Do you have a special holiday recipe that you make year after year? I honestly wish I could bake because I would love to bake cookies for my family and friends each year. Instead I have to stick with things that are a bit easier for me to make.
Every year I usually make up a great big batch of Fireside Coffee. I found the recipe on the Internet many years ago and fell in love with it. After I tried it I was hooked, and so were my family and friends. It’s so quick and easy to make, plus it makes a great gift!
Here is the recipe that I use. You can certainly “tweak” it to suit your needs. Over the years I have altered it a bit here and there (add a little more of this, and a little less of that…).
Fireside Coffee Mix
Ingredients:
1 cup of Maxwell House Instant Coffee
2 cups of Instant Hot Cocoa Mix (without marshmallows)
2 cups of Powdered Coffee Creamer
1 1/2 cups of Sugar
1/2 a teaspoon of Nutmeg
1 teaspoon of Cinnamon
Directions:
Mix all the ingredients until well blended. You could use a blender but it might be messy.
Store in an air tight container.
To use: Add 1-2 heaping spoonfuls depending on your preference.
The beauty of this recipe is that you can change it to suit your tastes. For example, you could add Vanilla or Vanilla Powdered Coffee Creamer.
You can “dress” up this drink when serving to guests. Try adding a dollop of cream on top with some shaved chocolate. Or maybe some colorful holiday sprinkles.
You can also use a candy candy to stir it or as a decorative touch. It also adds a hint of mint to the drink.
You can give this drink mix as a gift too. I often give some to our mailman, delivery man, neighbors, friends and my kid’s teachers. Simply add the mix to a decorative jar (even a Mason jar would do). Add a label or hang tag with directions on how to use the mix too. Don’t forget to add some holiday embellishments like ribbons and/or a holiday ornament.
Kids can also enjoy this drink. If you don’t want them having the caffeine you can try using decaf instant coffee instead.
If you want to create a special drink for kids this holiday season why not try my “Mock Hot Apple Cider” recipe. This is super easy to do. I’ve tried it out on my own kids and they loved it.
Mock Hot Apple Cider
Ingredients:
1 pouch of Capri Sun 100% Apple Juice
A pinch of Cinnamon and Nutmeg
Directions:
Open up the Capri Sun pouch and pour the contents into a sauce pan. Heat on low for a few minutes until warm. Remove from the heat and add in the pinch of Cinnamon and Nutmeg and stir. Pour into a mug and enjoy.
My kids loved that the juice was warm and they said the spices reminded them of the apple cider we get from the local farm. I tried some myself and I think it turned out pretty good. Now my kids want to try other Capri Sun juices warmed to see how they taste. I’m not so sure about that. Warm grapefruit or punch? Eww. 🙂
I am sharing these recipes with you as part of Kraft’s Huddle to Fight Hunger Campaign.
Kraft Food’s Huddle to Fight Hunger program is looking to donate what would be the monetary equivalent of 25 million meals to Feeding America. They are hoping that they can achieve this goal by rallying around three things American are passionate about this time of year (next to the holidays of course): Football, food and family.
By sharing these recipes to you 1,000 meals will be donated to the program in my name. I can’t tell you how wonderful that makes me feel to know that some recipes and a simple post can make such a difference in the lives of others. This is one of the many reasons why I am a blogger. I love knowing that by blogging I can do good for others.
YOU can help too and it’s as easy as clicking a button. Simply “like” the Kraft Fight Hunger Facebook page. For every person who “likes” the page a meal will be donated to the Feeding America organization. Just think, just by liking the page you can help provide a meal for someone in need.
The link to the Facebook page is www.Facebook.com/KraftFightHunger.
While you are there please consider playing the fun trivia game called “2-Minute Trivia Drill”. There are a few football trivia questions (not many). It’s mostly pretty easy random trivia questions. For every question you get right another meal will be donated to Feeding America. So if you get 5 points, 5 meals will be donated. Or if you get 20 points, 20 meals will be donated. The trivia questions are pretty easy for the most part. The last time I played I got 50 points which means that 50 meals were donated. That is AWESOME!
You can also help spread the word through all your social media channels including Facebook and Twitter. If you could include the hashtag #KraftFightHunger on Twitter that would be very helpful and much appreciated.
If you would like to check out the other recipe I made so far, Dog Bites, using Kraft Mac & Cheese, Ritz Crackers and Oscar Meyer hot dogs please CLICK HERE.
Kimberly
*Kraft Foods is providing me a gift card in exchange for my participation in this program at no cost to me; however, all opinions expressed here are my own.
Betty Baez says
i’ve been playing the game for a few weeks now, and i think its great what they’re doing. Thank you for the recipes 🙂
Eileen says
Thanks for the coffee recipe Kimberly! My husband is a big coffee drinker and loves the sweet or flavored ones best. This would be a perfect gift for our youngest to give him for Christmas. He has a very cold office at work and this would be like a warm hug from her each time he makes a cup. I am going to look for a few new cookie recipes to make with my daughter to also put in a basket for him. Maybe a new mug and some candy canes? Thanks for the inspiration!
Margie says
We love hot cider during the winter months.
momznite says
I just spent a few minutes on the site and felt good to donate six meals. Thanks for the link.
anna pry says
My brother in law always drank instant maxwell house and i thought it tasted like motor oil, but maybe all those added ingredients would help!
MsAngelasFinds says
This Fireside Coffee recipe is really close to the ingredients I use in my mock Tim Horton’s Iced Cappuccino recipe. I bet it is wonderful! I never would have thought to give it as a gift. What a great idea! I bet my kids teachers would love something like this!
Angela Michels