Gwyneth Paltrow Can't Get Enough Mulled Wine During Christmas, Plus How She's Celebrating Holiday with Her Family

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We already know what Gwyneth Paltrow plans on wearing throughout the holiday season, as well as the goodies the Goop gal plans on gifting friends, and now the blonde beauty's even revealing her plans for Christmas day.  

Not surprisingly, Paltrow—the author of two cookbooks—admits food plays a major role in her annual festivities.

"My family, we live all scattered apart and we all congregate together for Christmas. I love that, I love that feeling of togetherness and all the food, the mulled wine and everything," the Hugo Boss spokesperson said in a new video for the brand.

And you better believe the foodie rolls up her sleeves when it comes time to prepping the grand Christmas feast.

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"I do a lot of the cooking before Christmas but then I usually spend a lot of Christmas cooking too," Paltrow revealed to the Daily Mail. "All the smells, all of the mulled wine, all of the trimmings for the turkey. We like to have all the family around. A very traditional Christmas."

And, just like Santa, the actress can count on a couple little helpers to get the job done.

"My kids are very involved in the kitchen with me, especially my son. He loves to cook and he's very engaged when we do it—he has a lot of patience for it, it's very cute. He helps me measure and he cracks eggs perfectly, he's very good."

Sounds like little Moses andApple can count on being on the nice list this year and, to hear Paltrow tell it, they definitely won't be disappointed come Christmas morning.

"Our Christmas rituals are pretty much the same every year; it's basically trying to keep the children in bed until at least 7 a.m.!" she revealed. "Father Christmas always leaves a stocking at the end of their bed, which is great because then they wake up and they have lots of little bits to unwrap. Then they wake us up and they just go to town on the present opening."

What are some of your favorite holiday traditions? Tell us in the comments!

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Thanksgiving Cocktail Recipes: 3 Hearty Drinks to Enjoy During the Festive Holiday

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While Thanksgiving is often a joy-filled day thanks to reuniting with friends and family, it can also be a stressful occasion…also due to said friends and family.

But before you blow up at mom over her constant prying into your love life or battle over the last slice of pie with your cousin, you may want to ease the tension with these yummy, seasonally appropriate cocktails.

Bottoms up!

Orange Spiced Cider

1 Numi Orange Spice tea bag

8 ounces of apple cider

2 ounces of dark rum

1 cinnamon stick

Preparation: Heat cider until very hot. Steep one tea bag directly in cider for five minutes, and cover. Uncover, add rum and stir. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

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Pumpkins aren't just reserved for pie! Here's a yummy drink that makes use of the in-season item:

Pumpkin Spice Margarita

2 ounces 1800 Tequila

1 can of pumpkin puree

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup sugar

1 tablespoon of cinnamon

1 pinch of nutmeg

2 cups of water

½ ounce of orange liqueur

Lime juice of ½ a lime

Optional: Apple for garnish

Preparation: Make pumpkin syrup by combining pumpkin puree with brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and water in a saucepan over low heat. Stir for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, cool and strain. Combine the juice of half a lime, 1800 Tequila, and 2 ounces of pumpkin syrup. Shake well, strain and garnish rim with sugar and an apple wedge.

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Got some leftover carrots after the big Thanksgiving feast? Here's a fun way to put 'em to good use:

Carrot Bloody Maria

Fresh carrot juice

Bloody Mary mix

2 ounces of Numi carrot curry savory tea-infused tequila

Worcestershire sauce

Tabasco sauce

Lime

Fresh vegetables (for garnish)

Black pepper

Preparation:Add tequila to a tall glass with ice, then fill the rest of the glass with half Bloody Mary mix and half carrot juice. Add a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce and the juice of half a lime. Mix with a spoon, sprinkle a little black pepper on the top and garnish with celery and fresh veggies.

To infuse liquor with tea, just fill a glass container with liquor in the amount that you need for your recipe. One tea bag is enough for up to 8 ounces of liquor. Seal your container with an airtight lid and store it in a dark area. Allow it to infuse for 48-72 hours before removing the tea bag.

Do you have a go-to Thanksgiving cocktail?

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Holiday Gift Guide 2013: Kate Spade Jewelry, J.Crew Sweaters & More Gifts For Her!

by Emily Popp Wed., Nov. 27, 2013 8:37 AM PST

Chances are you have a best galz friend, mom or sister on your holiday shopping list. Were we right? Thought so. Well, then check out our gift guide filled with presents for every girl on your list. We've scoured through all the stuff out there to create this selection of jaw-droppingly gorgeous presents she's sure to love.

Whatever kind of girl you're shopping for—whether it's for your glamorous best friend from New York who suffers from an animal print addiction or it's your artsy sister-in-law who runs her own gallery, we've got something for every taste.

We've got fantastic goodies like the latest from the RiRi Hearts MAC holiday collection, cozy sweaters from J.Crew and some festive Kate Spade bling. Even the most notorious gift-returner in your family won't be saving the receipt from any of these picks, because they're just that awesome. 

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Celeb Nutritionist Kimberly Snyder Shares Healthy Tips to Avoid Holiday Weight Gain

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Ah, Thanksgiving…the festive holiday filled with decadent dishes, sweet treats and plenty of trimmings to go around!

And while the main attraction is certainly the meal (and those leftovers!), that celebratory day of eating isn't so friendly for the waistline.

If you're being mindful of a diet, or simply want to make sure you don't overdo it this year, we're got some savvy tips to help you through the long weekend!

We tapped celebrity nutritionist Kimberly Snyder, author of The Beauty Detox Foods: Discover the Top 50 Beauty Foods That Will Transform Your Body and Reveal a More Beautiful You, as well as the owner of her very own juice bar in Los Angeles, Glow Bio, for her healthy tips for staying on track this season.

Here's what she shared with us:

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Thanksgiving is such a decadent day of eating! How do you make sure you enjoy the holiday without sabotaging your diet?
Keep your routine as healthy as possible at the beginning of the day. I think it is important to still keep your hot water with lemon or to drink the Glowing Green Smoothie. If you start the day on a good foot, it gets much easier to resist temptations or to give in to everything around you.
If you start the day with a donut and you start having lattes then the rest of your day you're just not going to feel good and be in the position of power.

How do you resist temptation at social functions such as holiday parties?
I would say make sure you're hydrated when you arrive so you're not feeling hungry, which can lead to snacking. Start with raw veggies, which have a lot of fiber and enzymes which just act like a natural form of calorie restrictions and portion control just to fill up on those first.

Avoid eating nuts because party nuts are almost always roasted and denatured and full of salt or really fattening. When you're at a party, you forget how much you're eating and you can end up eating thousands calorie worth of roasted nuts and not even realize it, so that's really important.

During the holidays a lot of us tend to get more sweet cravings and want to have more treats. I think a really good trick is to keep in your car or your purse, a little bit of dark chocolate. That way at the end of the evening or the end of a party or out at a day of shopping and you're stressed, just that little bit of dark chocolate will help to wipe out your sweet craving, so you're not reaching for that cake or that cupcake or something you'll regret later.

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Tell us what's on your Thanksgiving plate.
I love all the different veggie sides. I always make some type of sweet potato dish, which is always really grounding and delicious and full or keratin. Entrée-wise, I like to make this stuffed acorn squash. It's made with gluten-free breadcrumbs and all kinds of veggies and spices and herbs and it really tastes like real stuffing and I either put it in squash or I bake it and put it in a cabbage wedge and I bake it and it's really delicious and yummy!

For sweet cravings, I make a healthy hot chocolate with unsweetened almond milk and Stevia and raw cacao powder.  It's warm and it's comforting, especially at the end of your shopping day when you're stressed.

Sounds delish! Finally, if someone overdid it on Thanksgiving, what's your best advice for detoxing the next day?
Start with hot water with lemon. Start to hydrate. Don't eat heavy food in the morning. I would say the next day cut fat because fat starts to slow cleansing. You don't want to have any oil that next day. You just want to let all that fat that's circulating in your blood stream start to clear out. There's a relationship between fat and sugar and keeping your insulin levels up.  Have hot water with lemon, have the Glowing Green Smoothie, have some fiber to help push things out with all the greens in it. I would have a pureed soup or a hearty and filling salad. No olive oil, no oil of any kind…just keep it really low fat. Keep it simple!

And there you have it! 

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