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Christmas Joy
Christmas comes and goes at the same lightening speed as the bank balance. We put on a few pounds as the wallet is shedding its. Then comes the January sales "hooray" that s if I had any money to spend on them. Never mind I’ll just look and drool...
Christmas Toys Are For The Kids... Right?
Toys for grown-ups pushing kids' toys out of Christmas most wanted list.
Christmas used to be a time for the kids but now the adults appear to be taking over. The top twelve toys this Christmas as identified by the Toy Retailers Association...
Democrats Turn Christmas Into Political Stunt
We often hear from the "other side" of the isle how it is
Republicans and Conservatives that are grinches and that they
are mean and insensitive lying bastards without a care for
civility. Ok, I admit I am blunt at times, but at least...
Keeping the Christmas Spirit Alive through Catalogs
We must admit that we are all catalog lovers. You might be
holding one right now or you may have looked over some online
catalog websites. We all have been hooked up with catalogs
especially women who are mad about fashion and beauty....
This Christmas, Don’t Take the Bait
You’re at a party talking with a man and it happens. He says something and you feel "sucked dry" after processing various emotions. Some of them might be -- He’s been hurt, I must help him; I’m good at cheering people up; I really don’t want to do...
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Christmas Libations for Little Elves
Please make the children's table festive! I watched a little munchkin’s face fall last holiday when she realized she was relegated to the “children’s table.”
I make it the focal point of my own decorating, and invite you to consider the possiblities!
Here are some festive drink recipes for the little elves at your celebration.
Choose festive ware and garnish. Any drink with whipped cream, you can put sprinkles atop, candied fruit, cinnamon candies, Christmas “picks,” drizzle with (non-alcoholic) crème de menthe for color, shaved colored chocolate, a Candy kiss.
Tie a red bow with an evergreen sprig on the punch ladle; surround the base with greens and sugared cranberries or toy ornaments.
If it’s hot, stick in a cinnamon stick or candy cane; dollop with whipped cream and garnish with sprinkles, cinnamon candies, confectioner’s sugar; add a holiday "pick"; stick a sparkler in each mug and light at presentation time.
If it’s cold, use decorated ice cubes – freeze cranberries, tiny ornaments, mint leaves, anything festive and NON-POISONOUS into the cubes and add at presentation time. (Remember that holly berries and all parts of the mistletoe are poisonous); or freeze the same things in an ice mold. You can have great fun with floating ice rings for punch for the kids - put in ornaments, cherries, greenery, anything you can make hygienic-enough and that isn't poisonous!
Whatever you serve, serve it with festive flare, and give it a holiday name! There's no more appreciative audience when you go the extra mile.
NANA'S NOG
3 cups milk
1 cup half 'n' half
3 T. sugar
Put in blender with ice and frappe. Consider food coloring and candy sprinkles. Serves 4.
CHRISTMAS MINT PUNCH
1 1/2 c water
10 oz mint jelly
3 c pineapple juice, chilled
1/2 c lemon juice
64 oz Sprite
1 qt lime sherbet
In small saucepan, combine water and mint jelly; cook and stir until jelly melts. Cool. In large punch bowl, combine jelly mix and juices. Just before serving, add Sprite and lime sherbet.
TRIM-THE-TREE CIDER PUNCH
1 gallon apple cider
12 whole cloves
2 large apples (Granny Smith, Rome Beauty), peeled, left whole
2 cinnamon sticks
Ground nutmeg
Pour apple cider into large pot. Insert 6 cloves into each apple. Add apples and cinnamon sticks to pot. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover and barely simmer over very low heat 1 hour to allow flavors to blend. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over low heat before continuing.) Ladle hot cider punch into mugs. Sprinkle with nutmeg and serve. Source,
Bon Appétit, December 1995
SNOWMAN PUNCH
Stir up a pint of ice cream - vanilla, peppermint, mint, adding a little milk to thin it. Scoop it into snowcone cups or other festive ware. Disposable plastic Christmas ware is great for little elves!
Variation: Add green creme de menthe flavoring, non-alcoholic.
SPICY CRANBERRY PUNCH
1/2 cup red cinnamon candies
4 C. water
8 C. cranberry juice cocktail, chilled
6 oz. can frozen limeade concentrate
6 oz. can frozen orange juice concentrate
In small pan, melt candies in water; chill. At serving time, combine candy liquid and fruit juices in punch bowl. Stir to dissolve. Makes 18, 5-oz. cups.
WASSAIL BOWL
Whole cloves
1 large orange
2 qts. apple juice or cider
3 T. lemon juice
4 cinnamon sticks
Heat oven to 350. Insert cloves into orange. Place in shallow baking pan and bake at 350 for 30 mins. Pierce orange in several places with tines for a fork.
In large saucepan, combine apple and lemon juice, cinnamon sticks and baked orange. Cover; simmer over low heat 30 mins. Remove sticks and orange. Pour into heatproof punch bowl. If desired, float the orange in the bowl. Serve [safely] hot. Makes 16, 4 oz. servings.
CRANBERRY "CHAMPAGNE" FOR CHRISTMAS CERUBS
Combine 2 well-chilled 750-ml. bottles non-alcoholic sparkling cider with 1 cup cranberry juice cocktail or to taste.
ELF WARMER
1 qt. vanilla ice cream
3 sticks margarine
1 box brown sugar
nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice
Combine and keep in freezer. At serving time, put 1 heaping T. scoop into a mug, add hot water (to taste) and heat.
SANTA-RED PUNCH
4 cups water
3 cups sugar
2 small packages of red Jello
l large can pineapple juice
1 bottle of almond extract
Serves 25-30.
EVERGEEN PUNCH
2 pkgs. unsweetened lemon-lime Koolaid
2 cups sugar
2 qts. water
1, 46-oz. can pineapple juice
1 quart gingerale
Dissolve sugar and koolaid. Add pineapple juice and chill. Add gingerale at serving time. Good too if you freeze it for a while until it's slushy. Then call it Santa Slush. Serves 36.
About the Author
©Susan Dunn, MA, Marketing Coach, http://www.webstrategies.cc . Is this the year you produce your eBook? We offer all services from start-to-finish: editing, pdf formatting, ghost-writing, Internet launch, webpage, sales letter, search engine submission, pdf and print-on-demand formatting, press releases - everything you need to get the word out and start earning passive income. Packages for all needs and budgets. Email us at sdunn@susandunn.cc .
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