National Chocolate Milk Day (September 27)
September 27th is National Chocolate Milk Day. Celebrate with these tips and a recipe from Gourmand World Award Winning Chef Maria Liberati. Please feel free to use this article as is. For additional comments, an interview, or photos please reach out to me at  publicityintern1@marialiberati.com 
Have a great week!
Danasha
 
History Behind the Nostalgic Drink
The nostalgia chocolate beverage was invented by Hans Sloane in the late 1680s, while he was in Jamaica. He discovered this beverage that many of the locals were drinking, a drink made with just cocoa and water mixed together. After hating that combination, Sloane experimented with cocoa and milk, which he loved and took the recipe back to his homeland Europe. Today, chocolate milk can be purchased premixed or you can make it right at home with either cocoa powder, chocolate syrup or if you want to get fancy you can melt some chocolate and mix it with some cold milk. Chocolate milk is a sweetened, normally enjoyed cold, cocoa-flavored milk drink. Other ingredients, such as starch, salt, carrageenan, vanilla, or artificial flavoring may be added. In 1828, the Van Houten company in Amsterdam invented the cocoa pressing method. This method created a light, fluffy chocolate powder that could be easily dissolved in water or milk.)
Healthy or Unhealthy?
There is a continuous debate as to how is chocolate milk healthy. On one hand it has a high amount of sugar and is seen as being a contributor to childhood obesity, but on the other hand it is seen as being restorative to the muscles of athletes. Chocolate milk has surprising restorative properties. In 2006, the dairy industry conducted a study and found that chocolate milk helps athletes with muscle recovery. It provides nine essential nutrients, making it both delicious and nutritious!
 
How to Celebrate

Throw a surprise back to school party for your kids when they get home from school. During back to school season, kids can be extremely tired and need a little fun in their lives. Having some chocolate milk, snacks, and party favors when they get home will be a great ‘pick me up’ from their long day! Alongside of their chocolate milk think about serving up a delicious chocolate snack that will compliment the beverage such as Maria Liberati’s Chocolate Coffee Brownie Cake. You can find the recipe here: https://www.marialiberati.com/2016/08/14/last-days-of-summer-chcolate-coffee-brownie-cake/.

Don’t forget to take a photo with your chocolate mustache and post it on social media with the hashtag #NationalChocolateMilkDay!

Celebrity Chef/Award Winning Author-blogger Maria Liberati is the author of the Gourmand World Award Winning book series The Basic Art of Italian Cooking. She is executive editor of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking by Maria Liberati and blog at https://www.marialiberati.com/blog2- winner of culinary travel blog of the year 2013 by the NY Travel Writers’ Society, and with 300,000 worldwide subscribers