Best Holiday Drinks

It’s that time again- the holiday drinks have emerged at Starbucks. We all know and love Starbucks, but during the holidays, you may be inclined to switch up your usual drink. After slaving over hot coffee for a few hours, The Voice has come up with a few favorites for you to try this season!

The Pumpkin Spice Latte, one of the most popular drinks at the coffee shop, is best for people who like sweeter drinks because it tastes just like a liquefied pumpkin pie. However the coffee flavor is prominent, so if you don’t like coffee, you should avoid this drink.  It can be ordered with nonfat milk and no whipped cream, but where’s the fun in that?  I would rate this as my favorite drink of the day.

With a bit more of a cinnamon flavor, the Gingerbread Latte is sure to please. The latte almost tastes a bit spicy, and has a taste reminiscent of paprika. This drink is much more savory than the pumpkin spice latte but is still just the perfect mix of flavor.

To switch it up, we tried an Iced Peppermint Mocha. Loaded with coffee and chocolate flavoring, the peppermint mocha tastes just like everyone’s favorite treat, peppermint bark. The flavors blend perfectly into a deliciously sweet coffee drink. The coffee flavor is strong, but the chocolate and peppermint offset it perfectly. Some people prefer to drink cold drinks in the winter time, while some prefer hot. No matter what you choose, this drink is sure to please.

With the Eggnog Latte, you can enjoy eggnog every day this season. The drink tastes just like the frothy treat, but it has the added taste of coffee. With a perfect blend of sweetness, the eggnog latte also tops the list of favorites at Starbucks during the holiday season.

The last drink we tried was the Toffee Latte. This drink was not my favorite, but if you enjoy a very strong coffee taste, then you will love this latte. It is a bit more bitter than the rest of the drinks and is not for those who like a light drink. But the toffee latte is new this season and you may want to give it a try to see for yourself!


Enjoy your holiday drinks, and have a great season!

Christmas Gift Guide

It’s that time of year again where we are all scrambling to buy the perfect gift for all the wonderful people in our lives. The Voice is here to help ameliorate this stress by providing you with a gift guide! Here is a list of must-have gifts of 2010, specialized for the important people in your life.

Mom

The Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson

Elton John and Leon Russell – The Union

Toy Story 3

Scrabble Flash

Therapeutic Slippers

Spa Day

Jewelry

Dad

John Grisham – The Confession

Stephen King – Full Dark, No Stars

Kings of Leon – Come Around Sundown

The Pacific

eReaders: iPad

Friends

Nicholas Sparks – Safe Haven

Taylor Swift – Speak Now

Snuggie (new prints – skull and cross bones, peace sign, leopard, zebra and more)

Buckyballs

Fuzzy Socks and Candy Canes

Gift Cards to Urban Outfitters

Boyfriend

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Call of Duty: Black Ops

Earbuds and Headphones

Scrapbook

Sister

Rihanna – Loud

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Video Game

Mickey, Spiderman, Princess, Sponge Bob or Ironman 6 game tub (includes checkers, tic-tac-toe, bingo, dominoes, and 2 card games)

Sillybandz

Brother

Ironman 2

Xbox 360 Kinect

Madden NFL 11

Apple iPod Touch

Chuck My Talking Truck

Tonka Ricochet

Have a Good Read This Christmas Eve

This novel is a bit on the lengthy side, but it takes no time at all to plow through. It’s easy to get into, and will have you hooked by the first couple of pages. The gripping storyline includes love, betrayal, death, and, best of all, drama!

Not much for the Middle-Aged melodramas? Not to worry. Perhaps a more adventurous love story would strike your fancy. Give Annette Curtis Klause’s Blood and Chocolate a try. This is basically the exact opposite of Twilight, only strikingly similar at the same time. Instead of a male vampire falling in love with a useless mortal, Blood and Chocolate tells the story of a mysterious young werewolf who falls in love with a human boy intended to be her lunch. The two fall madly in love and face many challenges as their two worlds collide in an epic adventure. But take caution in opening up this work in the midst of finals week: you simply will not be able to put it down!

If you’d rather depart from the romance genre altogether, then Adriana Trigiani’s newest coming of age novel Viola will deliver the perfect dose of teenage angst, while at the same providing encouraging insights into the world of friendship and growing up. Shipped away from her beloved hometown of Brooklyn to a glum boarding school in the outskirts of an Indiana town, Viola is faced with a whole new world that she feels completely ill-equipped to handle. A talented film-maker, she gradually learns to stop seeing and living life through her screen and open herself up to the new experiences and friendships that await her.

If you find yourself in the mood for some classical delight, but cannot face diving into something quite as hefty as War and Peace, go for The Princess Bride. If you have seen the movie, then you know how entertaining the plot twists and character developments are. And Christmastime is always a little more enjoyable with a bit of Buttercup romance in the air. Another, perhaps heavier, romance is the newly-turned-motion-picture The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. This novel could certainly be considered more of a drama than William Goldman’s The Princess Bride, as it deals with the lessons of love and loss that a young couple encounters during their somewhat fated journey. A box of tissues might be a good idea if you pick this one up.

For more of a science fiction thriller, give Inkheart a go. The popular first installment of the planned Inkworld Trilogy, takes the reader through the many adventures of twelve-year-old Meggie Folchart, whose father possesses a special power of turning stories he reads aloud into real life. Lucky Meggie gets to travel to exotic places she reads about in books, such as Italy and many parts of Europe. If you ever were a fan of the animated film The Page Master as a little kid, this is the book for you. Another novel with a similar feel, C.S. Lewis’s famous children’s adventure tale The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, takes the reader through the closet of four young orphans, and into a magical world caught in eternal winter. It becomes the mission of this brave lot to bring the world of Narnia back to its original enchanting existence.

Some historical fiction might be the way to go if you don’t feel up to the time travelling and mythical creatures. Ann Rinaldi’s Time Enough for Drums is the story of 13-year-old Jemima Emerson living in Revolutionary War America. She finds herself torn between just about every member of her family, each of whom seems to be supporting a different war party: Patriots, Whigs, British officer, militiaman, and Continental Army soldier. This is a good read for those suffering the typical holiday season family squabbles that are typical of the holiday season.

Several decades after Jemima, comes Old Derry, the chubby old man in Edward Lear’s A Book of Nonsense. This charming collection of children’s tales is actually a compilation of limerick’s published sequentially in early nineteenth century England. Do not let the “children’s tales” turn you away, because each of Lear’s snappy poems is packed with clever twists and allusions that a wide range of age groups can appreciate.

So, now that you have a good list of choices for some great holiday reads, hit up your local bookstore – or Christmas wish list – and wipe your brain clean of any finals residue. Happy holidays!