Holiday Giving and Cocktail Recipes

[YMZ PE]

Two of my favorite things about the holidays: charitable giving, and festive ways to drink booze. I'm always looking for more ways to do both. Please post your favorite ways to give back and/or your best holiday cocktail recipes. Here are mine:

Operation Christmas Child - fill a shoebox with gifts for a kid in need. This week (Nov. 14-21) is National Collection Week for all shoeboxes. For more info visit http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/.

Hot Buttered Rum - Cream together a stick of butter, 2 cups unpacked brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, and a pinch each of ground cloves and salt. Put in the fridge until firm, then scoop a couple of tbsps into mug. Fill mug halfway with boiling water, dump in as much dark rum as you want, stir, then top with whipped cream. MMM!!!

 

[Master slacker]

I cannot stand the smell of cloves. BARGGHGHGHGH!!!

Festive booze for the MS household = beer with holiday colors on the label

 

[snickerd3]

We did the operation christmas child through our church. We did it last year too. Target's $ section up front is the best for this!!!

not a huge fan of the holiday drinks, most include something I hate. so I usually stick to the usual hard liquors.

 

[DS58]

Our church hands out Christmas tags with specific requests for needy families, which we buy and wrap. These are are then distributed at a Christmas dinner.

Cidery hot stuff + shot of Hot Damn = winner!

 

[willsee]

That recipe looks too involved.

Open bourbon

Pour into empty glass (or add an ice cube if you must)

Drink

Winter is bourbon drinking time for me...Summer is beer drinking time

 

[goodal]

We also do the Christmas Shoe box and let the kids pick out a toy each for a kid in the walmart ornament program (dont remember what its called). Mrs. Badal makes and takes goodies of all kinds to every old person we know. Our sunday school class usually picks out a missionary family and buys each member a couple of gifts. Its not much but maybe it makes somebodies christmas a little better.

As far as drinking, the (non-alcoholic) eggnog is what I look forward to every year. I usually get a couple bottles all to myself since noone elese in the house likes it. Im sure thats where 3-4 of the christmas pounds come from.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

That recipe looks too involved.

Open bourbon

Pour into empty glass (or add an ice cube if you must)

Drink

Winter is bourbon drinking time for me...Summer is beer drinking time

Agreed, but I prefer Scotch. I have a nice 15yr French Oak reserve by Glenlivet.

Sometimes I will put a splash of peppermint Schnapps into hot chocolate, but we haven't picked up any mix yet and I'm out of Schnapps.

 

[Master slacker]

Last year I posted up my taste experience with Peppermint Schnapps and coffee. BARGHGHRHHGH!

 

[FLBuff PE]

That recipe looks too involved.

Open bourbon

Pour into empty glass (or add an ice cube if you must)

Drink

Winter is bourbon drinking time for me...Summer is beer drinking time

WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG!

Open bourbon

Open mouth

Pour bourbon in

 

[willsee]

While I do enjoy knocking the bourbon back out of the bottle, that is typically reserved for more low key occasions such as tailgating in the snow. For holiday functions I prefer the sophistication of swirling my bourbon in a glass.

 

[FLBuff PE]

Bah humbug!

 

[pbrme]

Agreed, but I prefer Scotch.

+1

I'ma scotch man also, I've really gotten into auchentoshan. Real nice on ice for the money. Wife sips Makers & water.

 

[YMZ PE]

Holiday flavors have not been good to you, master slacker.

When I'm lazy, I like Yamazaki Whiskey straight. Too bad the 12 year is like $50 a bottle now.

 

[Master slacker]

The only alcoholic holiday flavors that have been good to me are the ones that I have after I'm already too fit-shaced to care what I drink.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

I typically don't drink, but brought home a pint of Brennivin from Iceland. My FIL fashions himself as a manly man, let's see if he can stomach a shot of this swill.

I may order some hakarl too to give the authentic experience.

We've cancelled Xmas as far as gifts and anything like that goes this year. Dog needs a new ACL to the tune of $1500+.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

Agreed, but I prefer Scotch.

+1

I'ma scotch man also, I've really gotten into auchentoshan. Real nice on ice for the money. Wife sips Makers & water.

I keep mine in the wine fridge at 65 degrees, and mix it 70/30 with some refridgerated bottled water. Between the temperature and the splash of water, I think this makes the best overall flavor.

 

[roadwreck]

That recipe looks too involved.

Open bourbon

Pour into empty glass (or add an ice cube if you must)

Drink

Winter is bourbon drinking time for me...Summer is beer drinking time

WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG!

Open bourbon

Open mouth

Pour bourbon in

repeat as necessary.

 

[pbrme]

... Dog needs a new ACL to the tune of $1500+.

^Know how you feel. We've gone thru two ACL surgeries. We took our guy Brigby both times to Washington State University's Vet. Clinic, had them preform a TPLO. Both times were successful. Had his second a year after his first, now a year after his second he's back to his old (just older) self. He doesn't fetch the ball for too long anymore, poor guy. It was a tough 8-10 weeks and put a $2.5k dent in our checkbook ea. time even with my wife's student discount. The TPLO is more expensive, but supposed to be the better option.

 

[envirotex]

We do Coats for Kids, MP3 players/iPods for teens at the childrens' hospital.

And, eggnog with bourbon, or wassail...

 

[MA_PE]

sorry to hear about the dog, I hope the surgery works well for her.