And, so folks, I introduce to you my favorite of all things pumpkin…the pumpkin martini. The perfect way to feel no pain while remaining in the holiday spirit!

Pumpkin Martini
Serves 1

½ oz.  Sylk Cream Liqueur
2 oz. Vodka (Vanilla optional)
½ oz Pumpkin Liqueur or Pumpkin Spice Syrup
Whipped Cream
Cinnamon Stick

• Pour the Sylk Liqueur and vodka into a shaker filled with ice.
• Shake well.
• Add the pumpkin liqueur or syrup.
• Shake again.
• Strain into chilled cocktail glass.
• Top with a teaspoon of whipped cream.
• Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

Recipe is courtesy of About.com.

Posted by Alyssa

Every year by the time Thanksgiving comes around, grocery stores across the US are stocked with cartons upon cartons of premixed eggnog on their shelves. But the sweet, gluey mess that comes out of these quart-sized containers hardly resembles the rich, creamy, deliciously-spiced and lightly sweet spiked punch that was the holiday drink of our forefathers.

Eggnog originated in England, where it was a drink for nobles, as the milk and eggs used to make it were in short supply. When the colonists traveled to America, they brought the recipe with them, possibly naming it Egg and Grog, which was eventually shortened to eggnog. Unlike their London-based brethren, the colonists had no shortage of milk and eggs, making it much more accessible to the common folk.

When the English crown levied taxes on brandy and wine those colonists, who enjoyed a “wee dram” every now and then, found their access to eggnog to be quite handy, as it allowed them to do an end run around the King. Brandy and wine were the winter drinks of choice at the time, so the new taxes forced these enterprising proto-Americans to make do with rum. According to several accounts, they would spike batches of eggnog to mask and “civilize” the harsh liquor for consumption. This provided a little warmth and festivity during the frigid colonial winter without running afoul of the tax man.

All this colonial history makes one thing clear, good eggnog, like bourbon, tobacco and apple pie, is the birthright of every American. Since the homemade stuff not only tastes better, but is easy to make, somewhat healthier, and mixes with liquor better, there’s not really any reason to suffer through the store-bought stuff.

This is especially true when you want to impress a crowd, or at least a date, with your bartending skills. Despite the simple recipe, people are always amazed when someone goes through “all the trouble” to make homemade eggnog. Best of all, like most punches, you can make it in advance in large batches, so there’s no need for the host to take a break from socializing to mix yet another drink.

Traditional Holiday Eggnog

The eggnog recipe below will serve about 30, and can be scaled up or down to suit any size party. As tradition dictates, it does a spectacular job of smoothing out the harshness of any liquor, leaving only a lingering warm glow as it goes down. Traditional Holiday Eggnog > Recipe

Ingredients >
12 eggs, yolks and whites separated
2 cups superfine sugar
2 pints rum
3 pints milk
1 pint heavy cream
Cinnamon
Nutmeg

Procedure >
Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until thick. Then stir in the rum, milk and cream. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled and pour into a punch bowl or pitcher. Beat the egg whites until stiff and stir into the eggnog. Stir in cinnamon and sprinkle the nutmeg on top.

It’s easy to change the recipe up as well. Add a little sophistication to the mix and stick it to the English by replacing the rum with brandy, celebrating the fact that all our liquor taxes now go to our own duly elected government. Or make it a truly American drink by using bourbon. The natural sweetness of Kentucky’s finest matches well to the creamy eggnog and adds a mellow burn to the cocktail. Plus, it adds a little testosterone to the drink. Given that few make it through a glass of eggnog without a milk mustache, it can’t hurt to man it up a little. Even if you’re a woman.

Other options include >

• 1 pint of coffee liqueur, such as like Kahlua, mixed with 1 pint light rum, which would result in a incredibly creamy coffee-flavored concoction on a par with the most delicious Frappucino of all time.
• 1 pint of pumpkin liqueur, such as Bols Pumpkin Smash, mixed with 1 pint bourbon, delivering a delicious, and drinkable, pumpkin pie.
• 2 pints of tequila with a tablespoon of cayenne pepper in place of the cinnamon and nutmeg, a spicy take on eggnog perfect for the tequila craze. Just make sure to use a good silver or reposado tequila, such as Don Roberto or Patron.

Procedure >
In a saucepan, beat the eggs and sugar until creamy. In a second saucepan over low heat, heat 2 cups of milk until hot. Slowly add to the egg mixture, stirring continuously. Cook over low heat, stirring, for 15 to 20 minutes or until the mixture has thickened. Stir in the remaining milk, vanilla, whisky, and half the nutmeg. Chill 3 hours. In a medium bowl, beat the cream until soft peaks form. Fold into the milk mixture. Ladle the eggnog into a punch bowl and sprinkle with the remaining grated nutmeg. Makes 6 cups.

Procedure >
Mix all ingredients well and store in tightly covered jars. Will keep indefinitely if kept in tight container.

Procedure >
Mix 2/3 bottle of Apple Cider to 1/3 bottle of Ginger Ale. Place all spices in basket of coffee maker and fill reservoir with apple cider to make 4 cups of liquid. Add this liquid to cider mixture you made. The 3 cinnamon sticks can be returned to the cider mixture but discard the remainder of the spices. Taste cider mixture for flavor. Additional red hots can be added if preferred for color and spiciness. Steep cider for 45 minutes to 1 hour before serving. Can be refrigerated and reheated as neeeded.

Method >
First pour red wine in a large pot. Then add the port and stir. Stir in all listed spices. Add the sugar and lemon juice. Place pot on low heat, stirring occasionally, so as not to allow the mixture to boil. Bringing the mixture to boil will ruin the final pleasant taste of the mulled wine. The mulled wine has to simmer for at least 25-30 minutes. When this time has elapsed, pass mixture through a fine strainer, so as to filter any amount of residue left by the spices. This should be repeated two to three times. Store in clean empty bottles of wine in a cool dry place.

Serving suggestion > homemade Mulled Wine

Serving suggestion >
Serve warm in a small glass, adding an orange slice or cinnamon stick, according to one’s taste.

You need a signature drink for your holiday party.
Visit Mo at The Daily Snark for her Lychee Martini.

You want to remember why you loved those classic holiday specials.
Visit Denise at Confessions of a Mean Mommy. She’ll point out how inappropriate they are now and our generation didn’t turn out half bad.

You what advice for doing the holidays on the cheap and with the environment in mind.
Visit Leah at Suddenly Frugal. She has numerous posts about the above.

Enjoy!

Maybe you need to get some last minute Christmas shopping in or you just fancy a wonder round the Christmas market with a nice warm mug of mulled wine, whatever your reason come join city socialising Sheffield for our Christmas Market visit on Saturday 19th December!

To celebrate Christmas, we have decided to go on a bit of a pub crawl on 23rd December- The End of Year Pub Crawl. So expect lots of laughing, dancing and many many drinks as we take a festive tour of the city via our most loved pubs.

Finally to top off a brilliant City Socialising year in Sheffield we will be heading to Embrace for our New Years Eve Drinks, an early NYE drinks amongst new friends you’ve made throughout the year. Toast to the good time had and the many more to come!

A big thank you to the members who have decided to put on their own socials throughout December, its great to see members being active on the site and spreading the Christmas good cheer!

Merry Christmas everyone,

Jenny
Leeds & Sheffield Editor

When it comes to allaying our anxiety about the coming year, we look to pleasurable activities as favorite harbingers of good fortune. Many revelers will reach for a flute of Champagne, or some variation on the French sparkling wine. Others will reach for a bowl of Hoppin’ John, pop grapes into their mouths or slice into a braised pork chop.

In Denmark, there will be boiled cod. In Brazil, as in Italy, chances are residents will be spooning up a lucky bowl of lentils. In Greece and Cyprus, it’s a piece of cake, containing a lucky gold coin. For the Vietnamese, watermelon is a sign of luck because of its red flesh. People even dye the seeds red and serve them as delicacies.

But as midnight falls, progressing with hourly precision around the globe, we have faith that all will be well. And we, as do you, hope for a safe New Year’s Eve, and a happy 2007.

Grapes > The practice of eating 12 grapes at midnight is popular in Spain. As the story goes, at the turn of the 20th century, Spain experienced a gigantic grape harvest. This harvest was so huge that the year was marked as one of great luck. Now, with each strike of the clock at midnight on New Year’s Eve, Spaniards put grapes into their mouths. This event is broadcast on television, so everyone can do it in concert. Another grape is eaten in celebration of lucky years past and in hope of a lucky year to come. The grape-eating tradition also is followed in other countries, including Mexico, Cuba and Venezuela.

Saint Basil’s cake > To many in the South, eating greens on New Year’s means you’ll have green in your wallet all year. To the Brazilians and Italians, lentils are served because they can be considered coin-shaped. In Greece and Cyprus, however, a real coin is baked into the Saint Basil’s cake, or Vassilopita.

One legend says it started because of the notoriously high taxes levied during the time of the Ottoman Empire. Saint Basil tried to return the money to the people, but they started arguing over who was owed what. So he asked the women to bake a large cake with the coins inside. When he sliced the cake, the money found its way back to its rightful honors. Another legend says Saint Basil wanted the rich in his congregation to bake cakes with coins in them for the poor. That way, the poor wouldn’t feel like beggars but would have a little more money for their needs. Today, one coin is baked into the cake, which is cut shortly before midnight by the head of the household. Whoever finds the coin will be blessed with good fortune in the year to come.

Sticky rice and long noodles > For the Japanese, New Year’s is a major celebration that lasts three days. It’s also a time to party without a care in sight, which means that food lasting until January 3rd has to be prepared before midnight December 31. Bonenkai, or year forgetting, parties include visits to Buddhist temples where food is offered to the gods.

Each dish is made for a different purpose. Some are said to bring a good harvest, others are for fertility. Long soba noodles are popular, because it is thought that if you can suck up one without breaking it, then you will have a long life. Mochi rice, which is sticky in nature, is pressed into cakes called omochi, which are broiled or eaten in soup. Large omochi are first offered to the gods, then cut into pieces and eaten by the family because they are thought to bring luck as well as good health.

Pork > The custom of having pork on New Year’s Day can be found in cultures across the globe. For the Italians, it’s pork sausage over lentils in a dish called cotechino con lenticchie. For the Pennsylvania Dutch and many Germans, it’s pork and sauerkraut. Other Germans as well as the Polish like to eat pickled herring at midnight, but who really wants their lips on a cold fish at such a romantic moment?

Pork and pork fat both are incorporated into many Southern Hoppin’ John recipes, while Cajuns include pork in jambalaya. The Vietnamese serve a rice pudding known as banh chung or banh tet that contains mung beans and pork. And though the Chinese don’t share the same New Year’s Day as Western society, they, too, start off the year with pork in dishes including dumplings, buns (cha siu bao) and ginger pork.

Champagne > Why has Champagne at midnight become almost the worldwide symbol of welcoming in the new year? Perhaps because the wine was available mostly to Royalty in its early days, or because it survived through hard times, not to mention two World Wars. Or perhaps it is simply that it is bright, rich and effervescent. Just as we wish ourselves to be in the year to come.

Looking for a toast to offer this weekend or just any time? Here’s one from an anonymous source: “To my friends: Friends we are today, and friends we’ll always be, for I am wise to you, and you can see through me”.

Here are three wines and an ale that you can serve with confidence to anyone, be they wine (or beer) geeks or novices. They can be enjoyed on their own or paired easily with food.

Smart money buys a mixed case of the wines for discount. Plus, this is the season for mark-down specials, so it’s easy to find most of these wines priced below suggested retail. The ale is also inexpensive enough to keep a few bottles on hand. Most are widely available, although the ale is only in stores with artisanal beer selections.

Bah Humbug! Christmas ale
From Wychwood Brewery in England comes this beautiful, toasty amber ale. It’s mouth-filling and intense, with 6.2 percent alcohol. Beyond the traditional hops and malted barley, fruity notes like tangerine peel, allspice and white pepper are balanced with a bitter note. But it’s never rough or rogue-ish. Definitely made for sipping around the fire, or to go with mild Italian sausage or beer-simmered meats.

Gruet Brut NV
It’s always startling to see “Albuquerque, N.M.,” on Gruet’s labels, but the European winemaking Gruet family knew what it was doing when it chose to locate in the US state. Today Gruet Brut reigns as a classic, inexpensive sparkler, with regional roots, to boot. Crisp and citrusy, the nonvintage bubbly echoes the flavors of tart lemon curd on fresh country toast. Fine bubbles and a crisp, clean mouth-feel melt into a long, citric afterglow. Raise it for holiday toasts, or pair with light, cream-sauced pasta or fish, or mac ‘n’ cheese.

Banfi Le Rime 2005
This approachable, unoaked Tuscan blends chardonnay and pinot grigio to excellent effect. It’s light and crisp, with tropicals like pineapple and mango, dashed with lemon in the nose. Yet there’s a pleasant ripe-pear undercurrent. These flavors spill over to the mouth, where the fruit dances lightly, for a wine that’s crisp and clean, never sweet, and shaded by mineral notes. A friend to fish, fowl and pork.

Louis M. Martini 2003 Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon
This wine introduces itself with bright, black-cherry fruit edged by dried strawberry and soft, leathery accents. Take a sip, and its fruit is amplified on the tongue as the tannins tug gently on your cheeks. Keep going, and hints of smoke and sage join in. The long finish changes like a kaleidoscope from darker, leathery notes to pure, fresh grape. It’s a natural with red meats and tomato-sauced pasta.

Egg Nog is an American invention, originally known as ‘egg grog’. Rum was added to the tradtional French drink ‘lait de poule’ in Virginia during the late 1700s.

Sources for the History of Christmas Food and Drink:
http://www.bsu.edu/web/01bkswartz/xmaspub.html
http://www.stcharleschristmas.com/foodanddrink.htm

Czech cuisine will come as a pleasant surprise to gourmets. Although the cuisine shows influences from neighbouring countries (Hungary, Austria and Germany), the greatest inspiration remains traditional old Bohemian recipes. The basis of Czech food are ingredients which could be grown at home, above all grains, pulses, potatoes and meat. From these seemingly simple ingredients superb and imaginative dishes were made which can only be found in Czech cuisine. These include Czech dumplings, a rich selection of sauces and soups, sirloin in cream and the signature dish, pork and dumplings with sauerkraut.

Soup forms the foundations
The eating habits of those who inhabit the Czech lands differ little from those in other European countries. Three meals are eaten in the course of the day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. The main meal of the day for most Czechs is lunch. Whether at home or in a restaurant, lunch usually consists of three courses: soup, a main dish and dessert (or salad). Soup forms the foundations of any meal, say Czech mothers to their children. If you are recovering from an illness or you want to calm a bad stomach, beef or chicken broth (hov_zí or ku_ecí v_var) is recommended. Broth with homemade noodles and liver dumplings is a common dish at wedding receptions. In addition to clear broths, Czech cooks can also make excellent thick soups made with meat, vegetables and pulses. From the variety of these kinds of soup, which fill the belly almost as well as a main meal, try potato soup (brambora_ka) fragrant with marjoram, goulash soup (gulá_ová polévka) served in a small round loaf of bread, or tripe soup (dr_ková polévka) made with beef.

Meat, meat, meat…
Meat (maso) is an ever-present on Czech menus. The most common types of meat to appear on your plate will be pork (vep_ové), poultry (dr_be_) and beef (hov_zí). Less common are mutton (skopové), game (zv__ina) and fish (ryba).

Beef is normally served with various kinds of sauces (omá_ky). Sauces are one of the signature components of Czech cooking and diners can choose from tomato (rajská), horseradish (k_enová), mushroom (houbová) and dill (koprová) to name but a few. A sauce is also an important component in one of the most characteristic of all Czech dishes: Sirloin in cream sauce (sví_ková na smetan_). It takes great skill to produce good sirloin and is a test for even the best cooks – so why not try to prepare it yourself? Beef layered with strips of bacon are steamed with chopped vegetables and spices until soft. The steamed vegetables are then passed through a sieve, and this sauce is then loosened by adding cream. Serve with dumplings, a slice of lemon and cranberries. The success of combining beef, sauce and dumplings is seen in a number of other dishes such as Znojmo roast (Znojemská pe_en_) in a spicy sauce with finely chopped Znojmo gherkins.

Although dieticians do not have a favourable opinion of pork, this type of meat is an integral part of Czech cuisine. Other typical Czech dishes are pork with dumplings and sauerkraut (vep_o knedlo zelo) and roast pork with dumplings, sauerkraut and gravy. A dish served on special occasions is pork schnitzel (sma_en_ vep_ov _ízek) fried in breadcrumbs and served with potato salad. Smoked meat (uzené maso) is served cold as a starter or as a main meal with potato dumplings and a sauce. Sausages and alike aren’t exactly diet food, but many Czechs could not imagine mealtimes without them. Salami or ham with bread or rolls is a common breakfast, snack or cold dinner.

Old Bohemian dishes are proof that poultry was popular with our ancestors, dishes such as roast duck or goose (pe_ená kachna/husa) with sauerkraut. Chicken (ku_ecí) forms a regular meal in Czech households and is prepared in traditional and more exotic ways.

If you are fortunate enough to discover Rabbit with garlic (králík na _esneku) or with cream sauce (se smetanovou omá_kou), be sure to try it. Game dishes, such as roast venison or venison goulash, are also recommended.

It would seem that those who like fish do not have much to choose from in a Czech restaurant, but even in this area there are several Czech specialities. Carp (kapr) is traditional Christmas food, but you can eat it at any other time of year should you wish. It can come fried, or prepared in several other ways. As far as other freshwater fish are concerned, you won’t be disappointed with dishes made with trout (pstruh), eel (úho_) and pike (_tika).

There are many meat dishes in the Czech cookbook, but vegetarians also have much to choose from. Diners can order vegetarian versions of mushy peas, lentil soup and various sauces (these dishes usually contain meat). Czech vegetarian dishes include fried cauliflower (sma_en_ kv_ták), mushroom omelette (sma_enice z hub), egg and dumplings (knedlíky s vejcem) and fried cheese (sma_en_ s_r).

Dumplings or potato fritters?
If we want to identify a phenomenon peculiar to Czech cuisine, somewhat surprisingly neither meat nor any other special ingredient comes into the equation. It is a side dish! Dumplings are made in other places other than the Czech Republic, but the Czech version has the right to be called unique. Apart from the classic dumpling made from dough, there are Carlsbad dumplings, so-called ‘hairy’ (chlupaté) dumplings (made with raw potatoes) and potato dumplings (bramborové). Potatoes (brambory) have become such a part of Czech cuisine that there are countless way of preparing them. In addition to chips and mashed and boiled potatoes, why not try a typical accompaniment to meat or goulash – potato cakes (bramboráky).

Anyone for dessert?
Even in the dessert category we begin with dumplings. Sweet dumplings (made with dough, semolina or cottage cheese) are filled with fruit, sprinkled with poppy seeds, grated cottage cheese or nuts and dowsed in melted butter. If this has got the juices flowing, what about buns (buchti_ky) filled with vanilla sauce, potato cones (bramborové _i_ky) sprinkled with fried breadcrumbs or pancakes (pala_inky) with fruit or marmalade. Apple strudel (jable_n_ závin) is just as good in the Czech Republic as it is in other countries, and you won’t find such good traditional doughnuts with poppy seed, jam or cottage cheese fillings anywhere else.

Special Christmas and Easter dishes
Christmas dinner wouldn’t be the same without Carp and potato salad. Another integral part of the Czech yuletide celebrations are Christmas biscuits. Some of the ever-presents on Czech Christmas tables are honey gingerbread (medové perní_ky) decorated with icing, vanilla rolls, Linz pastry and Christmas loaf (váno_ka) with raisins and almonds. Baked sweet dishes at Easter reflect Christian symbols: Ewe-shaped sponges are baked in special moulds and other types of cakes and doughnuts are also prepared.

Regional specialities are part of our tradition
Regional specialities are one reason to strike out on a gastronomic tour of the Czech Republic. In Prague there is Prague Ham (pra_ská _unka); South Bohemia is the centre of attention around Christmas time thanks to its Carp farms; Pardubice gingerbread (pardubick_ perník) is a favourite among children across the land. Mature Olomouc Cheese (olomoucké tvar__ky) is adored by some, hated by others. The specific aroma of the cheese (those who hate it would say smell) is what people love or detest the most. This phenomenon of Czech cuisine even has its own museum (www.tvaruzky.cz). Frgále, large circular tarts with several fillings are a speciality of the Wallachian Region, while tarts (kolá_ky) filled with cottage cheese and decorated with jam can be enjoyed in central and southern areas of Moravia.

Is Czech beer the best in the world?
In the Czech Republic you’ll receive a simple answer to this question: Czechs regard beer as their national drink, and the fact that per capita the Czechs drink more beer than any other nation on earth is proof of their enthusiasm for the beverage. This record is down to the high quality of Czech beer, which people around the world have also come to know thanks to brands such as Budweiser Budvar and Pilsner Urquell. In the Czech Republic there are many other kinds on offer: breweries large and small brew up more than 470 types of beer! When in a typical Czech pub, don’t forget to order some pickled brie (nakládan_ hermelín) or pickled frankfurters (utopence) to go with your beer. ‘Utopence’ means ‘drowning man’, and despite the terrible name these are just sausages, onion and spices pickled in vinegar. (www.beerworld.cz)

Czech and Moravian wines are a success story
The best wine producing regions can be found in South Moravia. White wines from the area have won awards at international competitions, and some of the most popular types are Veltlínské zelené, Müller-Thurgau and Moravian Muscat. Red wines such as Frankovka and Svatovav_inecké are not far behind. Wine shops selling Czech, Moravian and other wines from around the world can be found across the country, but you cannot beat the atmosphere of a real wine cellar. These are best enjoyed when following a so-called wine route which link the various wine producing regions. (www.wineofczechrepublic.cz)

The curative properties of Becherovka
A bottle of Becherovka makes a great souvenir for visitors to the Czech Republic to take home. This bitter herb liqueur hails from the famous spa town of Carlsbad, where thanks to its curative properties, people call it the ‘13th spring’ (www.becherovka.com). When at a Czech spa, be sure to try some spa wafers – they’re delicious!

The increasing influence of international cuisine
In the past, Czech cuisine was criticised for lacking fresh vegetables and fish and for being too high in calories. In the past few years a lot has changed. The influence of international cuisine can now be felt in restaurants and on dinner tables in ordinary Czech families. Italian cuisine has become popular with its emphasis on the finest raw ingredients; Chinese, Vietnamese and Mexican restaurants have sprung up all over the place. In large towns and cities in particular you can now eat in luxurious restaurants, authentic Czech pubs and in eateries belonging to fast food chains. (www.squaremeal.cz)

It’s New Year’s Eve, you’ve clinked your spoon against your champagne flute, the room is growing silent and it’s just about time to launch into your toast. What are you going to say?

Whatever it is, it better be good, because this is the beginning of a new year for everyone at the party. Although toast making isn’t governed by any set-in-stone rules, there are some guidelines floating around to point you in the right direction.

First and foremost, avoid getting drunk and hashing out your personal problems in public. Remember the horribly uncomfortable toast given by an inebriated Mitch (Luke Wilson) at his friend’s wedding in the 2003 movie “Old School?”

It went something like this: “True love is hard to find, sometimes you think you have true love and then you catch the early flight home from San Diego and a couple of nude people jump out of your bathroom blindfolded like a (expletive) magic show ready to double-team your girlfriend … “

Not good. Fortunately, Bernard (Vince Vaughn) interjects with something about love being blind and saves the day, sort of. But you won’t always have an astute friend to help you out in a bind. So sip judiciously, and consider these bits of advice:

Keep it simple
A toast should be short and to the point. Nobody wants to stand through a year-in-review monologue. If you notice people getting antsy during your speech, you’ve probably gone overboard. And avoid using grandiloquent words (like grandiloquent). Simple words often sound the most sincere. In all cases, be yourself. People will appreciate a heartfelt offering.

Consider the company
Make sure you deliver a toast that’s appropriate to both the audience and the occasion. For family gatherings, that might mean focusing on warm words that celebrate your togetherness. For large groups of friends, something wittier might be in order. And a romantic or promissory tone might be best when the party is just for two.

Language please
ALWAYS cut out the vulgarity. Is it really so hard to keep it clean for a few minutes while you deliver what’s intended to be a classy gesture? It’s best to avoid crude language, sexual innuendoes or dirty jokes altogether. Some etiquette experts suggest that if you’re at a party where an unfortunate toast is delivered, you should give an eloquent one afterward (a la Vince Vaughn) to bring people back to a positive place.

Practice makes perfect
Good orators will tell you that, however ironic, it takes practice to sound spontaneous. Try rehearsing your toast as you would any public speech: out loud and in front of a mirror or some friends. It’s not a bad idea to have a couple of short toasts memorized in case you’re nominated to give a spur-of-the-moment toast. There are plenty of ready-made and time-honored toasts that can be found by doing a quick Internet search.

Stand tall, most of the time
When delivering a toast, it’s always best to stand. If anything, standing will get people’s attention and help quiet them down. Despite popular practice, experts recommend NOT rapping on a glass to signal for quiet. You could end up with nothing to toast with.

The standing rule does not apply if you’re the person receiving the toast, at least until the toast is complete. Nor should you raise your glass or drink to yourself. However, it is customary to stand and respond afterward, even if that just means saying thanks.

End clearly
Define the end of your toast by saying “cheers,” asking the audience to “raise your glass” or some other definitive gesture.

A few other details

• The host should get first dibs on offering a toast to the guest of honor. If it appears the host doesn’t intend to offer a toast, it’s polite to discreetly ask the host if you can do so yourself.
• Don’t pressure someone into giving a toast if they don’t want to. You might regret it.
• Never refuse to participate in a toast. If you don’t drink alcohol, or whatever beverage is being offered, it’s better to request a nonalcoholic drink, a glass of water, even an empty glass, than to sit out altogether.

Blanc de Noirs is made purely from red grapes, yet is still white!

But life is not like that. We chose a gloomy day. We trailed round several friends’ gardens and by the end of the apple-gathering everyone was rather bad-tempered and tired. But we are now in production. Fourteen gallons of cider and more to come.

This has been one of the best apple-growing years for a quarter of a century. But there is a limit to how many crumbles and charlottes you can make for the freezer. There is only one sensible way to deal with excess apples, cider. But first squeeze your apples.

In theory, a kilo of fruit should produce almost a litre of juice. But this sort of return is achieved only by the likes of Mr Bulmer of Hereford with the help of a 30-tonne industrial press. The rest of us have to rely on cunning and the lure of free alcohol. We are currently getting two gallons to a potato sackful.

Cider-making is simple, in theory. Extract the juice of many apples and leave it covered in a warmish spot. The airborne yeasts on the skins will ferment with the natural sugars of the fruit to produce alcohol. In less than three weeks you will have a just-about-drinkable brew at around eight per cent alcohol (a hydrometer to check alcohol levels costs about 3 to 5 euro). This is almost double the strength of a pub beer and better than half the strength of a rough Provençal red. Leave it until Christmas in one-gallon glass demijohns or screw-top bottles and it will acquire that slightly lavatorial whiff that tells you this is true Scrumpy.

Before pressing, apples have to be reduced to a near pulp called pomace, they are too tough to press whole. A simple chopper driven by an electric drill costs about 30 euro, although the Czech-made Vares apple-crusher costs a ludicrous 350 euro. The common man’s alternative is a blacksmith-made neep hasher, should you possess such a thing, and a garden spade or a fence post for pounding purposes. All of these are hard work. The idle man’s answer is a garden shredder designed to chip small branches and garden waste. You will still need to give the apples a couple of chomps with a spade to get them through the narrow shredder throat, but the result is high-speed buckets full of tarte tatin-thin apple. We rented an 1800-watt shredder for 25 euro to see if the theory worked. It does. A smaller one would almost certainly do the job as well.

The press is the fun bit and the internet is full of plans. The easiest to follow are on www.ukcider.co.uk – otherwise you are faced with buying beautifully made but low-yielding presses starting at 50 euro. The Americans are serious juice-makers – check out www.kuffelcreek.com. A homemade press is essentially a rectangular wood or steel-welded frame standing on its end. Flat square parcels or “cheeses” of pomace wrapped in hessian sacking (wash the hessian first) are piled up on a collecting tray.

A board at least two inches thick sits on top of the pile of cheeses. Into the gap between the board and the top of the press frame insert the secret ingredient – a hydraulic hand-operated bottle jack (1,30 euro at a farm sale or about 9 euro from Screwfix). Forget laborious screw jacks. Hydraulics hold the answer. When the juice gushes forth you will understand why. The more juice you can ferment in a single batch the more likely it is to work. (Pigs like the pulp but it can ferment in their tummies and make them drunk.) The juice will take a day or two to start fermenting at about 60F, but if you are worried the natural yeasts are not up to it a spoonful of wine yeast will ginger things up.

You are not obliged to make cider, of course. Apple juice freezes well in fruit juice cartons.

John Butterworth, who wrote Apples in Scotland (www.butterworthsorganicnursery.co.uk), recommends Katie, Golden Spire and King of the Pippins as the best for cider. But most of us have to make do with what we can pick or scrounge. A mix of eaters and cookers will do. Windfalls are fine, rotten apples probably not. And on the question of hygiene, the worst that can happen is the brew goes off.

Don’t make cider in 45-gallon metal drums, stick to plastic. If you are worried about bacterial growths swab it all with baby-bottle steriliser. But I don’t suppose the druids bothered.

Wine and liquor retailers in Edmonton, Canada, say chronic backlogs at the province’s sole distributor are getting worse and they fear the Christmas rush will bring more frustrations and empty shelves. Store owners say the distributor keeps breaking promises to start delivering on schedule. They also complain that the Alberta Liquor and Gaming Commission, which employs the company, is not doing enough to get the company on track.

“The situation is horrendous, it is worse than it was two months ago,” Gurvinder Bhatia of Edmonton’s Wines and Spirits Warehouse said. “Now the deliveries are a whole week behind and there is no end in sight. We are going to have to limp through Christmas.”

Slow deliveries have been a problem since mid-summer, and Bhatia estimates his losses at more than $30,000 dollars so far.

“Over Christmas there are going to be thousands of businesses that lose tens of thousands of dollars,” he says. “It is the busiest time, hands down. … It is a loss of sales we can never get back.”

The backlog is happening at Connect Logistics, the company that distributes liquor and wine across the province.

Every bottle sold in Alberta goes through the company’s warehouse in St. Albert, which ships more than 10 million cases of liquor each year.

Read more > Christmas cheer may be in short supply