Traditional Holiday Drinks... Yummy!

Every year when I was young we'd celebrate Christmas at my Grandma's house. Besides a whole spread of delicious food and cookies, we'd have special holiday drinks to top off the evening. After the dinner was over my two aunts would spend time in the kitchen blending delicious ice cream drinks for all the relatives. The two drinks that were made every year were Brandy Alexanders and Grasshoppers. Of course being a kid I didn't get to taste the alcoholic version, but I would always get some special ice cream drink made just for me. I clearly remember everyone ooohing and aaahing over the wonderful drinks and I always looked forward to the day when I could have the "real" stuff.
The days of celebrating at my Grandma's house have long passed now and my family hasn't blended a delicious ice cream drink as part of our Christmas celebration in many, many years. This year John and I decided to resurrect the tradition at our house and make the drinks for John's family celebration. After dinner was over, we got out the blender and made the Brandy Alexanders and Grasshoppers. Of course, everybody loved them. Who wouldn't, they're like alcoholic candy. I truly enjoyed the drinks, but I even more I enjoyed the memories that sipping the drink brought back of Christmas celebrations from my youth.
Do you have a special drink that you associate with the holidays? Warm hot chocolate with a peppermint stick and marshmallows, Tom and Jerry's? We'd love to hear about your holiday drink traditions.
And if you want to make Brandy Alexander's at your next celebration, I've included the recipe below. I highly recommend the ice cream version as opposed to many of the recipes that simply include heavy cream. How could anyone go wrong with ice cream?

Brandy Alexander

• 1 jigger Brandy
• 2 ounce Creme de Cacao
• 1 pint Ice Cream
• 1 cup of crushed ice

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a martini glass. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Enjoy.