We love getting into the spirit of the holidays. Traditions make the season especially fun, looking forward to repeating pastimes or creating new ones. Here are just a few from our Dream Team.
Allee New Tradition
Allee shares: Just wanted to reach out with the new tradition we're starting this year, a Christmas kindness countdown chain. For 12 days leading up to Christmas we will be doing acts of kindness so we can show our community how much we care. An example is going to the store to pick out food and toys to donate. Our family has been on the receiving end of community donations from our time as foster parents and it meant so much to us that this year, being our first since we have adopted and are no longer foster parents, we want to give back!
Amber and Monica Tradition
Amber shares: Every Christmas Eve we have lunch at PF Chang’s with family and friends (Monica and her dad). After lunch we usually see a movie and then go to my parent’s house to exchange gifts and have dessert. On our way home, we drive around and look at Christmas decorations. Monica adds: Amber's mom makes fudge and gives it out in bow wrapped Tupperware.
Kelly S
Kelly shares: I am not sure how many decades this one goes back in my family, but we have always toasted the holidays with a creamy Brandy Alexander on Christmas Eve. Now that we are not all in Pittsburgh during the month of December, we wait to share a batch of Brandy Alexanders when we have a second January Christmas in much warmer Central Florida. I love this tradition so much that I brought it to my neighbors. Now we share a holiday toast as we get together the night before Christmas.
Here I what I learned about the history of the cocktail:
A Brandy Alexander is a brandy-based dessert cocktail consisting of cognac, crème de cacao, and cream, that became popular during the early 20th century. It is a variation of an earlier, gin-based cocktail called simply an Alexander. The cocktail known as Alexander today may contain gin or brandy. The drink was possibly named after Troy Alexander, a bartender at Rector's, a New York City restaurant, who created the drink in order to serve a white drink at a dinner celebrating Phoebe Snow, a character in a popular advertising campaign in the early 20th century.
Want to make a batch of your own? Try this recipe:
https://www.thespruceeats.com/brandy-alexander-cocktail-recipe-759278
Thanks for sharing some of our holiday traditions. Would would love to hear about yours!