‘Tis the season made for entertaining. Whichever holiday you invite people to celebrate with you, a punch is the way to go. It’s a great way to imbibe with family and loved ones, plus it saves you the hassle of having to continuous drinks during the night. Put out a punch bowl then pop a ladle in it, you will be good to go.
Must-Try Holiday Punches!
Blackened American Whiskey
As we know, celebrities love being in the booze game. Who would have thought that award-winning Master Distiller, Dave Pickerell, and Metallica would collaborate to create a bourbon. Maybe their song, “Whiskey In A Jar” was a big hint. Blackened American Whiskey is a marriage of the finest bourbons, ryes & whiskeys, however, it’s mainly bourbon. The whiskey gets finished in black brandy casks. Does it get any sexier than that?\
This is all to say that the whiskey would be perfect in a punch The first time I had Blackened was in a cold toddy. It’s the sibling cocktail to the hot toddy. It’s refreshing and is a holiday treat in a glass.
Using a vegetable peeler, remove zest from orange and 1 of the lemons in strips, leaving white pith behind; slice fruit in half. Squeeze juice from orange into a small bowl. Squeeze juice from lemon into a measuring glass. Slice remaining lemons in half and squeeze juice into glass to measure 1 cup total; save any remaining lemon halves. Set orange and lemon juice aside.
Place zest in a small saucepan. Beat cinnamon sticks with the side of a chef’s knife to break up a little and add to saucepan along with smashed ginger, tea bags, cloves, and 1 3/4 cups water. Bring to a boil and remove from heat; let sit 5 minutes. Remove tea bags, then stir in honey; let cool completely, about 15- 20 minutes.
Strain tea mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a pitcher and add whiskey, bitters, and reserved orange juice and lemon juice. Add 2 cups ice and stir until ice is melted and the toddy is very cold.
To serve, pour toddy into glasses filled with ice and garnish with orange twists.
Another spirit that should make a guest appearance at your holiday table is tequila. You can make a yummy libation that pairs with your autumn dishes. I’ve recently discovered that tequila deserves more credit when it comes to pairing with food.
Did you know that Rita Ora has a female-driven tequila called Próspero Tequila? It’s a relatively new libation and a new area for Ora. The distiller of tequila is one of the few women in the industry. It’s smooth, elegant, and sassy, we couldn’t expect anything less from Ora.
What should you make with this tequila? The Texas Punch is a good way to go since it’s the perfect addition to any gathering. It’s a drink that your friends and family will love. It’s also a drink that you can make for you and your boo to keep in the fridge for after a hard day at work.
Texas Christmas Punch
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
4 cups pomegranate juice
3 cups PrósperoTequila
1 cup lime juice
2 cups cranberry juice
1 750-ml bottle sparkling wine (recommend Crémant or Cava)
fresh cranberries to garnish
Directions:
In saucepan combine the sugar and water and bring to a boil, dissolving the sugar. Remove from heat and cool completely. This will create what is known as simple syrup.
In a large punch bowl stir together the simple syrup, pomegranate juice, tequila, lime juice, and cranberry juice. Chill for 2 hours. Stir in the sparkling wine and serve for a very good time.
For more Love & Libations date night ideas and celebrity couple predictions from Yolanda Shoshana, click here.
Thanksgiving is a time where families come together, memories are made, and a delicious meal is prepared. But, what do we all know too well about this holiday? We know the overstuffed feeling of eating too much food, lying on the couch, and unbuttoning our jeans. The food served during the holidays, but especially around Thanksgiving, are carb-loaded and act as a gateway to long-term consequences if you’re not careful. So, implementing a tradition of healthier food choices for your holiday meals can stop the overeating misery you experience every year and even keep your waistline in check.
Food Tips: Thanksgiving is a holiday known for its huge feast. What are some small changes you can implement for a healthier Thanksgiving meal?
There’s a lot that goes into planning for Halloween. There are the costumes, the pumpkin patches, the hayrides, the movies that won’t scar anyone too badly, and, of course, the food. Having tasty snacks to eat are a staple for any good Halloween-themed get-together. They’re not only a fun decoration, but they can taste terrifyingly good. So, why not put on your apron, get in the kitchen, and start brainstorming what spooky food trends will have your guests begging for the recipes by the end of the night?
Food Trend: With Halloween just around the corner, what are some of the best Halloween-inspired desserts you can bring to your party this year?
Summer may be long over, but you can still enjoy all the benefits of a nice colorful, refreshing glass of lavender lemonade or tea. Lavender is an essential oil that has been used for its healing properties for ages. It is one of the purest forms of medicine and therapy today.
With lavender lemonade and tea gaining popularity, how can you make sure you get the most out of this latest food trend?
Ever get in those moods where you want to eat only a certain type of food? Whether it’s ice cream, pizza, smoothies, etc, more and more popular restaurants and companies are advertising their products to be eaten when someone wants to feel a certain type of way.
Everyone has their go-to mood foods. It’s a great food trend that everyone can make their own! What are some moods where these foods can be the perfect boost?
Sure, being vegan seems like an easy enough regiment to follow: Avoid dairy, meat, eggs, fish, and any animal-based ingredient. But, distinguishing what foods do and don’t contain some of these ingredients can be much harder to recognize, even for a seasoned veteran. It’s important to know what foods are safe, and surprisingly, some foods that seem vegan actually aren’t at all!
Being a vegan is great for a healthy lifestyle, but sometimes it’s difficult to know what foods are safe! In these food tips, find out some surprising foods that aren’t vegan.
Lara Merriken and her all natural energy bar, LÄRABAR, have been making an impact in the health food and fitness community for the past 16 years. The kosher bars are an affordable healthy treat and loved among students as well. All 30 of its flavors are made from whole food and contain no more than nine ingredients. This deliciously wholesome snack only continues to expand and can be found on grocery shelves all over the country today, including Wegmans, Whole Foods, and Walmart.
Celebrity Chef Interview: Lara Merriken Talks Healthy Eating & Date Night Options
Drink your morning oats with a new twist with non-diary oat milk. The pressure for mainstream coffee shops and supermarkets to add vegan-friendly alternatives, like almond milk and Beyond Beef, has soared in recent years. After oat milks, like Oatly, were introduced into coffee shops, people were ready to make the switch in their own homes. With it’s healthy reputation and the fact that it has one-third the amount of calories as half n’ half, there are plenty of reasons to be stirring it into your coffee.
Non-diary milk alternatives are the food trend of the future. With abundant options of non-diary milks to choose from, what are the perks of oat milk?
Going on a detox can sometimes be the best thing for your body and mind. However, taking detoxes to the next level can be dangerous if you are not careful. While the primary goal of a detox is to eliminate harmful substances from your body, detox teas may actually be inviting them in. In celebrity diet news, celebrities like Khloe Kardashian and Cardi B have endorsed detox teas on their Instagrams, while other celebrities like Jameela Jamil and U.S. Paralympic gold medallist Brenna Huckaby`have spoken out against them calling them ‘toxic’. Before you take the detox tea diet to extremes in true celebrity fashion, Cupid has some fitness and food advice on what you should consider.
Here’s some fitness advice on what to keep in mind before trying out the detox tea craze:
The ketogenic (keto for short) diet has found its way into popularity this past year. The diet consists of a very low-carb, high-fat diet. It has been known to help with preventing seizures for epileptics and to help with a person’s overall quality of life, but it has also been known to be abused or taken to extremes, which of course, only leads to the exact opposite. While this growing food trend has its pros and cons, Cupid is here to give you food advice on how to still include the most delicious and nutritious foods into your diet without feeling like you need to cut out all of your favorite foods forever.
Find out which delicious foods you can still indulge in with the keto food trend!
Interview by Lori Bizzoco. Written by Ashley Johnson.
Chef Byron Talbott is one of the most popular cooks on the internet, garnering a total of 1.4 million subscribers on YouTube. He serves not only good looks on the video-sharing website, but also serves up a mean dish of chicken milanese. From the main course to dessert, this celebrity chef has food tips and tricks, whether it be for ratatouille or churro bites.
Celebrity Chef Interview: Byron Talbott Talks Lunch Foods & Cooking For His Wife and Kids
No matter what kind of food or drink you buy, there is an extremely likely chance that it contains a decent amount of sugar. While sugar is known to be bad for you, some people can’t stop having their daily morning coffee because of the sugar that’s in it! Many famous cooks or TV chefs like Rachael Ray have added natural sugar replacements into their food or drinks, making their meals healthier bit by bit. By replacing the sugar in your drinks or meals with healthy, more natural sugar replacements, you can continue on your daily grind without having to worry about the effects the sugar can have on your body.
Replacing the sugar in your drinks or meals is a great food tip to improve your lifestyle! What are some great natural sugar replacements?
Summer may be over, but your ocean journey has just begun. Pacific foods are trending in 2019, meaning that the sand in your shorts has faded but the salt on your tongue lives on. Fruits like Jackfruit, a tropical Indian food reminiscent of the fig family, will be popularized in organic supermarkets such as Whole Foods. According to TasteofHome.com the juicy jackfruit isn’t the only tropical flavor we can look forward to in our food tips.
With ocean-inspired foods on the rise, how can we bring pacific food tips for a tropical summer palate to our cozy fall dinners?
In this restaurant review, Marliave in Boston has been serving great French cuisine since it was opened by Henry Marliave in 1885. The walls are lined with pictures from the restaurant’s history, and the building maintains its old French feel. Marliave offers exquisite French cuisine with a touch of old-world charm.
Restaurant Review: Marliave offers delicious French Cuisine!
Everyone needs to spice up their lives in one way or another, and what better way to do it then start playing with different spices in your food! In every aspect of society, we are constantly bringing bits of pieces of other cultures into our lives. Popular restaurants all around the world are adding these spices into their meals, and you can too!
Adding global spices to your dishes is quite the up and coming food trend. What are some of the best global spices to try in your meals?
Knowing where to start with meal prepping is daunting. How much do you need? What are the right amounts of carbs or fats? Can you really eat that? Our system is so intricate that even the most hardcore students of the body—nutritionists, dietitians, and personal trainers—couldn’t tell you what will be right for your personal diet. Finding the time to plan and cook meals every night is hard when you’re busy. And, who wants to waste money on eating out for each meal? In comes meal kits: a friendly answer for the young and old alike. The meal kits food trend makes the complexity of food simple with pre-measured ingredients and portions.
When the cooking and preparation feels like an unnecessary hassle, check out this meal kit food trend as an alternative to classic meal prep in your home.
New York City is a city full of things you wouldn’t expect. Almost anything you can think of you can find in NYC; you just have to know where to look. Are you a sushi fan? The City is full of famous restaurants with absolutely amazing sushi, even if it doesn’t look like it from the outside.
Finding a good place with even better sushi can be hard to find, what are the best New York restaurants for sushi?
Couple enjoying burgers and fries. Photo: Kzenon / Bigstock.com
By Megan McIntosh
These days, most people are all about trying that next best food trend so that they can share it on Instagram or post their discovery on YouTube. Millennials are especially unafraid to try new flavor combinations that may make the average diner hesitant.
Millennials are all about adventure and trying new things, so it’s no surprise that this food trend is all about millennial flavors to try out!
Do you have little chefs in your kitchen? Harlow knew it was important to learn how to cook nutritious, wholesome meals because most schools aren’t teaching kids how to cook, and it is often a life skill they lack by the time they go to college. Together with her mom, Ashley, they put together a subscription box, called Harlow’s Harvest.
Harlow and single mom Ashley put together Harlow’s Harvest to help teach kids how to cook in this fun subscription box. Learn more about it in our product review.
We’re keeping the traditions alive with this new food trend. Do you miss sitting around the table on a Sunday, while mom makes a traditional meal for your family? Well, you’re in luck with these new food tips! Sunday meal food ideas are a great way to please the whole family and get them prepared for the busy week ahead. Take some of our food advice and gather around the table every Sunday for a home-cooked meal just like Mom used to make.
As we are now settling into this new year, it’s time to take a look at the top food trends of 2019. This year’s top food tips will be inspired by cutting costs, but increasing quality, looking to the ocean for snack ideas, and finding the best plant-based alternatives for protein. From healthy fats to hemp, we can tell you all about the latest crazes when it comes to what we are eating this year. Here’s some food advice and top trends for this new year!
If you are ready to find out the latest food trends for 2019, here are five of them to what to watch out for!
Did you know that pickles, sauerkraut, and kombucha are all types of fermented food? A new food trend, fermented foods are packed with health benefits. This method of preserving food through fermentation dates back to 6,000 B.C. and is still embraced in several other countries.
Here are three things to know about the fermented food trend:
Veganism is growing rapidly! We can tell by the number of restaurants popping up in populated cities — New York City being one of them. There are many delicious New York restaurants that both vegan and non-vegans alike enjoy. In New York City, there is so much variety and that serves true for the vegan restaurants. Want to know which yummy places to dine at pronto?
Here are five popular restaurants that are sure to satisfy your cravings (in no particular order), along with some other places with tasty vegan eats:
The farmers’ market has been a food trend for a very long time and has some of the freshest and tastiest fruit and vegetable available. The farmers’ market offers food of a superior quality, and you’re guaranteed real freshness that most grocery stores don’t have. Your local farmers’ market can be found somewhere in your town or a neighboring one, and a schedule can usually be found on your town’s website or newsletter.
Check out some ways to utilize farmers’ markets near you:
