{"id":5050,"date":"2022-12-26T16:35:54","date_gmt":"2022-12-26T22:35:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/?p=5050"},"modified":"2022-12-26T16:35:56","modified_gmt":"2022-12-26T22:35:56","slug":"wintery-celebrations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wintery-celebrations\/","title":{"rendered":"Wintery Celebrations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019m not really used to wintery\ncelebrations. Last year when I traveled through Texas in mid-December, it was\n85\u02da. At home it was in the\n70s. Later this week, it will approach 70. But right now, it\u2019s cold. That has\nme wondering what sort of drinks I\u2019ll serve on New Year\u2019s Eve if the weather\noutside is frightful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2020, my most popular drink was half passion, half green,\nunsweetened iced tea served in tall glasses over Sonic ice. I offered a wide\nvariety of hot tea, hot chocolate, wine, champagne, and liquor. But as midnight\napproached, everyone preferred the slightly red, tangy tea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not sure if the color was part of the appeal, but red\ndrinks seem festive, and bubbly is a New Years tradition. That makes a\ncranberry or pomegranate mimosa seem like an easy choice. But a cold drink when\nit\u2019s -15 \u02da doesn\u2019t sound nearly as appealing as something warm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I pull out the slow cookers, I can offer Red Hot Cider\nspiked with rum or spiced rum and a pot of Mexican Hot Chocolate. Since both feature\ncinnamon, it should be easy to choose snacks that will work with either drink. A\npitcher of the 2020 tea and champagne for toasting will round out what I need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cider can be made on the stove or in a slow cooker. I\nfind serving from a slow cooker less distracting than running back and forth to\ncheck a burner when I\u2019m entertaining. If you have lots of guests coming, you\nmay want to have an extra batch or two waiting on the stove to refill the slow\ncooker. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Red Hot Cider<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Combine \u00bd gallon of apple juice or apple cider with \u00bd cup\nred hots. Heat on medium until the candy dissolves and the drink turns red,\nstirring occasionally. You don\u2019t want to let the mixture boil or it will turn\ninto syrup. Stir in 1 \u00bd ounces of rum or spiced rum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mexican Hot Chocolate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Combine 4 Abuelita\u2122 hot chocolate drink tablets and 16 cups of\nmilk in a large pot. Heat over medium-high heat whisking constantly until the\nmixture begins to boil. Remove from heat and place in slow cooker to keep warm\nfor serving. This can be mixed in advance and stored in the refrigerator for\ntwo or three days then reheated to serve. For the adult version, add Kahlua or\npeppermint schnapps before serving. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I plan to serve the hot cider in clear glass punch cups so we can enjoy the color as well as the flavor. If you don\u2019t have glass cups available, Smarty Had A Party<\/a> stocks clear plastic coffee\/tea cups. They also have white and black disposable mugs that would work nicely for hot chocolate. In fact, they\u2019re my go-to when I need elegant disposable anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that I have a hot drink plan, I feel warmer already. And\nputting a menu together is always easier when you have a starting point. I\u2019ll\nbe ready for a wintery celebration just in time for New Year\u2019s Eve!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disclosure\nof Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this\npost. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I\nhave mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade\nCommission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements\nand Testimonials in Advertising.”<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m not really used to wintery celebrations. Last year when I traveled through Texas in mid-December, it was 85\u02da. At home it was in the 70s. Later this week, it will approach 70. But right now, it\u2019s cold. That has me wondering what sort of drinks I\u2019ll serve on New Year\u2019s Eve if the weather … Continue reading “Wintery Celebrations”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,6],"tags":[3314,3319,3315,3317,3318,2513,3320],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5050"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5050"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5053,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5050\/revisions\/5053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}