It’s almost Christmas, friends.  Have you thought about how you’re going to stay awake when your children get you up at 4:30a.m. to see what’s under the tree? 

Based on my 2:30?  3:30? – I can hardly remember – wake-up call last year (by a wee yearling who didn’t know anything about Christmas but certainly knew that she wanted to be awake and hanging out with her mama and daddy), whatever you normally drink to rev you up in the morning might need a special little twist this Christmas.

Enter the creation of some very special coffee syrups to get you through the wee hours of the night the morning.  They may even help you to drown out the screams of your toddler upon sighting her very first Elmo doll, or your husband, when he unwraps his package of fresh Wal-Mart underwear. 

The first is a dark chocolate mint simple syrup, adapted from this recipe by Annie’s Eats with the replacement of vanilla with 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract.  When poured into a homemade cappuccino or a cup of your favourite locally-roasted drip, this concoction will make you forget all about the $5 coffees you buy on a daily?  weekly? basis.

The next syrup is easily thrown together – 2 cups of water, 2 cups of sugar, 2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon, 1 vanilla bean; split and scraped of its’ seeds – in a pot over medium heat until just boiled.  Remove the vanilla bean and serve to taste in your morning coffee.

Merry Christmas, readers!  May your holiday be spent in happiness with family, friends, and great food!