Inside Scoop: The most delicious food and drink pairings that go along with your favourite holiday meals.

This post was submitted by Sophia Smith, beauty and style blogger, an eco-lifestyle lover, graphic designer and a DIY enthusiast. .

In just a few, short weeks, your kitchen will be soaked in the fragrance of cinnamon rolls, pudding, freshly-carved roast smoking on the table, and the abundance of eggnog will certainly take center stage of the entire Eve.

Your dining room will not just be filled with annoying and lovable relatives mingling and chattering away, but also with sparkly glasses filled to the brim with juicy flavors of all sorts. Some will opt for the classic bottle of wine, others will go for something simple like orange juice, while some will prefer to tease their taste buds with a grapefruit mocktail. After all, someone needs to drive home afterwards!

In any scenario, the festive feast you’re about to concoct is always a work of art worthy of compliments and absolute hedonism that’s about to ensue. Your favorite dishes deserve to be paired with equally festive sips, so you can find creative ways to spruce up your cocktail list this year, and give your guests something new to talk about, other than cousin Janet’s funky new haircut, that is. Here are some delicious food and drink pairings in true holiday spirit.

Festive food and drink pairings

Appetizers deserve their own sips

Dieting is typically out of the question as soon as we kick-start the holiday season (or any season for that matter), but we still need to make sure that our meals are well-balanced. So, we carefully choose our appetizers to be lighter than the main courses, but still to be rich in different flavours to prepare our palate for what’s to come. Most often, appetizers consist of creamy canapés with smoked salmon and fresh veggies, whereas the classics such as bite-sized pastry like these Pizza Bombs always make for a wonderful way to work up your appetite.

Now, the drinks you can serve with such lightweight bites can be equally light and breezy, such as citrusy cocktails or refreshing mojitos. If you like to bring some Mediterranean to your party, some Sangria is always a great choice. Rest assured, these will cause the perfect amount of buzz among your guests!

Celebrating a cheesy Christmas

A refined palate requires a more refined take on appetizers, which often means that you’d love to delight your guests with an additional choice for their before-dinner bites with a cheese platter. This is a brilliant way to slowly open up their taste buds, and also to help them savor the versatile flavors combined with diverse dips, meats, veggies, and various sips.

A glass of wine always pairs well with your cheese platter, so make sure you have a few bottles of different vintages at hand, and your guests will be able to try various combinations and stick to their preferences. For example, fresh cheese sorts the likes of mozzarella taste delightfully with light and dry whites, whereas flavorful blue cheese needs the kick of a fortified red.

Main courses and bold drinks

The filling main course often consists of a roast, turkey, duck, or a similarly rich, meaty, protein source, paired with a slew of steamed, cooked, or otherwise prepared veggies and fresh salad. It’s always a mixture of flavours and fragrances, making it a true challenge to pair perfectly for every individual at the table. So why not follow in the footsteps of some of the most creative experts in the field of spirits?

You can do precisely what an experienced mixologist from NYC would do and craft your own special cocktails that will provide a unique experience for each guest at the table depending on what flavours they will combine in their plate. A mild alcoholic beverage like this Kombucha & Mulled Mint with Prairie Organic Vodka or even a mocktail made of citrusy fruit juice (think: grapefruit) and white wine can do wonders for a roast, while a creamier cocktail can go oh so delightfully well with a veggie version of the dish. All in all, you can certainly get as playful as you please with your main course cocktails!

Get playful with desserts and toasts​

Although most people will reach for a cup of coffee at this point, some will stick to their boozy endeavours. Anyone with a sweet tooth and a love for festivities favours this part of the holiday dinner – dessert! The combination of drinks with your sweets will depend on what your feast entails. If you’re serving a traditional pudding, then a glass of Tawny Port is the perfect choice to wrap up the dining part of the evening.

In case you’re a greater fan of sprinkled, rich chocolate truffles that melt on your tongue and you savour every single delicious bite of those creamy treats, the very same drink pairs brilliantly well with them.

This holiday season can be in the hues and tastes of a classic menu, but you also have the freedom to take it up a notch with your own creative twists and tricks. Rely on these tips to festive up your dinner table, and your guests will look forward to next year’s holiday season before they reach the second course, let alone the dessert!

SOPHIA SMITH

Sophia Smith is beauty and style blogger, an eco-lifestyle lover, graphic designer and a DIY enthusiast. She is very passionate about natural skincare, minimalist wardrobe, yoga and mindful living. Sophia writes mostly about beauty-related topics in her articles. She has contributed to a number of publications including: Eco Warrior Princess, Viva Glam Magazine, How to Simplify and Carousel. You can find out more about her writing by following her on: Facebook & Twitter.