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Comforting, decadent with all of your favorite fall flavors, this will be your new favorite drink this season!
Yesterday would have been my friend Joan’s 50th birthday.
You might remember me talking about Joan and her sudden death from a heart attack here and how the food blogging community was so deeply saddened and shocked that she had passed. You see, Joan wasn’t just a food blogger, or even a hugely successful food blogger, she was incredibly thoughtful, helpful and very much a mentor to say many of us.
Joan’s blog, Chocolate Chocolate and More was (and still is!) incredibly successful and she had millions of fans just on Facebook alone. She loved to share her tips with so many people and always was there to help people (like me) out. I met Joan when I first started blogging and she helped me tremendously. You could tell she loved helping her friends and sharing her success stories with us all. I will forever be grateful for her friendship. And all of her guidance.
And to continue with Joan’s theme of helping others, here are the warning signs of a heart attack. They are very different for men and women so please take a minute to read this. I just know Joan would be smiling right now knowing she could help even more people. That’s just the way she was.
So…..this decadent white hot chocolate was Joan’s recipe on her blog. The blog that is still up and running (with great success thanks to her friends and family) and the ads on her blog help generate income for her 3 kids. So naturally, I wanted to help Joan and her family, just like she helped this scared, food-blogging newbie years ago. Please go over to Joan’s blog and go check out her recipes, especially with the holidays coming up! If you’ve been following me on Facebook, you’d know that I have been making Joan’s Easy Chocolate Fudge for Christmas for years! We all should indulge in treats around the holidays right? Well, this one is sheer perfection.
Back to this recipe.
I enjoyed reading Joan’s blog post (from 4 years ago tomorrow!) about how she never had pumpkin before! In our blogging world, pumpkin this time of year is HUGE and I just love Joan’s honesty and straightforwardness. She wasn’t crazy about pumpkin, but wanted to branch out so she took some “baby steps” with this amazing Pumpkin Spice White Hot Chocolate. She hit it out of the park, once again. She was the master of all things chocolate.
Please click HERE to view the recipe in its entirety.
Happy birthday Joan!
Let’s all enjoy a piece of chocolate in honor of Joan today.
Please go visit some other friends who are remembering Joan today…
Chocolate Overload Loaded Brownies from 365 Days of Baking
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cracker Bars from Frugal Foodie Mama
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars from Cookie Dough and Oven Mitt
White Chocolate Velvet Pie from The Domestic Rebel
Heavenly Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars from Kudos Kitchen by Renee
Joan’s Ding Dong Cake from Hungry Couple
Paleo Double Chocolate Fudge Pie from Texanarian
Lunch Lady Pumpkin Brownies from The Bitter Side of Sweet
Gluten Free Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Cake from Cupcakes and Kale Chips
…and I will be adding more as people share them.
Thank you for letting me share this with you today.
What a beautiful tribute, Lauren. Thank you again for sharing what Joan meant to you. It’s wonderful to read how she touched each of us.
I’ll be sure to make this recipes and think of you both.
Thanks for sharing the link love as well!
Love you, girl!
What a lovely tribute, Lauren. I’m sure Joan is smiling down.
Lovely and so yummy looking. Pinned!
We all miss Joan for sure <3 You chose a great recipe for today!
We met an amazing woman this summer that had a heart attack in the early morning and if her husband hasn’t been awake (and luckily, also a Dr), she may not have survived…because her heart totally stopped. How kind of all of you to remember Joan on her birthday!
Happy birthday Joan and what a sweet tribute to her! She really has the best recipes.
I adore white hot chocolate, and pumpkin spice sounds like the perfect addition!
This hot chocolate looks fantastic. I would’ve loved to share a mug with you and Joan both. I miss her so much.
So nice of you to do this for Joan. Wish I could have participated but some personal issues arose.
This post is so beautiful. Wonderful tribute and a wonderful recipe!
Beautiful tribute to Joan. This hot chocolate sounds wonderful and I’m with Joan, that tiny touch of pumpkin spice without the real puree sounds just right to me.
This is such a lovely tribute to Joan. And a great idea to include the heart attack symptoms!
Joan was indeed the master of all things chocolate and I miss her so much! Wish I had one of these hot chocolates right now.
Such a beautiful post! And this drink looks amazing!