••• Can someone tell me why hot chocolate is often around $5? Then again, I’d gladly pay half as much for an espresso cup’s worth, because I usually end up throwing half of it away…. Related: The hot chocolate is $5 at Locanda Verde but it’s really good and has homemade marshmallows. I actually wrote the rant-y part before going to LV this afternoon. Also: I borrowed the photo (not of Locanda Verde’s hot chocolate) from the nice folks at the Internet.

••• Today on KGB Deals: Tribeca Spa of Tranquility mani-pedi.

••• When it comes time to lose the Christmas tree, you can bring it (via the Downtown Connection bus, if you like) to MulchFest on January 8 at Bowling Green Park (10 a.m to 2 p.m.). Same day, same place, till 4 p.m.: E-waste recycling of working and non-working computers, printers, monitors, audio/video equipment, cell phones, etc. The event is sponsored by the Lower East Side Ecology Center.

••• Trattoria Cinque will have a $55 prix fixe fish dinner on Christmas Eve.

••• The Quad Manhattan has added classes on gaming, rock climbing, and dolls.