Our December cover story is full of good holiday recipes. But we missed giving you drink recipes. We have a couple to share, but also check out these 12 trendy holiday cocktails from the New York Times.

These two recipes are from Margaret Guy of Stevens Park Village.

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The first is non-alcoholic.

Wassail:

3 cups sugar
3 cups water
1-2 pieces candied ginger
2 cinnamon sticks
6 whole cloves
juice of 6 oranges
juice of 3 lemons
2 cups strong tea
1 quart apple cider

Boil sugar and water about 3 minutes. Add ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Let sit overnight. Remove spices, then add orange and lemon juice, tea and cider.

To serve, bring wassail to simmer and serve hot. You can use a crock pot to keep it hot. Makes about 12 servings.

Guy notes “some like to ad a little ‘hassle’ to the hot mug”. We don’t know what that means, so we’re going to take it to mean “bourbon”.

Next, a recipe that calls bourbon by it’s name.

Guy says this recipe was given to her by a friend who live in the Mississippi Delta. She has made it as a gift — in a pretty container with the recipe card attached — for friends who enjoy bourbon. “I don’t like bourbon,” she says. “But they seem happy.”

Mississippi Gambler:

12 lemons
4 cups quality bourbon
4 cups water
1 cup sugar

Extract juice and reserve eight lemon rinds. Combine lemon juice, whiskey, water and sugar, stir well.

Add eight rinds and pour mixture into a glass container. After 24 hours, squeeze rinds and remove. Strain. Mixture improves with time. A day or two before serving, place in freezer. When ready to serve, scoop out iced slush (it doesn’t freeze) into julep cups. Garnish with mint leaves.

Yeild: Enough for four drinking southern gentlemen or 16 nice ladies.