The Holiday Helper

Less than a week until Christmas, two days until the grandparent's move in, and the anticipation turns to anxiety. Whether you're stressed about finances, crowds, questions about what you're doing with your life or the overall hustle-and-bustle, it's nothing The Holiday Helper can't fix.. or at least take the edge off of. Gotta love a great holiday cocktail to help get through the season. Here's a recipe and recount of our family's latest addition to our selection of holiday highballs: The Holiday Helper (more commonly referred to as an apricot sour).


Thanksgiving rolled around and it was time for the family to all get together (at the same place at the same time) for the first time since Easter. "With the current state of the economy," everyone questioning politics and our president, complaints, the standard moans and groans, there's no wonder a few of set down the glasses that correct our vision and picked up the ones that blur it.

My aunt Kerryann hosts the holidays and this year she made a drink we hadn't had before, an apricot sour. I'm always willing to try out whatever drink happens to be inhabiting the infamous red pitcher, but I usually wind up sticking to beer or wine. Not this year. I was all about the apricot sour, or as I have come to call it, The Holiday Helper.

serving suggestion

The components:

• Lots of ice
• Kern's apricot nectar
• Lemon lime soda
• A little cranberry juice
• Seagram's whiskey
• Fresh orange slices

Fill a pitcher, punch bowl, cooler, whatever container you'd like, half full with ice. Add whiskey. This is a personal preference. I suggest thinking about how many servings you hope to get from the container you're filling and measuring out that many shots and adding it to the mix. 

seagramswhiskey.com

Next fill half of the remaining space with Kern's apricot nectar. Fill almost to the top with lemon lime soda, leaving room for the splash (or two) of cranberry juice. Slice as much orange as desired and add to the mixture. Mix well and serve with lots of ice and orange slices for garnish. 

If you let the mixture sit for any length of time, you may need to freshen with ice, a little more soda and a fresh orange. To make it family friendly, leave out the whiskey, instructing the adults to add their own.

kerns.com

This drink is cool and refreshing, as cliche as that may be. It tastes like a light juice with a kick. Neither the citrus nor the alcohol is too strong. It went great with our traditional Thanksgiving meal, the citrus went great with meat, and even later on with cookies and cake. It made me feel hydrated and refreshed after lots of heavy foods. And everyone seemed to get along just a little bit better.



Happy holidays! For those of you who need it, I hope this helps :)

AND don't forget about this drink after the holidays (don't worry, I'll remind you). It will be great in the warmer months, too!