Travel Safety Tips from Triangle Electrical Services
It’s getting closer to Christmas and that means that airports will be busier, there will be more cars on the roads, and everyone is eager to get to their vacation destination. With vaccines and boosters available, many people will be taking the opportunity to travel home for the holidays.
AAA estimates more than 109 million Americans will travel over the long Christmas and New Year’s week. This number approaches the pre-COVID record of 119 million travelers during Christmas 2019. Here are a few ways to stay safe while traveling this year:
- Give yourself plenty of time to drive to your destination. Accidents are more likely to happen when you are rushed and distracted.
- For longer trips, create a plan for who the driver will be for each portion of the drive. If everyone is too tired to continue, find a hotel and stop for the night.
- Be sure you are up to date on your last oil change and that your tires are travel ready.
- When you reach your destination, whether staying with family or in a hotel/Airbnb, know where your closest urgent care facility is located and be sure they are open on holidays.
- If you’re leaving your house for an extended period of time, leave a car parked in your driveway is possible, and lights on inside and outside your house. We recommend investing in a timer for your lights as well.
The best holiday vacations are the ones where your whole travel party is safe! All of us at Triangle Electrical Services want to wish you a safe and happy holiday season.
Holiday Highlights Recipe #3 — Thanksgiving Meatloaf
As you’ll see, this is not a strict recipe, it’s really more of a concept. It can be a mashup of whatever thanksgiving leftovers you need to use up, I’m just sharing what worked for me!
Because most stuffing recipes call for sautéed celery and onions, I have not included those in the recipe separately. All the same, I think you’ll see what we’re going for here: all the flavors of Thanksgiving included in one easy-to-accomplish dish that also has the added bonus of using up some pesky leftovers you’ll have lying around during the holidays!
Holiday Cocktail Recipes from Carrie Brogren
This “Merry Margarita” is a festive twist on a classic cocktail. It is a mix of sweet pomegranate juice, tequila, orange liquor, tart lime juice, and a holiday spiced simple syrup. The bold red color gives it that festive flair that makes it perfect for any holiday celebration. Pomegranate is an ideal fruit choice this time of year. The ancient fruit (which has literally been around since Biblical times) has a fairly short season (usually from about September-November), but it has a longer shelf life than most fruits. Pomegranates can be kept at room temperature for about 5 days or in the refrigerated for up to three weeks.
“Merry Margarita”
Cocktail Recipe:
- 2 ounces silver tequila
- 1 ounce fresh squeezed lime juice
- 1 ounce fresh squeezed pomegranate juice
- 1/2 ounce Cointreau
- 1/2 ounce homemade Spiced Simple Syrup
Spiced Simple Syrup Recipe:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 star anise
Add all ingredients to a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool completely. Store in an air tight glass jar or bottle.
For the Cocktail:
Rim a glass with chunky white salt and fill the glass with ice. Add all of the ingredients to a cocktail shaker with a handful of ice, then shake vigorously and strain into your glass before garnishing with a cinnamon stick and/or a star anise.
Chapel Hill Carrboro Foodies Facebook Group engages in a Holiday Charity Collaboration each year. This year, we have partnered with Christmas House and we are raising money for Christmas House, so that they can purchase and distribute grocery gift cards to local families in need during the holiday season. Tandem restaurant of Carrboro has also partnered with this Holiday Charity Collaboration and all throughout the month of December, you can visit Tandem and purchase my “Partridge in a Pear Tree” cocktail. Tandem will donate $5 from the sale of each cocktail to our Christmas House Charity. Please visit Tandem and support this wonderful, local cause!
