6 Drink Ideas for Christmas

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It’s fun to try new drinks during the holidays. You can make both kid-friendly and adults-only drinks easily and simply if you set that goal. Just don’t choose difficult recipes.

You can have homemade and premixed combinations to make everything much easier.

· Mint White Hot Chocolate – This is a nice variation of hot chocolate and looks super-festive in clear mugs. Your kids and the adults will love this.

For adults, you can use a shot of peppermint schnapps instead of the peppermint extract:

https://lilluna.com/mint-hot-cocoa/

· Ice Cream "Egg" Nog – This is not a real eggnog because there are no eggs, but it’s super-delicious. Instead, you’ll use ice cream (which is often eggless) to make it.

This is a fun way to make eggnog that is safe and won’t accidentally make your guests sick from raw eggs:

· Homemade Non-Alcoholic Eggnog – This is real eggnog. The recipe is simple even though you may think it’s hard at first.

Homemade Eggnog

Ingredients

6 large egg yolks

½ cup granulated sugar

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 cups milk

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Pinch of salt

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Ground cinnamon, for topping

Directions

1. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a medium bowl until light and creamy.

2. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the cream, milk, nutmeg and salt. Stir often until mixture reaches a bare simmer.

3. Add a big spoonful of the hot milk to the egg mixture, whisking vigorously. Repeat, adding a big spoonful at a time, to temper the eggs.

4. Once most of the hot milk has been added to the eggs, pour the mixture back into the saucepan on the stove.

5. Whisk constantly for just a few minutes, until the mixture is just slightly thickened (or until it reaches about 160 degrees F on a thermometer). It will thicken more as it cools.

6. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.

7. Pour the eggnog into a pitcher or other container and cover with plastic wrap.

8. Refrigerate until chilled. It will thicken as it cools. If you want a thinner, completely smooth consistency, you can add the entire mixture to a blender with 1 or 2 tablespoons of milk and blend until smooth.

9. Serve with a sprinkle of cinnamon, and fresh whipped cream, if desired.

10.Store homemade eggnog in the fridge for up to one week.

Nutrition

Calories: 307kcalCarbohydrates: 22gProtein: 6gFat: 21gSaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 246mgSodium: 58mgPotassium: 155mgSugar: 20gVitamin A: 960IUVitamin C: 0.2mgCalcium: 140mgIron: 0.5mg

It really is just mixing ingredients in a pan and cooking it so that you don’t harm your family and friends with raw egg. This one is so easy and delicious it’s not likely you’ll want to use store bought again.

· Mulled Wine – This is a very popular drink in Germany. If you ever get a chance to go to Germany, go to the Christ Kindles Market in Nuremberg to enjoy many wonderful Christmassy things, including the best mulled wine served right on the street from street vendors.

If you can’t go, that’s okay; make this slow cooker spiced wine recipe instead.

· Gingerbread Hot Chocolate – You can look for a recipe but really you can just use packaged hot chocolate mix, and then add spices such as pumpkin pie spice to the mix to bring out the flavors that you desire.

But this recipe is really good too. For adults, consider adding spiced rum for a nice kick.

· Cherry Bomb – This cherry drink is great for kids and adults and is non-alcoholic. Just mix grenadine, club soda, and cherries.

The recipe here serves six. If you did want to make it more adult, you could also add a couple of ounces of vodka, gin, or rum. Because of all the cherries and red color, it makes it look super-festive. You could even add a green candy cane as a garnish.

Creating amazing holiday drinks doesn’t require a full bar. Choose a theme and then stick with that so that you can spread yourself around without getting too tired (or tipsy) during your holiday celebrations.