Holiday Highlight Safety Tip #5
There’s nothing quite like the smell of fresh pine throughout your home for the holidays. It’s much more fun to put up the Christmas tree than it is to take it down, but the longer your tree stays in your home, the greater a fire hazard it becomes. It’s best to discard trees within one month after purchase.
While it may be tempting to quickly vacuum the fallen needles after you carry the tree outside, it is recommended that you sweep them up instead. This is the only way to avoid potential sparks from heat and possible damage to your vacuum cleaner!
Most importantly, never burn Christmas tree branches or needles in a fireplace or wood stove. Firs and pines contain a lot of sap, and the needles burn very quickly. Flames can flare up out of control and send sparks flying across a room in a matter of seconds.
Holiday Highlights is presented by Triangle Electrical Services – keeping your holidays merry & bright – and safe since 1995!
Holiday Highlights Recipe #5 – Southern Toffee Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce
This dessert embraces two beloved southern ingredients, biscuits and pecans, and features our family’s Chapel Hill Toffee. It comes together quickly and bakes like a traditional casserole. I use a combination of biscuits and brioche bread as I like the combination of textures. If you’ve only got one or the other on hand, feel free to use what you’ve got!
Holiday Cocktail Recipes from Carrie Brogren
“Jolly Gingerbread”
4 Ounces Milk
4 Ounces Vanilla Vodka
4 Ounces Kahlua
4 Ounces Ginger Beer
1/8 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
Cinnamon, Ground Ginger, Whipped Cream, Ginger Snaps (for garnish)
For the cocktail:
Combine 1/8 Teaspoon of Cinnamon and 1/8 Teaspoon of Sugar, wet the rim of your glass, and rim with Cinnamon/Sugar mixture.
Add a handful of ice, Milk, Vanilla Vodka, Kahlua, and Ground Ginger to a cocktail shaker. Shake gently and pour into a glass. Top with Ginger beer. Garnish with Whipped Cream. Crush a handful of Ginger Snap Cookies and sprinkle cookie crumbs on top of Whipped Cream.
* For a little something extra special, you can add a hint of smoked Cinnamon to this cocktail. Prior to rimming your glass with Cinnamon/sugar, you can light the end of a Cinnamon Stick on fire and then carefully blow out the flame. Quickly put the smoking Cinnamon Stick under your glass and turn the glass upside down on a plate. This traps the smoke, which swirls around the glass and adds a touch of flavor and aroma to the interior of your glass. Then, carefully rim your glass and follow cocktail instructions.
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