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Drinking with Saint Nick: Christmas Cocktails for Sinners and Saints
Raise your spirits and toast Saint Nick!
Hot gin toddies. Smoking rosemary old fashioneds. A "wet" Advent calendar. Now you can experience Christmas the way it was meant to be with festive cocktails and a lively history of Saint Nicholas and other saints! Michael Foley, author of Drinking with the Saints , presents holiday drink recipes; beer, wine, and cider recommendations; and witty instruction on how to honor the saints in this exquisite gift book that will make your Christmas more spirited than ever before.
"With lively stories and delicious drink recipes, this book takes us on a rollicking journey through the lives of the saints. What a fun and fabulous way to engage with your faith during the holidays." — Jennifer Fulwiler, author of One Beautiful Dream and host of the Jennifer Fulwiler Show on the Catholic Channel
Hot gin toddies. Smoking rosemary old fashioneds. A "wet" Advent calendar. Now you can experience Christmas the way it was meant to be with festive cocktails and a lively history of Saint Nicholas and other saints! Michael Foley, author of Drinking with the Saints , presents holiday drink recipes; beer, wine, and cider recommendations; and witty instruction on how to honor the saints in this exquisite gift book that will make your Christmas more spirited than ever before.
"With lively stories and delicious drink recipes, this book takes us on a rollicking journey through the lives of the saints. What a fun and fabulous way to engage with your faith during the holidays." — Jennifer Fulwiler, author of One Beautiful Dream and host of the Jennifer Fulwiler Show on the Catholic Channel
224 pages, Hardcover
First published October 16, 2018
7 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 12, 2022
Not what I expected. Maybe you are wondering why a non-Catholic, non-drinker is even reviewing this book. I've read histories of the saints' lives before and found them fascinating. I've read cookbooks about alcoholic beverages before and found them delightfully entertaining. I've even read history books about alcoholic beverages, and some of the strange combinations people drank in the past are disgustingly intriguing. This wasn't any of those.
So this is a Catholic drinking guide for the Christmas season, from December 1 to February 2. It starts out with instructions on how to be a pious drinker, and offers prayer toast suggestions throughout. It is a deeply religious book, asserting a Christian origin to some traditions that my studies indicate actually are quite Pagan in origin. You read a little blurb about a saint for the day, then get some suggested alcohol purchases and several recipes. The drinks are very loosely inspired by some aspect of the saint's life, rather than having any actual historical connection. There are admonitions to remember Christ's sacrifice mixed in with weird humor, like using two olives in a glass to represent the gouged out eyes of the saint. Maybe one of my Catholic friends can explain this to me, as in my Protestant upbringing we saved the guilt stuff for the Lent/Easter season, and focused on the joy, peace, hope, and love part at Advent and Christmas.
Saint Nicholas, the title character, gets two and a half pages, plus another two for recipes. Krampus gets a mention as "an ugly, chain-rattling little devil who has to deal with the children who have been naughty" since St. Nicholas, the "real Santa Claus," is much too kind. Though he'll deck you for disagreeing with him theologically, apparently.
There were two non-alcoholic punches for children, both attributed to Maria Von Trapp of the Sound of Music fame. She wrote several books. Might look into that later.
So this is a Catholic drinking guide for the Christmas season, from December 1 to February 2. It starts out with instructions on how to be a pious drinker, and offers prayer toast suggestions throughout. It is a deeply religious book, asserting a Christian origin to some traditions that my studies indicate actually are quite Pagan in origin. You read a little blurb about a saint for the day, then get some suggested alcohol purchases and several recipes. The drinks are very loosely inspired by some aspect of the saint's life, rather than having any actual historical connection. There are admonitions to remember Christ's sacrifice mixed in with weird humor, like using two olives in a glass to represent the gouged out eyes of the saint. Maybe one of my Catholic friends can explain this to me, as in my Protestant upbringing we saved the guilt stuff for the Lent/Easter season, and focused on the joy, peace, hope, and love part at Advent and Christmas.
Saint Nicholas, the title character, gets two and a half pages, plus another two for recipes. Krampus gets a mention as "an ugly, chain-rattling little devil who has to deal with the children who have been naughty" since St. Nicholas, the "real Santa Claus," is much too kind. Though he'll deck you for disagreeing with him theologically, apparently.
There were two non-alcoholic punches for children, both attributed to Maria Von Trapp of the Sound of Music fame. She wrote several books. Might look into that later.
December 28, 2019
What a fun little volume! There are cocktail recipes, and beer & wine suggestions, and even some toasts for the days of the Christmas season: an Advent Calendar of drinks, selections for The Golden Nights, & drink ideas for the Twelve Days of Christmas (both the calendar 12 days, & the song), as well as some suggestions for the Epiphany and beyond. The Advent Calendar chapter relates the drinks to the saint corresponding to each date, complete with stories about those saints. The book is infused with Catholic spirituality, and is written in a witty and clever style, making it an entertaining read. The cocktail recipes range from standards to others created especially for this book. I'm looking forward to quaffing a few of these!
November 12, 2018
This beautiful hardcover book includes beer and wine recommendations and dozens of cocktail recipes for Advent through Candlemas. Pick and choose among drink suggestions made according to the calendar, the twelve days of Christmas, the Golden Nights, and more. With each entry, learn more about the saints, the liturgical calendar, and Church history. Makes a lovely gift!
February 23, 2020
Read this fun book out of season and still loved it! I learned a lot of fun information about my faith and appreciated the respectful humorous tone of the book.
I bought my own copy (which is rare!) to reference during the christmas season.
I bought my own copy (which is rare!) to reference during the christmas season.
December 25, 2023
There's some repetition with the Drinking with Saints book, but it's got more recipes and is nice as a guide for this season. Merry Christmas!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews