28 Days Until Christmas......Signature Drink

If you entertain over the holidays, you know how expensive providing drinks can become. What I have found works like a charm is to have a signature drink for your guests along with some pop and bottled water. Please keep in mind that your signature drink does not have to be an alcoholic one either. My husband's Aunt Betty makes a fruit slush that her kids and guests all love. For a Christmas tea I had several years ago, I served my mom's Russian tea mix. My kids also love to have the Russian tea as a bedtime drink (I buy the caffeine free tea mix).


So my tip to you is to find a drink, that can be served with or without alcohol and skip on all of the other drink choices out there. Keep it simple and save some money in the process.

Russian Tea

Ingredients:

• 1 cup instant tea powder
• 2 cups orange-flavored drink mix (e.g. Tang)
• 1 (3 ounce) package powdered lemonade mix
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine instant tea powder, orange drink mix, lemonade powder, sugar, cinnamon and cloves. Mix thoroughly. Store in a sealed jar.

To use, mix 3 to 4 tablespoons of mix with 1 cup hot or cold water. Adjust to taste.

Fruit Slush

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Sugar
• 4 cups Water
• 3-4 mashed bananas
• 46 oz. of Juice
• 12 oz frozen strawberries
• 10 oz frozen orange juice concentrate
• large can of crushed pineapple

Directions:

Bring to a boil the first two ingredients. Add the rest of the ingredients, cool and place in an ice cream bucket and freeze. Serve in glasses with some Sprite, 7-Up or Ginger Aile poured over the top. You could also add a spirit to this as well for an alcohol version. I think Peach Schnapps would be a tasty addition to this.