Well the holidays are upon us whether we are ready or not so you may as well invite friends and relatives over and make it fun. Holiday entertaining doesn’t have to be hard. My husband and I put probably too much effort into entertaining making too much of a fuss and creating so much work for ourselves.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend we learned a good lesson. We woke up Saturday morning and decided to throw a party for his brother’s milestone birthday that night. It turned out great! To think about how we plan and work for weeks, trying to make everything from scratch and end up exhausted but in the end, we forget that it’s all about getting together and having fun--not perfection.

One of the easiest ways to make your holiday entertaining special with less stress is to serve simple drinks that seem special and fussed over and look exciting. Here are a few ideas and links for holiday cocktails but don’t make too much of a fuss over them. Just put together a few things that you think are great and they will be. Have fun with it.

Begin with a nice glass. You can find some really great ones in your local 99 cents store. They don’t have to match either. Now think of just a few basic ingredients that would taste good together and feel special. And for those who don’t partake of alcohol, just find some alcoholic drink recipes and come up with your own non-alcoholic version. Example: Take a nice glass, add 1/3 cold coffee, crushed ice, mix 1/3 non-alcoholic eggnog a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg top with a spoonful of whipped cream. Who could beat that? You could even make that hot and it would be delicious. Believe me, you can’t go wrong and less is more.

Cool Brew, a delicious cold-brewed coffee concentrate that I just love, could really make your party. No need to make and cool coffee and it doesn’t have any bitter after taste because of the brewing process. It also comes in great flavors. Just think Toasted Almond and let your imagination run wild. Check out their website below for some great drink recipes.

Great garnishes that would make your drinks really look special are cinnamon sticks or dusting the rim with real powdered cocoa, and whipped cream always looks festive. A dash of nutmeg, cinnamon or chocolate shavings in the whipped cream not only looks professional, it tastes great too.

Experiment before the party with a mixture of things that tastes good to you. When you have just the right combination, write it down. Don’t try to make a lot of different things. Stick with one specialty. Then get some one besides you to make and serve. And don't forget to let me know how they turned out.

Cool Brew
http://coolbrew.com/recipes/

DrinksMixer-coffee drink recipes
http://www.drinksmixer.com/cat/18/