This year however we have decided to not only enjoy our family gatherings but also to take some time out for ourselves as a couple.
For us 2016 has been an epic year with some amazing events, such as baby Jacobs birth, family holidays and family time in general but what we have missed with a newborn is time to ourselves as a couple.
So knowing I am about to embark on months and months of pain with my upcoming major abdominal reconstructive surgery we decided to get our Christmas kicked off in style with the kids at Grandma and Grandads and an afternoon of Christmas present wrapping followed by a film and some festive drinks just for us.
I know this doesn’t sound super exciting in the grand scheme of things but for us it was so what was needed … especially since the festive period is packed to the rafters.
So with the kids safely tucked up at Grandmas we let the parent party commence with the Festive Christmas tipple, Snowballs.
Snowballs are something that I have enjoyed at get togethers when made by someone else but we had never tried making them here at home so with parties planned it was time to try out making some snowballs of our very own to find our own favourite version of this nostalgic retro Christmas drink.
Warninks very kindly donated some of the key ingredients to see if we could pull off making our own snowball and to help us discover our perfect recipe this christmas but I got rather carried away and made a few versions of the traditional snowball and although we love the original, we made an even nicer versions that tasted similar to a chocolate orange!
Heres how I made this new recipe from an old favourite …
I moistened the rim of a wine glass and rolled it in drinking chocolate powder
* Add 50mls of Warninks Advocaat and 25mls of freshly squeezed orange juice (you could use cordial but you may need to adjust for taste)
* Top up the glasses with lemonade
* On top of the drink sprinkle on some dark chocolate shavings.
This drink was super simple and started off our Christmas traditions in style this year, now it’s finally Christmas!
Now for the damn elf on the shelf to come out of hiding, brace myself for the Christmas nativity and argue with Ollie over the size of the turkey that I am buying …. But I wouldn’t have it any other way!
Disclaimer: This is a collaborative post with Warninks and my entry into the #NowItsXmas campaign. If you are looking to purchase Warninks Advocaat you can find it in Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose, and any good convenience store but don’t forget to please drink responsibly.