Hot Holiday Cheer

If There Is One bit of sage advice we can pass on to the December holiday host, it's this: Under no circumstances ask your friends what they want to drink.

If you do, you'll find yourself as busy as the proverbial bee but nowhere near as happy about it. One guest will demand a medium dry zombie. After he tastes it, in a very studied fashion of course, he'll shake his head and ask you to make it just a trifle drier. The guy who asked for arrack and soda will persist in saying that he is drinking more soda than arrack. Another will ask you to put a few more cloves in his syllabub, while his girlfriend will remind you that she ordered an archbishop and merely got a bishop. They'll buzz and fret relentlessly and there is only one antidote, proven successful down through the centuries -- give them one thing to drink and make it hot.

Long before the modern ice age set in, long before people were drinking gin and nothing, they sat around the fire-place and celebrated the Saturnalia with long hot drinks. From the earliest English and Colonial times, cold December was the time for the warm Tom and Jerry served around the blazing hearth.

Naturally there are times when hot drinks are just the right thing to offer, and there are times when they are inappropriate. If, for instance, you're planning an office blowoff just before the holidays, you won't want to serve warm sherry flips in Colonial knobbed glass-ware to the roaring lads who've been waiting 12 months to unbend the bow. They'll want more potent gizzard fuel.

But after a long skiing party, when your fingers are numb with cold and your toes are tingling and the powder snow begins to blow through the key hole, nothing will reach your marrow quite as fast as a glass of hot toddy. For short informal gatherings on Christmas or New Year's Day, hot drinks are a perfect offering. Some of the rowdier boys who come with the dual purpose of creating a Feast of Fools and swigging until they completely fold up will soon let up on the throttle. Let them try to swallow a cup of boiling hot Swedish glögg in one gulp, and they'll quickly learn that the art of drinking is not necessarily the art of getting drunk. Or, if you've been having a marathon cocktail and highball party, and you want to signalize that it's over and still not be offensive, serve some hot buttered rum to everybody. Like passing the demi-tasse at the end of the dinner, it's a tactful way of telling your guests that the rumpus is over and it's time to settle one's brains for a long winter's nap, as they say. Certainly for the holiday warrior who wakes up the morning after with his insides feeling remarkably like a broken water main, a warm egg nog has always been a wonderful restorative.

Finally, before going to bed on a frosty night, the old fashioned hot drink is often a playboy's happiest libation. Give a girl a warm apple rum toddy in an old pewter mug, and you'll know, without staring too deeply, that her eyes have surely become moist. Her body may have been standoffish and her soul severe. But now without moving an inch closer you'll know that slowly and gracefully something is unlimbering. The hour may be too late for the holiday bells, but now, as she slowly turns the warm apple toddy between her fingertips, you'll both feel in your bodies the same insistent and inevitable rhythm.

As for the technique of preparing a hot-drink party, the main step is that your kitchen stove becomes the bar, and all drinks originate from that spot. If it's a small party, you can prepare your drinks at an electric table stove or in a chafing dish. For simplicity and cleanliness, however, the kitchen stove is the most practical. The hot drinks may be brought by pitcher or punch bowl into the living room to be ladled out or may be dispensed directly from the kitchen into the individual mugs.

Besides the liquor you'll want some fresh whole spices. Ground spices may be used but they tend to make the drinks somewhat cloudy and muddy looking. Whole spices produce the most vivid true flavors. If you happen to have some stick cinnamon left over from the Spanish American war, discard it and buy a fresh box. Any eggs for hot drink recipes should be the freshest large size. Butter should be sweet, not salted. Remember, too, that when you boil liquor, the alcohol evaporates. Bring the liquor up to the boiling point but do not actually boil it. For many recipes the double boiler with simmering water in the bottom section is the best utensil. Many hot drinks may be prepared in quantity beforehand. As a matter of fact when the mixture of liquor and spices is allowed to stand for an hour or so, there is a better blending of flavors than when served immediately. Naturally, the drinks cool upon standing and must be reheated before serving. Some drinks which contain beaten egg (like the Tom and Jerry) must be served at once or the egg foam will collapse.

For serving hot drinks the best known containers are the traditional Tom and Jerry cups which are merely thick handled pottery mugs very much like old fashioned shaving mugs. At some parties genuine shaving mugs, now becoming a collector's item, are used. For drinks like hot mulled wine, thick glass cups or crystal punch cups with handle are preferred. The conventional silver or silver-plated cups which are part of a punch bowl set may also be used. But if the handles are not insulated, they may become uncomfortably hot. Pewter mugs with wicker handles will keep the brew hot and keep your fingers from burning at the same time. If you don't want to invest in a special service for your hot-drink party, you may use ordinary coffee cups although they make the drink seem a little prosaic. Demi-tasse cups are more urbane, and the refills will keep the warming glow alive. For some drinks, like hot toddy or the Tom and Jerry, an old style glass with a thick bottom is an excellent form of service. Glass, unlike metal, will not affect the flavor of even the most delicate spice or liquor.

No elaborate foods are necessary to serve with hot holiday drinks. Small hard cookies like lebkuchen, pfefferneusse or almond macaroons are traditional. Equally good are slices of a fine moist brandied fruit cake. If you want to serve sandwiches, only one kind--ham--is appropriate. Glazed Smithfield ham or plain baked ham sliced very thin on buttered white or whole wheat bread, followed by strong hot fresh coffee and cream are affable finales for the hot drink party.

Playboy takes issue with some of the conventional recipes for drinks like hot toddy or hot buttered rum. Most of these old time formulas call for combinations of liquor, spices and water -- a large quantity of water. You are often told to put a jigger of liquor in the glass and then fill with boiling H2O. Playboy, in some of the recipes below, tends to reverse this proportion. The liquor body and flavor predominate with a relatively small amount of water as a stretcher -- like the seltzer added to a cocktail or the water that dilutes liquor when it is shaken with ice. Sometimes in hot drink recipes you will find directions for stirring the drink with stick cinnamon instead of a spoon. It's a cute idea but not always practical. Most stick cinnamon sold in a box is about two inches long. When you immerse it in the drink, you may burn your fingers at the same time unless you're very careful. For most hot drinks which call for cinnamon, a one-inch stick, steeped in the hot liquid for a minute or two, will provide adequate flavor.

It's a good idea when serving hot drinks to rinse the mugs with very hot water or scalding water just before filling them. This keeps the hot drinks hot as long as possible.

A few of the old recipes for hot holiday swizzle are now quite outdated and simply not suited to modern American tastes. The original English wassail bowl, for instance, consisting of hot wine, ale, eggs and baked apples has never caught on in this country. Young merrymakers greeting 1957 will not entertain themselves or their friends by serving country syllabub, a bowl of sugar, lemon juice, spices, wine and brandy placed under a cow which is then milked until the bowl is full. Each of the modern wassail formulas below is adapted for easy off-the-cuff entertaining.

[recipe_title]Hot Buttered Rum[/recipe_title]

(1 drink)

[drinkRecipe]2 whole cloves[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]2 whole allspice[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 inch stick cinnamon[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 teaspoon sugar[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 1/2 ounces hot light rum[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 1/2 ounce hot dark Jamaica rum[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]2 ounces boiling water[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 teaspoon sweet butter[/drinkRecipe]

Put the cloves, allspice, stick cinnamon and sugar in a mug with a tablespoon or two of boiling water. Let the mixture stand 5 minutes. Add the hot rum (two kinds), the boiling water and butter. Stir until butter dissolves. Add more sugar if desired.

[recipe_title]Hot Toddy[/recipe_title]

(1 drink)

[drinkRecipe]1 teaspoon sugar[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]3 whole cloves[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 inch stick cinnamon[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 thin slice lemon[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]2 ounces hot bourbon[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]2 ounces boiling water[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]Ground nutmeg[/drinkRecipe]

In a heavy mug put the sugar, cloves, stick cinnamon and slice of lemon. Add 2 tablespoons boiling water. Stir well. Let the mixture stand about 5 minutes. Add the hot bourbon and the 2 ounces of boiling water. Stir. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg. Any preferred liquor such as rye, applejack or rum may be substituted for the bourbon. To make apple rum toddy use 1 ounce of applejack and 1 ounce of rum in place of the bourbon in the above recipe.

[recipe_title]Tom And Jerry[/recipe_title]

(8 drinks)

Most Tom and Jerry recipes call for separating the egg yolks from the whites and beating each separately. If you have an electric blender, however, you can beat the whole eggs and get a fine foamy mixture. You can get the same results if you have a good hand rotary egg beater and enough muscle power.

[drinkRecipe]2 large eggs[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1/4 cup sugar[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]2 ounces dark Jamaica rum[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1/4 teaspoon ground cloves[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 pint hot rye or hot bourbon[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 quart hot milk[/drinkRecipe]

Beat the whole eggs in an electric blender. When the eggs are just beginning to get stiff, gradually and slowly add the sugar. Continue beating until the mixture is very stiff and light lemonyellow in color. Add the rum, cinnamon and cloves. Beat a moment more to blend spices. Spoon the batter into Tom and Jerry mugs. Add 2 ounces of rye or bourbon to each mug. Fill mug with hot milk. Stir and serve.

[recipe_title]Mulled Scotch[/recipe_title]

(1 drink)

[drinkRecipe]2 ounces hot Scotch[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 ounce hot Drambuie[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]2 dashes bitters[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 ounce boiling water[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 maraschino cherry[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]Piece of lemon peel[/drinkRecipe]

Into an Old Fashioned glass pour the Scotch, Drambuie, bitters and boiling water. Stir. Add the cherry. Twist the lemon peel over the liquor, then discard (concluded on page 82)Hot Holiday Cheer(continued from page 34) the peel.

[recipe_title]Mulled Wine[/recipe_title]

(6 to 8 drinks)

[drinkRecipe]1 fifth dry red wine, Burgundy or Claret type[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 cup boiling water[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1/2 cup sugar[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 lemon, sliced[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 orange, sliced[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]12 whole allspice[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]12 whole cloves[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]4 inches stick cinnamon[/drinkRecipe]

In a large saucepan combine the boiling water, sugar, sliced lemon, sliced orange, allspice, cloves and stick cinnamon. Bring to a boil. Reduce flame and simmer 5 minutes. Add the wine. Bring up to the boiling point. Do not boil but simmer 10 minutes. Pour the hot mulled wine into glasses or mugs. Place a slice of lemon, a slice of orange and a few whole spices in each glass.

[recipe_title]Swedish Glögg[/recipe_title]

(6 to 8 drinks)

There are dozens of recipes for this Swedish holiday drink. The proponent of each insists that his is the right one. The one below is Playboy's "right" way of doing it.

[drinkRecipe]1 fifth red wine, Burgundy or Claret[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1/2 cup sugar[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 cup brandy[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]16 whole cloves[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]8 2-inch pieces stick cinnamon[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]Raisins[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]Peeled unsalted almonds[/drinkRecipe]

In a large saucepan combine the wine, sugar, cloves and stick cinnamon. Bring to the boiling point. Reduce flame and simmer 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the brandy. Put a few raisins and almonds in each mug or glass. Add the glögg and serve.

[recipe_title]Hot Egg Nog[/recipe_title]

(1 drink)

[drinkRecipe]1 egg[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 tablespoon sugar[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]Dash of salt[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]3/4 cup (6 ounces) hot milk[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]2 ounces hot cognac[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 teaspoon dark Jamaica rum[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]Dash of ground nutmeg[/drinkRecipe]

Put whole egg and dash of salt in mixing bowl. (It is not necessary to separate egg white from yolk and beat each separately.) Beat egg by machine or rotary egg beater until it is very thick and lemon-yellow in color. Add sugar and beat until sugar is blended in. Add hot milk, cognac and rum. Stir well. Pour into an oversize Tom Collins glass. Sprinkle lightly with a dash of ground nutmeg. Let nothing you dismay.