilla.  You could have added a bit of cinnamon, too, but I forgot to mention that.  There's still time.  You're pouring it over the sink because you don't want to spill any.  If you do it over the counter, you'll spill some, guaranteed.  If you pour it over the sink, you won't miss a drop, guaranteed.  The world is perverse and there's nothing we can do about it.

Well, we can drink cocoa and eat cinnamon toast.  And then we can go to bed and get a good night's sleep.  The calcium and the minor sugar crash are what make that inevitable.  And sometimes, inevitability is a good thing.  And perhaps a peaceful world is inevitable, if we can get enough food and rest.  And if we're just patient enough.

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