new years eve – midnight
Around this time of the year, I like to remind Narconon graduates not to get caught up with drinking at holiday parties. I find this time of year is when temptation to use drugs or alcohol is the worst. New Year’s Eve is no exception, since one of the main traditions is to toast the New Year with a glass of champagne at the stroke of midnight. For an ex-alcoholic or substance abuser to remain sober, you don’t want to ring in the New Year with alcohol.
I recommend you bring your own drinks since most of the parties have nothing to serve nothing but alcohol. In order for you to bring to a party or provide at your own party a non-alcoholic drink choice, I put together a list of non-alcoholic drink recipes. They are easy to make and you won’t feel like you are missing out! Let me know if you make one – you can even send me a photo of your drink in a fancy glass!
New Year’s Eve Punch
(from All Recipes)
3 1/2 liters ginger ale
2 quarts orange juice
2 oranges, sliced into rounds
20 maraschino cherries
In a large punch bowl, mix ginger ale and orange juice. Place sliced oranges on top of punch and arrange cherries on top of the orange slices.
Arizona Sunset
(from Love Bakes Good Cakes)
Makes 2 drinks.
Ice
Grenadine
1 cup Sprite
1 cup orange juice
Maraschino cherries or orange slices for garnish (optional)
Place ice in 2 glasses. Add a splash of Grenadine to each glass. In a small pitcher or other container, stir the Sprite and orange juice together. Slowly pour over the Grenadine, dividing the mixture between the two glasses. Garnish with the cherries or orange slices, if you want.
Dirty Dr. Pepper
(from Pretty Providence)
Ice
1 lime
Torani Sugar Free Coconut Syrup
Dr. Pepper or Diet Dr. Pepper
Throw a few ice cubes in your cup and add one slice of lime. Pour Dr. Pepper in and add about 1 teaspoon of coconut syrup for every one cup of Dr. Pepper.
Cranberry Rosemary Refresher
(from In Sonnet’s Kitchen)
Makes 4 drinks.
2 cups water
3 fresh sprigs rosemary (get some more if you want to garnish)
1 pound fresh cranberries (makes about 1 cup of juice)
4 apples (makes about 2 cups of juice)
Ice
Add water to a covered saucepan or small pot and brink to a boil. Add the rosemary, and lower heat to a simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let steep, covered for one hour. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Juice the cranberries and apples. Mix with the chilled rosemary water. Garnish with fresh rosemary sprigs and serve over ice.
Mint Juleps
(from The Farm Girl Recipes)
6 mint leaves, rinsed
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups cold water
3/4 cup lemon juice
4 cups Fresca (or any flavor of lemon-lime soda)
2 cups ginger ale
Place sugar, water and lemon juice in a large bowl. Mix until sugar dissolves and add mint leaves. Let sit for 1 hour. Fill a large pitcher with ace and pour sugar, lemon juice mixture over ice. You can discard the mint leaves at this time. You can also leave them in for a stronger mint flavor. Add Fresca and Ginger Ale.
Sparkling Cranberry Apple Cider
(from Clever Pink Pirate)
2 teaspoons Caramel syrup
2 cups Sparkling Apple Cider
1/4 cup chopped apples of your choice
Pour 1 teaspoon of syrup in the bottom of a glass. Add the cider then the apples. Top with the remaining syrup.
Fizzy Herbed Pineapple Limeade
(from The Pig & Quill)
5 cups pineapple juice
juice of 5 limes
zest of 2-3 limes
large handful of basil
large handful of mint
bubbly water (about 2-3 cups)
a lot of ice
Muddle basil, mint, and lime zest in the bottom of a big pitcher. Add a couple cups of ice. Pour over lime and pineapple juices, plus bubbly water to taste (somewhere around 2 1/2 cups). Stir over more ice and a squeeze more of lime.
Ginger Lime Spritzer
(from Taste and Tell)
10-16 servings
6 oz. ginger, peeled and sliced into coins
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup lime juice
Seltzer Water
In a small saucepan, combine the ginger, water and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add the lime juice. Allow to sit for 30 minutes. Strain the mixture, discarding the ginger. Add 2-3 tablespoons of the simple syrup to every 8 oz. of seltzer water. Serve it cold with additional lime slices.
Cranberry Orange Spritzer
(from Oh My Veggies)
1 cup fresh cranberries
2 cups freshly-squeezed orange juice (about 5 large oranges)
1/2 cup sugar
1 two-inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced into think coins
2 cups sparkling water, chilled
Combine cranberries, orange juice, sugar, and ginger in a medium pan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Continue to boil until cranberries begin to pop. Once cranberries have popped open and softened, us the back of a wooden spoon to smash them against the side of the pan. Remove from heat and cool. Strain cooked cranberry mixture into a bowl through a fine mesh sieve. Discard solids and refrigerate juice until chilled, about an hour. Transfer juice to pitcher and stir in sparkling water. Serve with cranberries or orange slices as garnish, if desired.
Simple Sparkling Raspberry Mocktail
(from Poofy Cheeks)
frozen raspberry lemonade concentrate
3 cups cold water
frozen raspberries (or fresh)
sparkling white grape juice
In a small pitcher mix frozen lemonade concentrate and three cups of water. For ice-cubes sprinkle raspberries into an ice cube tray and them slowly pour the raspberry lemonade mix over them. Set the remaining drink mix aside until later. When ready to serve add ice cubes to each glass and pour about one tablespoon of the raspberry lemonade in the bottom of each glass. Top off the glass with sparkling grape juice.
Apple-Ginger Sparklers
(from Martha Stewart)
1/4 cup ginger syrup
4 1/2 cups sparkling apple cider
6 cinnamon sticks
6 pieces crystallized ginger
Place 2 tablespoons ginger syrup in each of six glasses. Fill glasses with ice cubes, pour in cider, and stir to combine. Garnish with cinnamon sticks and fresh ginger, and serve.
Pineapple Sparkler
(from Kleinworth & Co)
2 cups fresh pineapple (cut into chunks)
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup cream of coconut
12 ounces coconut sparkling water
1 1/2 cups ice
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend on high for about 45-60 seconds making sure all the ice is crushed before pouring into serving glasses. Garnish with pineapple, lime, or mint.
Pina Colada
(from Lovelyish)
1/4 cup ice (more or less depending on thickness desired)
2 ounces cream of coconut
1 1/2 ounces crushed pineapple
1 ounce pineapple juice
Simply blend it together in blender and serve!
Tropical Twister Mocktail
(from Helicopter Mom)
12 ounces lemon-lime soda
12 ounces pineapple juice
12 ounces fruit drink or punch of your choice
This can be done with a blender or served over ice. If using blender, blend three layers separately. First pour lemon-lime soda into bottom of glasses. Then pour slowly the pineapple juice. Top it off by pouring the fruit drink slowly on top of previous layers.
Skinny Strawberry Lime Punch
(from Family Fresh Cooking)
6 servings
16 ounces fresh or frozen strawberries
1 cup water
4 packets of Stevia powder or your favorite natural sweetener to taste
4 tablespoons lime juice
1 liter plain sparkling water
fresh mint leaves
lime wedges and slices strawberries for serving
Bring water and strawberries to a rolling boil in medium saucepan. Reduce heat to a simmer, continue to cook for 6 minutes. With a rubber spatula, stir the berries and mash them on the sides of the pan to release juices. Let the berries cool a bit and strain them with a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth. If you like some pulp strain one time. If not, strain 2-3 times. Let the strawberry juice chill in the fridge. When the juice is cool, combine it with the rest of the ingredients in a large pitcher with ice. Serve with lime, strawberry slices, and mint leaves.
