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Non-Alcholic Party Beverages

ginger lime mocktail (Photo credit: elana’s pantry)

Can you still have fun on New Year’s Eve without alcohol? You bet. This year consider serving non-alcoholic beverages at you holiday party.

Make a Baby Bellini by starting with two ounces of peach nectar in a champagne flute. Fill with sparkling white grape juice, sparkling apple juice, or seltzer.

For a Pomegranate Fizz begin with pomegranate juice and a little lime juice in a champagne flute. Fill with sparkling white grape juice or sparkling apple juice and garnish with a lime slice.

Non-Alcoholic Wine or Champagne is made by combining grape juice with sparkling water, sparkling apple juice or your favorite lemon-lime soda.

Be sure to have water available. Slices of lemon or lime are a nice touch.

Have fun celebrating the New Year but remember friends don’t let friends drive drunk.

“Some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity.”— Gilda Radner

Thought for Today

Roy Rogers and Dale Evans (Photo credit: Alan Light)

“Christmas is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas.” — Dale Evans

A Holy Flash Mob

A musical celebration to enjoy this Christmas Day.

Christmas Eve Prayer

Taken by Apollo 8 crewmember Bill Anders on De... — Taken by Apollo 8 crewmember Bill Anders on December 24, 1968, showing the Earth seemingly rising above the lunar surface. Note that this phenomenon is only visible from someone in orbit around the Moon. Because of the Moon’s synchronous rotation about the Earth (i.e., the same side of the Moon is always facing the Earth), no Earthrise can be observed by a stationary observer on the surface of the Moon. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Give us, O God, the vision which can see Your love in the world in spite of human failure.
Give us the faith to trust Your goodness in spite of our ignorance and weakness.
Give us the knowledge that we may continue to pray with understanding hearts.
And show us what each one of us can do to set forward the coming of the day of universal peace.” –— Frank Borman, Apollo 8 space mission, 1968

It Really is the Little Things

When I was young money was tight, but no matter how poor we were mom made a special holiday dessert. I loved her Christmas Jell-O®. It was just the red and green stuff we ate the rest of the year cut into cubes with dollops of whipped cream, but it was beautiful, and always served in a crystal bowl. That is one of my most precious holiday memories. Why? Not a woman given to displays of emotion or sentimentality, that simple holiday dessert was one of the ways my mother expressed love.

You can’t give your children everything they want. It is human nature the more we have the more we want. Give your children lessons in love, joy, peace, faith and selfless giving. Also don’t forget to give your children the little things they will keep forever — memories.

What is your favorite holiday memory of a little thing that mattered most?

Seasonal Healthy Eating/Money Saving Tip

My Fresh Cranberry SauceCopyright 2011 by R.A. Robbins — My Fresh Cranberry Sauce
Copyright 2011 by R.A. Robbins

It’s fresh cranberry season! Associated with the holidays because they are only available from October to December, they are full of wonderful nutrients. In addition to being fat free, cholesterol free, gluten free, sodium free and a good source of vitamin C and fiber, they also contain antioxidants and may help prevent urinary tract infections.

Time to stock up (they freeze nicely). After the holidays they may be marked down. I recently bought 6 bags at 2 for $1.

What to do with fresh cranberries? You can eat them raw, but they are very tart. You can make cranberry sauce, and of course cranberry nut bread, but they may also be used in savory dishes and stews. The great thing about cooking with fresh cranberries is you control the sugar.

My fresh cranberry sauce and pumpkin cranberry bread (with dried cranberries) recipes are in my new ebook, Have Yourself a Healthy Little Holiday, available through Smashwords.

Thought for Today

Winter 2011 (Photo credit: Sz*Alex’s-51)

“Christmas is a time to open our hearts to God and his gifts. Just like the rest of the year.”~Author Unknown

Prayer for Protection

Prayer for Protection is a poem written by Unity minister James Dillet Freeman for all soldiers during World War II. It was also carried into space by astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the first manned moon landing in 1969.

Individuals and churches use this beloved prayer as a reminder that wherever we go, God is. Often the words “and all is well” are added to the end.

I did not grow up with “canned prayers” but I find the words of the Prayer for Protection extremely helpful and comforting, especially during times when words just won’t come. If you are not familiar with the Prayer for Protection visit one of the links below and get acquainted.

The words may be found at http://www.embracehumanity.com/prayer-at-common-ground/prayer-for-protection/ and an audio visual meditation version may be found at http://content.unity.org/prayer/guidedMeditations/prayerForProtection.html

Thought for Today

snow couple wreath — Snow Couple Wreath
Copyright 2011 by R.A. Robbins

“The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to your child, a good example; to a father, deference; to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; to all men, charity.” — Benjamin Franklin