What to drink?
What to do?
CHRISTMAS
How to host the perfect Christmas party cont.
What to drink?
Christmas time … mistletoe and wine. Of course, you’ ll need red, white and rosé, but the chances are that most guests will bring a bottle anyway, so what you’ ll need to do is get mulling. Thankfully, mulled wine has moved on since its medieval roots suggested we mishmash an awful lot of very strong ground spices into dreadful red wine to produce a throatstripping potion.
Today’ s mulled wine is a much more sophisticated blend of sugar, spices, ginger and citrus peel boiled, simmered and then heated through a lovely bottle of fruity, unoaked red. It’ s a great idea to prepare muslin parcels of toasted cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves and citrus peel beforehand that can then be thrown into a pan of red whenever needed
– you can also place said parcels on your radiators before your guests arrive to fill the whole house with a quintessentially Christmassy aroma.
I’ m a massive fan of cocktails at a Christmas party too. They’ re a great way to kick start the evening being both‘ special’ in that we don’ t drink them all the time, and a very effective social lubricant too. Creating cocktails one at a time is hugely time consuming though, so choose a classic like a margarita, or a cosmopolitan and make it in jugs beforehand that can be poured over ice in a martini glass. Remember the nondrinkers too – a virgin peach bellini is a perfectly pretty 50 / 50 combination of peach juice and sparkling lemonade that you can garnish with mint to make a little more party appropriate.
Recipe- the Snowball revamped
Christmas just wouldn’ t be Christmas without someone at least referencing, or at best, actually drinking a‘ Snowball’ – an after-dinner tipple that screams 1980s, and was favoured by grannies all over the country for at least a decade. Well, they’ re‘ retro’ now, of course, and making a comeback. Here’ s a modern twist on an ever-so-slightly naff classic.
Ingredients:
• 40ml Advocaat liqueur
• 20ml Malibu liqueur
• 5ml lemon juice
• 5ml sugar syrup
• 5ml triple sec
Method: Simply shake all of the ingredients together and pour over lots of ice cubes in a lowball glass, or tumbler.
What to do?
Other than eat your fill, have a few drinks and catch up with your nearest and dearest, there’ s not an awful lot anyone needs to‘ do’ at Christmas parties, and there’ s nothing worse than a forced schedule of games. That said, you need to set the scene and give people the option to have a laugh if they want to. Make sure there’ s space suitable for a bit of a boogie if you have known movers and shakers among your peers.
Next, music. Compile your party playlist well ahead of time – for the musically challenged among us, there’ s lots of inspiration and pre-prepared playlists that you can legally pinch from streaming services like Spotify and Soundcloud. Make sure you’ re plugged into a good speaker too.
It won’ t do you any harm to hire a karaoke machine. They’ re a relatively cheap option( you’ ll probably be able to borrow one if you ask around) and can simply be set up somewhere to be pounced on as and when your guests may feel the need to belt out a bit of Meatloaf, before launching into an existential debate about what on earth it could have been that he wouldn’ t do for love.
If you’ re feeling extremely generous, you could stretch to a fancy farewell in the form of a goodie bag – no need to go all‘ Oscars’ and hand out Rolex’ s, but a few chocolate truffles in a personalised box is a nice touch to bid your guests goodnight. Otherwise, pack them all off into taxis( prebooked taxis; you’ ll thank me for that top tip) and slam the door shut. You’ ve done it. Sling your shoes off, kick back with one for the road, and don’ t, under any circumstances look at the mess they’ ve made of your house – it’ s Christmas; give yourself a break and tidy up in the morning.
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