For my wedding reception, which included a bonfire, I had a couple crock pots of warmed cider with an assortment of different flavored Schnapps on hand- butterscotch, cinnamon, can't remember what else offhand. It was a big hit. It's nice if you are serving folks who drink less frequently- more palatable than liquor to less experienced drinkers.

It was fun reading all of this, especially since it goes back to '06. That first post of Lars with the cherry cream soda...yummmy. I only consume coffee if it's ice cream, Kahlua or some other dessert. I like tea, black, green, but not any spiced teas. Really dislike mint too. Mostly I drink flavored unsweetened seltzer, iced tea or lemonade. Occasionally I'll have a fruit soda, but I find them too sweet these days so I mix them with my seltzer. Alcohol? Not really. Don't like wine as a rule. I can deal with a little champagne or Asti. Will drink vodka, that Kahlua making it a Black Russian. Smiles. I can go several years or more without having any alcohol. Last year I turned my current [at the time] vodka into vanilla. This fall an old friend from high school came to visit and brought a bottle of vodka. I had 2 light Cape Cods and when he left I turned the Svedka into vanilla. LOL. In winter in the evening we either have hot tea or hot cocoa often. I do love hot chocolate made with cocoa or even a nice chocolate bar.

I was very fortunate to meet Karen and her DH this weekend. Karen and I shared some great conversation and some excellent wine and it was perfect. Linda, I can only hope Karen likes the coasters as much as you...lol. You might try Dillards :) Thanks again for the hospitality, Karen and I will look forward to meeting up again....now, I have 2 reasons to go to Lake Charles...lol. I think we will have to get Maggie and Aleksi together sometime, too! Brenda

Cold Duck! I had forgotten all about that! I thought it was so fancy because my parents weren't wine drinkers. I do remember them drinking whisky sours with the foam on top and a maraschino cherry! Stacy, great photo! Your Mom had style. Just like my photos of my mother - always with the cig but it looked cool! We always went to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, which was a candlelight service - even when we were little and we were dressed up. I always think I want to do that now with my kids but never make it for the midnight. We always had Kielbasa and Sauerkraut in the crockpot Christmas Eve and "noshes" my Mom called it like cheese and crackers. We lived in the country but there was a Tavern down the road which always had hay rides and hot chocolate and dunkin dounuts on Christmas Eve day. Desserts - hmmm Mom wasn't a big baker but her specialty was Lemon Meringue Pie. Sometimes Banana Crème or Chocolate Crème Pie and Mrs. Smith did the rest (coconut custard - ewe). She did make us kids Pudding in a cloud in wine glasses. I loved that! Christmas Day varied. Mom was Bohemian and French and Dad is all Irish so they just boiled something and then added butter - LOL. Kidding! Sometimes she did a fresh Roast Pork with Brown Sauerkraut and Dumplings (my favorite) or more often a Roast Beef Dinner. It was tradition for mom to burn the dinner rolls which I have continued. Another tradition was for my sister and I to get everything the same but different colors which we promptly switched. Always pajamas, underwear and socks. Now, my SIL and I switch off on hosting Christmas Eve for DH's family and Christmas we go to my sisters. I am actually having more of an open house this year so I am not sure of the menu. Actually I have an idea but need one more thing - will probably post about it. My sister usually caters Christmas Dinner - LOL - all Italian dishes. My son is so in to the holidays and loves to decorate. We are making new traditions. I love that even though he is only little he says things like "mom, we are going to do this or put this here because that is how we do it every year". I love doing little surprise things for him this time of year - even if it is just letting him have Reddi Whip squirted in his mouth for breakfast. We also always had bowls of nuts in the shell and chocolate covered cherries and mints and Irish Coffees and Baileys. With the packaging of toys these days requiring power tools to pry open the heavy duty plastic and then all those twisties ties - I think I will start another new tradition for myself this year - a mimosa first thing in the morning. Thinking about the bowl of nuts reminded me of a very unusual nut cracker we had. I can't believe I just found it on ebay! I have to have a talk with my dad when I see him this Christmas - LOL. Here is a link that might be useful: nutcracker