Holiday Party Drinks

Settling on drinks is always the first step when deciding to throw a party for friends. Snicketie’s or snacks are easy to accomplish. Many people have food favorites that he or she was raised on at home or from attending many events. Obtaining recipes from others at various times of the year happens regularly. Drinks are another story and libations are very difficult to accomplish if the server is a novice. This is a good reason to decide on drinks first.  Many friends have an individual drink that he or she enjoys, and as a host one should provide a selection of drinks for friends to choose from.  A structured drink menu sitting by the bar can make the evening fun. The following drinks are staples at any party and can be enjoyed by all.

The Ruby Martini

2 oz Vodka; Absolute, Belvedere, or Grey Goose are the best

1 oz fresh or bottled Pomegranate Juice

½ oz Orange juice or Margarita Mix in the bottle

Pour the ingredients over a ¾ full shaker of ice

Cover and shake until frothy inside and frosty on the outside.

Pour into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a slice of orange, lemon, or stemmed cherry.

This drink is a brilliant red and the flavor is just as sparkling as the name.

The Magic Mojito

10 clean mint leaves              3 oz soda water                       Metal Spoon/silverware

1 lime, juiced                          1 sugar cube

 ½ Lemon, juiced                     1 ½ oz Absente or Absinthe Liqueur

Muddle together mint, lime, and lemon in a large shaker half way filled with crushed Ice

Add 3 oz of soda water and set aside

In a 12 oz glass goblet fill half way with ice and balance spoon over rim of goblet

Place sugar cube in the center and slowly pour absente over cube. Carefully light sugar cube with a lighter or use long matches for safety purposes.

Pour muddled juice over the spoon and drop the cube into the glass, stir and enjoy

With safety, watch the magic with this drink.

Caribbean Christmas

Crushed ice                       2 oz Pineapple Juice                  Assorted fruits for Garnish

1 oz Chambord                  1 oz Midori                         

1 spoon                              2 oz Cranberry Juice

Fill half of a tall glass with crushed ice

Pour the Chambord into a tall glass

Place the spoon with concave side up against the side of the glass right above the ice

The spoon is used to slow the ingredients as you slowly pour to create a layered appearance in the glass. Pour each ingredient over the spoon slowly as listed.

Garnish with assorted fruit and enjoy the sunset.

This is a beautiful drink that is just as amazing to look at as it is to drink. It is very important to pour all the ingredients in order as listed in the recipe, (Pineapple Juice, Midori, and Cranberry Juice).

The White Nutcracker

4 oz Kahlua
2 oz Vanilla vodka, Absolute
Add milk or cream to fill your glass

Mix or shake, and then pour over ice in a glass tumbler

Try this recipe with vanilla or raspberry vodka

Make a Skinny Nutcracker with skim, rice or soy milk.

Both flavors are delicious, be careful, they can sneak up on you.

The Rat King

I can red bull

4 oz Kahlua
2 ½ oz tequila

Mix or shake, and then pour over ice in a glass tumbler

This is also delicious but very strong

Hot buttered Rum Drink

1 tablespoon soft butter

1 tsp brown sugar

¼ tsp Vanilla extract

Spices to taste: ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, allspice

2 oz dark rum

Hot water

Whipped cream (optional)

Place the butter, sugar, and spices at the bottom of a tall mug (Irish coffee glass)

Mix well or muddle until a paste is formed.

Pour in the rum

Fill with hot water to the top of the glass

Stir gently, and then top with whipped cream if desired

A host can never go wrong with a variety of mixed drinks, but not every guest enjoys a mixed cocktail. There is a select few that would prefer just a beer. If this is the case, make sure to have a nice selection for those that are not as adventurous but still deserve a quality beverage.  A nice selection of Seasonal Samuel Adams, Indian Pale Ales (IPA’s), or local micro brews can make a festive offering.

Last, don’t forget the designated drivers or non-drinkers that will put up with the other guests. The host should have bottled water, clear soda pop, ginger ale, cranberry juice, orange juice, coffee, Blue Gatorade, or any other ingredient that the host can pour and garnish. This is a great way to make all guests feel like he or she is participating without the peer pressure.  

Happy Holidays

Yes, People There is a Recession

People, your little friends are wrong about recession. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical era. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be that is not comprehensible by their little minds. Thoughts, People, whether they be men's or women's, are little. In this vast universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, People, there is a recession. It exists as certainly as hope and charity and loyalty exist, and you know that they abound and give your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How interesting would be the world if there were no Recessions. It would be as interesting as if there were no Wealthy People. There would be no life security or no higher savings, and no vacations to make tolerable this existence. Peopleshould have no enrichment, except in sense, and sight. The eternal light with which job security fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Recession! People may as well not believe in crime! Companies may decide to hire people to watch the bank accounts on this holiday season to catch Recession, but even if they did not see Recession coming, what would that prove?  Nobody sees Recession, but that is not a reason to believe there is no Recession. The most tangible items in the world are those that neither businesses nor men can see. Did you ever see stocks rising physically? Of course not, but that is no proof that it is impossible. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the marvels there are unseen and un-seeable in the world.

You may smash the piggybank and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a shroud covering the unseen world that not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the richest men who ever lived, could smash apart. Only faith, compassion, generosity, assistance, humanity can push aside that shade and view and identify the successes and achievements beyond. Is recession real? Ah, People in this entire world there is nothing else more genuine and abiding.

Recession! Lord knows! It lives, and it lives forever. A thousand years from now, People, nay, 10 times 10 thousand years from now, it will continue to make unhappy the hearts of man until someone like you make a difference in the lives of others.

Happy Holidays, Patrick

(This is an adaptation to the letter written by Francis Pharcellus Church; a newsman from The Sun. He wrote a response to Virginia O’Hanlon in 1897 about Santa Claus). The moral applies.