If past years are any indication, on Sunday night many Americans will lift a drink in celebration of the arrival of the new year.
According to WalletHub.com, an amazing 360 million glasses of champagne or other sparkling wines will be hoisted by Americans welcoming 2024.
Some of those glasses will be filled with champagne, prosecco and other sparkling drinks, but others will be mixed into holiday cocktails and punches. Those who don’t drink alcohol will make their own “mocktails,” substituting sparking water for wine.
And then there are those of us who will probably be sound asleep when the new year arrives, with plans to celebrate on Jan. 1 by eating “lucky” foods to ensure prosperity for the coming year. Those include black-eyed peas, leafy greens (for the color of money), or pork and sauerkraut.
For the many who will be partying on Sunday, there are hundreds of recipes to choose from on the internet. If punch doesn’t interest you, there are countless cocktail recipes. Those can include kir royale, Moscow mule, martinis or the New Year’s Sparkler, a combination of berry-flavored vodka, pomegranate or cranberry juice and champagne with a raspberry garnish.
If you choose to drink, don’t drive. And whether you imbibe or eat luck foods on New Year’s Day, good luck and much happiness in the new year.
This recipe for champagne punch comes from liquor.com:
Serves at least 8
1 ½ cups genever (Dutch gin)
1 cup champagne
½ cup Cointreau
1 cup club soda
¾ cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
½ cup simple syrup (cook equal parts sugar and water until slightly thickened)
8 dashes old-fashioned bitters
Garnish with pineapple slices, star anise pods and grated nutmeg
1. Place a large block of ice or 2 cups of ice cubes into a punch bowl.
2. Add the genever, champagne, Cointreau, club soda, lemon juice, simple syrup and bitters into the bowl and stir gently to combine.
3. Garnish with pineapple slices, whole star anise pods and grated nutmeg. For those who don’t drink alcohol, this punch recipe comes from allrecipes.com:
2 quarts ginger ale
1 (46 fluid ounce) bottle cranberry juice
1 (46 fluid ounce) can pineapple juice
1 (12 fluid ounce) can frozen orange juice concentrate
Ice cubes
1. Combine ginger ale, cranberry juice, pineapple juice, and orange juice concentrate in a large punch bowl. Stir in ice.
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