Pom Pomme
Full of vitamins, antioxidants and sweet-tart flavour, this drink should come with a stamp of approval from Health Canada.
2 oz. pomegranate juice, chilled
2 oz. apple juice, chilled
Soda, chilled
Combine the pomegranate juice and apple juice in a champagne flute and top with soda. Garnish with frozen cranberries or raspberries, if desired.
Serve the Pom Pomme with appetizers, meat dishes or dessert. An all-around great drink!
Setting the mood
Think outside the box of tangled tinsel this year and decorate in a palette of black and white, then choose one accent colour for interest and drama. Choose silver for a very sophisticated look, red for a twist on traditional with a sexy edge; or shades of purple, lavender and violet for fun and modern holiday décor.
Make sure you've worked out your traffic patterns in advance to prevent any bottlenecks. It's a good idea to serve food and drink from two different stations. This gives people the opportunity to politely escape tedious conversation while keeping the mingling flowing. If you have the space, create seating areas for intimate conversation. This can be done by rearranging your furniture and focusing the lighting strategically.
Proper lighting adds drama and creates illusion. Aiming small halogen spotlights up a wall creates a dramatic frame around a table, door or fireplace. Color can evoke playfulness and energy, while two strings of small lights hung from a center point gives the illusion of being under a tent. Make sure your lights can dim and avoid fluorescents at all costs.
Candles
Candles create great accents but don't rely on them to provide your main lighting. Place them in small pots on shelves or a mantel to create wells of light on the wall. Make sure they can't be accidentally knocked over and don't leave them unattended.
Nothing creates atmosphere quite like music, from the high-energy beats of hip-hop to the dreamy, romantic sounds of jazz. Music is a powerful tool and in the wrong hands it can flatline the best parties in seconds. For holiday cocktail parties start off the evening with sweet and sultry sounds that add energy to the room but aren't necessarily danceable. As the party progresses so should the music so you'll want to save the loudest and heaviest dance tracks for the last 1/3 of the night.
Check out the new track “Bonfire Blondes” by Beck for some toe-tappin' alterna, while New York's Brazilian Girls are fun and functional, adding uplifting esoteric sounds -- download tracks “Don't Stop” and “Good Time”. De-Phazz is great party jazz with mambo tempos and smoky vocals and Dragonette's “I Get Around” will have the dance floor packed in no time.
More festive party tips on the next page!
