Making holiday memories – take a limo to see the lights! This year I’m focussed on making memories during the holidays rather than making gifts or involved menus. My easy take on Thanksgiving turned out to be delicious in its original form as well as the one-pot version that followed.
Now I’m looking toward Christmas and New Year’s with the same goal in mind. I think I’ll resurrect one of my favorite holiday activities – taking a limo to see the lights. It’s easy, festive, and relatively inexpensive if everyone chips in. In my city you can spend 4 hours riding around in style with a fully stocked bar for around $50 – $60 per person including a decent tip for the driver. While that’s not dirt cheap, I can save that much by eating lunch at home for a week or two so the price doesn’t feel out of reach.
We always come to the limo prepared with snacks, music, and hats! Why hats? I have no idea. Just seems more fun somehow. Once in the limo, we pop in our favorite holiday CD and put on a hat and we’re ready to ride. The driver often helps us decide the route. You can encourage the use of, or temporarily confiscate, the ubiquitous smart phone cameras depending on how raucous a crowd you invite and what sort of reputation you desire on social media.
I think I’ll include Kahlua and Peppermint Schnapps in my bar request so we can enjoy Kahlua Mint Hot Chocolate along with our snacks. If you’d like to do this too, just bring a thermos or two of hot chocolate along. After you pour a cup, swirl in an oz of Kahlua and an oz of Peppermint Schnapps to warm your tummy.
I’m going to keep the snacks easy to make and easy to serve. Gluten-free sausage balls and ChexTM Mix will fit the bill. I can carry both of them in zip top plastic bags that can be passed around the car. When I was a kid, we called ChexTM Mix “party” mix and you had to make it in the oven. The prepackaged kind didn’t yet exist. I still prefer the kind made in the oven and I don’t think bagel chips belong in the recipe. I use Corn Chex, Rice Chex, Kix, gluten-free mixed nuts, gluten-free pretzels, butter, Worcestershire sauce, seasoned salt, garlic powder, and onion powder and follow the recipe from one of the cereal boxes. I prefer to use a few more Corn and Rice Chex than I do Kix rather than the standard 3 cups of each. You can leave out the Kix entirely if you don’t want the sweetness.
If I want easy to become even easier, I can skip making the snacks entirely by grabbing some white chocolate peppermint drizzled popcorn, gluten-free ginger snaps, M&M Holiday Candies, and a bag of gluten-free pretzels from the grocery store. Even better, I don’t have to make a decision right now. I can wait and see how the next couple of weeks turn out. If I determine that making the snacks will interfere with time I can spend with James, I’ll opt for plan B.
Now that I have a loose plan in place, I feel calm and ready to enjoy the lights.
Have a fun holiday memory making activity? Share it here and we’ll give it a try!