Christmas Drinks

People love to drink during the holidays, and there are lots of drinks unique to the Christmas season.

The most popular and well-known is eggnog. Although it is usually referred to as an alcoholic drink, I prefer it without the booze. I began drinking the stuff as a kid before I even put two and two together and realized that there were eggs in this drink. That seems to be the main thing that turns people off to it, but if you’ve never tried eggnog, you must. My favorite variety is Southern Comfort’s vanilla spice eggnog which tastes just like dessert. The kind that comes pre-mixed with the alcohol tastes awful; it’s like a disgusting, bubble-gummy concoction that doesn’t even taste like normal eggnog.

Mint is a staple of holiday treats, so it is no wonder that minty beverages are popular at this time of

year. My husband and I went to the Funny Bone comedy club this year and they had several holiday themed drinks, like something called a Rudolph and a trussed-up grasshopper called The Grinch, which was delicious.

I would love to try hot buttered rum. My grandparents made some years ago at Christmastime before I was old enough to drink and it smelled so good. Since looking up recipes and seeing how much butter is actually used in it, it is less desirable, but I still want to know how good it is.

RADIO: RADIO: Cinnamon Bear “Bad Dolls”, Jump Jump and the IceQueen “Lost in the Palace”, Jonathan Thomas and his Christmason the Moon “Dragon With Thirteen Tails Again”

MOVIE: Christmas in Connecticut is a movie that people often overlook when they talk about Christmas movies, but it is a solid film with a great cast that everyone should check out. Barbara Stanwyck is a Betty Crocker/Martha Stewart type with a popular column in a housekeeping magazine, but it is all a sham. She really isn’t married, never had children, and doesn’t know the first thing about cooking, but her publisher is a stickler for the truth. When a soldier contacts him about spending the holidays with the columnist, he invites everyone over to her fictional homestead for a big Christmas get-together, so she must scramble to get all of the pieces in place to save her job.

Barbara Stanwyck is always wonderful; she is a star through and through. She is less tough in this one than in many of her films too. I also love movies of this time that feature war elements; they make the sentiment seem all the more urgent and precious.

I think I also love this movie because of Stanwyck’s attempts to be the perfect housewife and to impress her guests. Although she’s doing it to save her job, I can relate because I always try to be the perfect housewife too. What better way is there to hold your man than through his stomach?

SONG: “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Mambo” by Billy May 

GIFT MEMORY: My first memory of Christmas at my grandparents’ house comes from when I was

about three or four years old. My cousin Kelley was my best friend and I always felt safe around her. I was pretty shy as a kid, but if Kelley was by my side, I was more confident. I remember meeting my cousin Travis and his sister Tessa for the first time (at least in my memory) and since Kelley already seemed to know them I wasn’t completely uncomfortable around them. I remember sitting on the plaid tweed couch together playing with our loot from opening gifts that night and thinking how much I really loved this whole Christmas thing. I got to play with other kids and I got new free toys. I also remember thinking Tessa was so beautiful and how I hoped that someday I would be that pretty too.

I remember getting a band set for my Barbies, which I only had a few of at that time. There was a plastic keyboard, a drum set, a microphone, and piano guitar with removable ruffles. That was the first addition to my Barbie obsession that ended reluctantly in 6^th grade when pressures to act my age took over.