Hot Toddies: Mulled Wine, Buttered Rum, Spiced Cider, and Other Soul-Warming Winter Drinks

From hot buttered rum to unusually warming cocktails, this comes packed with seasonal drink ideas geared to the weather and filled with warming spices. From Sherbet Punch to an unusual Chocolate Martini, enjoy dishes which are inviting and spiced with full-page color photos for maximum effect.

A year ago during a mild winter, two weeks before christmas, the NE got a cold snap. IN the spirit of Yuletide I decided we should have a hot toddy. I searched my many cookbooks & found nothing. Went to the web and finally found a recipe (this took about 20 minuets via askjeeves) & we were finally able to happily quaff our drinks that cold winter's night. So I bought O'Hara's book in that spirit; hoping for more information and recipes that would be of Yuletides past. O'Hara delivered for I surely got that. O'Hara also tosses in how to stock a bar, make lemonade, grenadine & cranberry juice, the history of most drinks (champagne and wines) & where you have to pay for the premium line and when you could avoid it.On the downside, I did not like that the recipes as a rule were for parties; rarely does O"hara scale down for just a few people but luckily since all the measurements are 1 1/4 quarts of milk for 12 or 12 eggs for 12-14 a calculator could easily manage it for you. Unfortunately he does not tell you how many ounces are in a quart but if you don't know, other cookbooks should be able to manage that for you (hint hint Fannie Farmer, Joy of Cooking).Also he gives the classic recipe for eggnog with raw eggs but neglects that if you use his recipe on Tom & Jerry you could easily produce a cooked (and thus safe) version. Despite these quibbles O'Hara is very thorough on holiday drinks & tells you what you need and don't. The fotos keep the book's spirit and add allot of colour.For those who don't imbibe, O'Hara does tell you how to make non-alcoholic versions , just use more milk, & most of the ingredients are in your house. Instructions are a breeze. It's been a colder autumn than normal in the NE and I'm glad I've got O'Hara to help keep me warm and my spirits high ;-) Wassail!