Raise your spirits and toast Saint Nick! Hot gin toddies. Smoking rosemary old fashioneds. A "wet" Advent calendar. Now you can experience Christmas the way it was meant to be celebrated: with festive cocktails and a lively history of Saint Nicholas and other saints! Michael Foley, author of Drinking with the Saints, presents holiday drink recipes; beer, wine, and cider recommendations; and witty instruction on how to honor the saints in this exquisite gift book that will make your Christmas more spirited than ever before. "With lively stories and delicious drink recipes, this book takes us on a rollicking journey through the lives of the saints. What a fun and fabulous way to engage with your faith during the holidays." — Jennifer Fulwiler, author of One Beautiful Dream and host of the Jennifer Fulwiler Show on the Catholic Channel

Raise Your Spirits and Toast the Saints Recipe for a liturgically correct cocktail: mix Bartender’s Guide and Lives of the Saints, shake well, garnish with good cheer. Drinking with the Saintsis a concoction that both sinner and saint will savor. Michael Foley offers the faithful drinker witty and imaginative instruction on the appropriate libations for the seasons, feasts, and saints’ days of the Church year. · A guide to wine, beer, and spirits, including 38 original cocktails · Lively sketches of scores of saints, from the popular to the obscure · Tips on giving the perfect toast and on mixing the perfect drink · Even includes drinks for Lent!

There’s a patron saint for everything. And Michael Foley has a drink for every patron saint. Have a problem with the IRS? Pray to St. Matthew and mix up a classic Income Tax cocktail to toast the tax collector apostle. Looking for a deal at a gun show? Try St. Adrian of Nicomedia, the patron of arms manufacturers, and raise a glass of craft beer from Denver’s Call to Arms in the saint’s honor. Or stir up a Gunfire, traditionally served to British soldiers on Christmas Day. Need to sell your house? Ask St. Joseph for his help and honor his patronage with a Sazerac, made with wormwood in honor of his trade as a carpenter.Drinking with Your Patron Saintsgives you a saint for every occasion. Packed with inspiring stories and delicious drink recipes for saints from Adam to Zita, this book will be a boost to your spiritual life—and your spirits.

It's drinks, it's chickens: It's the cocktail book you didn't know you needed! To add some extra happy to your happy hour , invite a chicken and pour yourself a drink. Author Kate Richards serves up cocktails made for Instagram with the spoils of her Southern California garden, chicken friends by her side. Enjoy any (or all) of the 60+ deliciously drinkable garden-to-glass beverages, such as: Lilac Apricot Rum Sour Meyer Lemon + Rosemary Old Fashioned Rhubarb Rose Cobbler Blackberry Sage Spritz Cantaloupe Mint Rum Punch Cocktails are arranged seasonally, and are 100% accessible for those of us without perpetually sunny backyard gardens at our disposal. Drinking with Chickens will quickly become a boozy favorite, perfect for gifting or for hoarding all for yourself. You don't need chickens to enjoy these drinks or the colorful photos, but be careful, because you may even find yourself aspiring to be, as Kate is, a home chixologist overrun by gorgeous, loud, early-rising egg-laying ladies, and in need of a very strong drink.

From the famed author of international bestseller Drinking with the Saints, every Christmas tradition explained and celebrated, as well as a glimpse into all the sometimes macabre and always fascinating nooks and crannies of the holiday. Deepen your knowledge of and love for Christmas! The definitive guide to every question you’ve had about the Christmas holiday—and many more you’ve never thought to ask! In Why We Kiss Under the Mistletoe, bestselling author Michael Foley dives deep into the history of Christmas and the customs that surround this beloved holiday. Learn about the fascinating origins of your favorite Christmas food, drink, observances, and songs. Discover how Saint Nicolas, a fourth-century Catholic bishop, became Santa Clause and who Santa’s global competitors are (some of them will shock you). And dig into the forbidden history of the Yuletide season’s dark and ghoulish side. Witty, imaginative, and wholly unique, Why We Kiss Under the Mistletoe is the stocking stuffer that will be revisited every year.

In this joyful and charming book, Maria von Trapp (from The Sound of Music) unveils for you the year-round Christian traditions she loved – traditions that created for her large family a warm and inviting Catholic home and will do the same for yours. Here are the songs they sang for feasts and holidays, as well as Maria’s personal recipes for traditional holiday foods. Here are stories and games to delight your children, and countless other ways to turn events such as anniversaries, baptisms, graduations, birthdays, wedding receptions, and even funerals into feasts celebrated in the Lord. Most people only know the young Maria from The Sound of Music; few realize that in subsequent years, as a pious wife and a seasoned Catholic mother, Maria gave herself unreservedly to keeping her family Catholic by observing in her home the many feasts of the Church’s liturgical year, with poems and prayers, food and fun, and so much more! With the help of Maria von Trapp, you, too, can provide Christian structure and vibrancy to your home. Soon your home will be a warm and loving place, an earthly reflection of our eternal home.

Did you know that the origins of Groundhog Day stem from a Catholic tradition? Or that the common pretzel was once a Lenten reward for the pious? Why Do Catholics Eat Fish on Friday is a fascinating guide to the roots of all-things-Catholic. This smart and concise guide will introduce readers to the hidden heritage in many commonplace things that make up contemporary life. The reader-friendly format and the illuminating entries will make this guide a perfect gift for Catholics and anyone who loves a bit of historic trivia. Table of Contents - Foreword * Time * Manners & Dining Etiquette * Food * Drink * Music & Theater * Sports & Games * Holidays & Festivities * Flowers & Plants * Insects, Animals, & More * American Places * International, National, & State Symbols * Clothes & Other Sundry Inventions * Education & Superstition * Art & Science * Law & Architecture * Epilogue: Words, Words, Words--Catholic, Anti-Catholic, and Post-Catholic