Hanukkah may be over, but the secular holiday season is just beginning. Get ready for December’s holiday parties and impress your coworkers and friends – or get yourself a drink and a treat for all those Zoom meetups – with our favorite drink recipes and snack ideas.
MULLED WINE
One of the best ways to warm up during the winter holiday season AND get a nice buzz is mulled wine: heated, warm wine cooked in spices, tangy citrus, and a touch of sweetness, spiked with a stronger alcohol for that extra oomph.
Check out our favorite recipe below, and feel free to mix it up with your own favorite liquor or spices!
Ingredients:
- 1 bottle of red wine
1/4 cup honey
1 cinnamon stick
3 whole cloves
3 whole allspice berries
1 orange, sliced
1/4 cup brandy (optional)
Instructions:
- Pour the red wine into a large saucepan or pot over medium heat.
- Add the honey, cinnamon stick, cloves, and allspice berries to the pot. Stir until the honey has dissolved. Add the sliced orange to the pot.
- Continue to heat the wine mixture over medium heat until it just begins to simmer. Be careful not to let it boil.
- Reduce the heat to low and let the wine simmer for at least 15 minutes.
- If using brandy, stir into the mulled wine now.
- Remove the pot from the heat and let wine cool for a few minutes.
- Strain the mulled wine through a fine mesh sieve to remove the spices and orange slices. Serve warm or hot, in mugs or glasses.
From sweet to dry, reds and whites as well as dessert wines, we’ve got the best that Israeli vineyards have to offer – delicious by themselves or as part of winter mulled wine recipes.
HALVA
There are few things more delicious and satisfying than Israeli halva: tahini-based and not too sweet, with a dense, crumbly consistency that falls apart in your mouth and many varieties of toppings and flavor additions available.
Get some straight from Israel and add a touch of the Holy Land to your holiday celebrations!
GELT CHOCOLATE COINS
Not just for Hanukkah, gelt with its festive foil wrapping and delicious chocolate insides makes the perfect holiday treat for the entire season.
If your local grocery store is out, don’t worry, Israeli confectionary powerhouse Elite is still making its holiday milk chocolate gelt that you can order straight from Israel!
From different varieties of halva to delicate cookies and melt-in-your-mouth milk chocolate gelt, we’ve got it all.
POMEGRANATE-CRANBERRY HOLIDAY PUNCH
This festive holiday punch incorporates the Jewish theme of pomegranates – one of the native foods of Israel, symbolizing love and abundance and often found on Judaica, Jewish wall art, and Jewish jewelry – along with honey symbolic of the sweetness of the Land of Israel, to create a yummy holiday drink!
Both meaningful and delicious, you can either spike it with wine or another alcohol, or leave it alcohol-free to please guests of any age!
Ingredients:
- 1 cup pomegranate juice
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 liter sparkling water or club soda
- 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
- 1 orange, sliced
- 1 apple, sliced
- Ice
Instructions:
- In a large punch bowl, mix together the pomegranate juice, orange juice, lemon juice, and honey until the honey is fully dissolved.
- Add the sparkling water or club soda to the bowl and stir well.
- Add the pomegranate seeds, orange slices, and apple slices to the bowl. Stir gently to combine.
- Fill the bowl with ice and let the punch chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Serve the punch in glasses or mugs, garnished with additional pomegranate seeds, orange slices, and apple slices.
Browse our festive and colorful serving dishes and trays from Israel’s best artists.
BAMBA & BISSLI
Israel’s most famous snacks Bamba and Bissli are great on their own – but the true Israeli way to upgrade your party table is to mix them both together in a bowl for the ultimate party mix. You can even add some popcorn or pretzels to make it even fancier.
And of course, you can order both Bamba and Bissli straight from Israel on our site!
CINNAMON-CIDER TEA
If you’re staying sober or just not into cocktails, try a tea with a seasonal flavor, like a cinnamon apple cider blend. Not just tasty and festive, teas are the ultimate winter drink: warm, comforting, and relaxing.
And don’t forget to get all your tea-drinking essentials from the best Israeli shops, from the delicious Middle Eastern tea itself in various flavors, to beautifully decorated mugs, colorful Jewish- and Israeli-themed coasters, and even intricately painted Armenian Ceramic teapots and serving sets.
See all our fabulous mugs featuring Jewish and Israeli themes – all designed in the Land of Israel by local Israeli artists.
