Holiday Beverage Recipes

Just as for gatherings you carefully select the perfect recipes so should you plan your beverages. I like my guests to have two choices. Often one choice is simply water with sliced lemons and/or limes floating in the watler.

For a great sweet iced tea for the holidays try Lipton's Sleepytime Tea. It is a very mild flavored tea. I have served it a couple times for our ladies holiday tea. Once I combined Sleepytime and Lipton's Vanilla Tea.

I have preapred each of the following delicious recipes. The hot chocolate recipe can be made and stored in an airtight container for individual servings or you may use it for gifting.

Christmas Wassail
64 oz. apple juice
54 oz. apple cider
12 oz. frozen orange juice
1 can pineapple juice (with 3 cans water)
Whole cloves
2 teaspoons allspice
Cinnamon sticks

Place a few whole cloves & allspice in a spice bag or simply tie in tulle or cheese cloth. Mix together remaining ingredients in large pan. Add spice bag. Bring to a boil. Serve warm.

Wassail Tea Punch
4 c. hot brewed tea
1 c. sugar
1 (32 oz.) bottle cranberry juice
1 (32 oz.) bottle apple juice
2 c. orange juice
3/4 c. lemon juice
2 cinnamon sticks
24 whole cloves, divided
1 orange, sliced

In a large pot over medium high heat, combine brewed tea and sugar. Mix well and add cranberry juice, apple juice, orange juice, lemon juice, cinnamon sticks and 12 whole cloves. Bring mixture to a boil for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and transfer mixture to a large punch bowl. Press remaining 12 whole cloves into orange slices and add to punch bowl. Punch can be served hot or cold.

Frozen Punch (THIS IS THE BEST EVER!!!!!)
3 small pkgs Strawberry Jello
Water
16 oz Lemon Juice
2 64 oz cans Pineapple Juice
2 – 2 liters Ginger ale
1 oz Almond Flavoring

Mix Jello in 9 cups hot water. Add flavoring and Lemon juice. Stir in Pineapple juice. Add 4 cups cold water. Pour into 3 gallon size zip-lock bags and freeze. Chill Ginger ale. Remove punch from freezer and thaw for about 2 hrs till slushy. Pour Ginger ale over slush.

Hot Apple Cider Wassail
½ gallon apple cider
2 pts ginger ale
16 whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
1 cup red hots

Pour cider and ginger ale into large coffee pot. Place cloves, cinnamon sticks, and red hots into coffee pot basket. Perk for 15 minutes

Volcano Punch
3 cans frozen fruit punch concentrate
1 64oz-can pineapple juice
1 can cream of coconut
2 2-Liters ginger ale
ice cubes

In a large punch bowl add the 3 cans of frozen fruit punch concentrate. Keep one of the empty frozen juice cans. Fill the can with water 6 times and add to punch bowl. Add pineapple juice, one bottle of ginger ale, and ice cubes then stir. Then add as much of the 2nd bottle of ginger ale as possible leaving at least 3 inches from the rim of the punch bowl and stir again. Pour in the can of cream of coconut on top. Serves 50

Caramel Apple Cider
¼ cup heavy cream
¼ cup brown sugar
3 cups apple cider

Bring cream & brown sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan over med heat.
Stir in the cider and water and raise temp to med high. Heat just until the
cider begins to steam, about 4 minutes. Divide into 4 cups and top with 2
tablespoons of caramel whipped cream.

Caramel Whipped Cream
½ c heavy cream
1 T. brown sugar

In a small bowl whip the heavy cream with the brown sugar until soft peaks form

Hot Buttered Pineapple Drink
1 (48 ounce) can pineapple juice
2/3 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 teaspoons brown sugar
4 (3-inch) cinnamon sticks

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Remove cinnamon sticks and serve hot. Makes 5 cups.

Cinnamon-Apple Hot Toddy
1 (46 ounce) can apple juice or cider
1/3 cup cinnamon red hots

Place red hots in a coffee filter and place in the percolator basket of a coffeemaker. Pour apple juice into the water well of the coffeemaker and brew.

VERY Rich Hot Chocolate Mix (Great for gifting)
8 cups dry milk
1 pound instant chocolate drink, like Swiss Miss or Nestle's Quick
1 cup Cremora, Coffeemate, or Pream
4 heaping tablespoons powdered sugar
Miniature Marshmallows

Mix the ingredients and put them into a plastic container or double plastic bag. I use the cone shaped clear disposable plastic Wilton decorator bags. Top with miniature marshmallows. Label the mix "Rich Hot Chocolate. Add 1/3 cup mix per ¾ cup of boiling water." Makes 24 cups

Cranberry Iced Tea
2 quarts Iced Tea
6 oz can frozen cranberry concentrate, partially thawed and undiluted
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup sugar

In large pitcher, combine the cranberry and orange juice. Stir until both are well mixed. Then pour in the ice tea. Add the sugar and mix until you dissolve the sugar. Cover and place in refrigerator to chill about 1 hour. Serve in ice-filled glasses.

Raspberry Lemonade
1 can of frozen pink lemonade
1 32 oz bottle of raspberry soda (Wal-Mart has a great generic one)

Mix together and serve.

Hot Raspberry Cider
8 cups apple cider or apple juice
1 cup frozen raspberry juice concentrate, thawed
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cinnamon stick

Combine all ingredients in 4-quart saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture starts to simmer. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick. Serve warm.