To quote Megnut: "Summer drinks should be like summer evenings: long, light and cool." May I add? Summer drinks should be like summer evenings: easy, relaxed and refreshing. In two days, my home will be descended upon by a mother-daughter group from Michigan, Minnesota, Maryland, Colorado and Saskatchewan. Half are staying at my house (what we're calling the "restaurant") and half across the street at a neighbor's, whose shaded patio has "happy hour" written all over it. So I went looking for recipes for easy summer cocktails, concoctions that can be served on a moment's notice, ones that will titillate the eyes and the nose and the throat. So belly up, bloggers, summer's nearly here.

I can vividly remember the first time I tasted Glögg, the delightful Swedish Christmas drink made of heated wine and other spirits, and often served with raisins and almonds sprinkled on top. When I had my first taste of this dangerously delicious hot drink, I was spending Thanksgiving on a houseboat at Utah's Lake Powell and a friend named Jane had brought along a big jug of Glögg, which we heated on the houseboat stove and sipped from coffee mugs. As soon as I tasted it, I asked her for the recipe, and it's something I've been making for holiday parties ever since. Keep reading for Jane's fabulous Glögg recipe, plus a few more versions of Glögg I found.

December holidays + public schools in the U.S. = potentially a recipe for cultural disaster. The reasons, I think, are obvious: So many regions of the U.S. are increasingly diverse in their ethnic and religious traditions that having a "Christmas party" may be perceived by students and their parents as culturally insensitive. When I was growing up, it was OK to have a Christmas party in elementary school, with a nod toward Chanukah for the Jewish kids. Today, that's not acceptable. You can see from Sue LeBeau's page of December holidays alone that you could spend an entire year studying and celebrating all the end-of-year holidays celebrated by people in North America with familial and cultural roots around the world.

Contributing Editor Trisha Okubo also writes at Omiru: Style for All. What to wear to the holiday party? Tailor your dress to your figure, and look smashing as your make your rounds on the party circuit. Presenting holiday party dresses for every figure: Full Figured Maggy London Empire Waist Silk Dress | $158 at Nordstrom

After five years of hosting cookie-decorating parties at home, Lydia from the Rhode Island food blog The Perfect Pantry is now organizing cookie-decorating parties all over the country, the world even. And we're the bakers! and our family and friends are the decorators! But the home-baked and hand-decorated cookies aren't for our loved ones, they're for food pantries, women's shelters, senior centers, places right in our own communities where big cookie-smiles can spread cheer.