By Martha Wright, Founder of Clear Power Coaching
As a former winery owner, I was quite on board with the culturally-accepted norm that a good bottle of wine or Champagne (or whiskey) is the ultimate gift. It’s the price of admission. It makes the host squeal or say “oh, very nice,” nod approvingly, and swing the door open to let you in.
When we’re drinking less or not at all, how do we get over that long-baked belief that alcohol = holiday indulgence, celebration, and largesse?
Alcohol as an easy button
When we stop to think about it, in popping the cork, we were relying on an easy button: asking alcohol to do a lot of jobs. We were asking alcohol to bring the festivity, make the connection, create the mood, build the bond, and inject purpose and meaning.
But when we open our eyes and our minds, there are many more routes to pleasure via flavor than alcohol—ones that involve more diversity, more fun, more inspiration, and even more inclusivity (since you don’t have to be a certain age to indulge in them).
Doubling down on sensory pleasures
One of my secrets is to double down on the pursuit of sensory pleasures in the realm of wining and dining, not to retreat from them. I’m not at all recommending that we just swap one dependency for another. That said, food can be fun, playful, joyful, indulgent, decadent, sensuous, exciting, daring, and loving. Shopping for, cleaning, cutting, cooking, and plating food involves our senses of touch, sight, smell, taste, and hearing. Foods can involve stretching our knowledge or abilities, learning about a tradition, and even a friendly throw-down—something fun to consider for the holidays!
Getting creative
I had fun this week shopping for, staging, photographing, and eating a fruit still life. I’ve never bought, peeled, and eaten lychee, and it was a total revelation to me. It tastes like roses and a tropical melon. Persimmons also are a recent discovery and I love their mango-like, warm, spiced sweetness. I still remember a persimmon bread pudding that my college roommate’s mother made for me one year when I couldn’t go home to my own parents’ for Thanksgiving. I felt welcomed and loved by that dish in a way that alcohol could never match.
Hosting ideas that don’t involve alcohol
We tend to forget how simple it can be. If you invite people over for a hot out-of-the-oven bread and butter tasting… they’ll come. They’ll come for a pajama pancake dance party, too! Ever been to a tamale making party? Great conversations happen when we sit together and our hands are busy.
For a party, try taking over a beautiful wooden tray with cut up figs, persimmons, lychee and pears, combined with a dark chocolate dip, and/or whipped feta, honey, and just-roasted walnuts. Or an assortment of imported cheese with a chutney, or cranberry or fig jam.
No one will turn you down if you offer to make crab dip, cookie dough, chocolate mousse, dumplings, artichokes with aioli, charcuterie, or bacon-wrapped dates. And even better, make it a group activity or DIY bar.
Speaking of bars, why not set up a DIY non-alcoholic cocktail bar? Think garnishes, citrus, muddlers, non-alc spirits, bitters, and juice for margaritas, French 75s, or Bloody Marys. And if you want to show up with a bottle, the non-alc options have exploded. You can even find wine proxies loved by sommeliers and Michelin-starred chefs!
Here’s to a luscious season
When we get a little distance from it, a wine-only agenda starts to feel less imaginative and actually dulls our ability to taste and fully savor life’s flavors. The more we are satiated, inspired, having fun, and filled up, the less appeal alcohol holds. Wishing you a luscious season!
About the author
Martha Wright is a New Orleans-born wine industry veteran turned sobriety/mindful drinking coach working in small groups and 1:1 in her own practice, Clear Power Coaching, as well as serving as Senior Coach within This Naked Mind. Using her background as a winemaker and right-hand to Food Network chefs, her unique path to regaining control focuses on kicking up the lusciousness and fun in our lives (plus, of course, understanding the neuroscience of habits, uncovering unconscious beliefs, and honing coping tools). She splits her time between Paris, Portland, Oregon, and New Orleans where you can find her sleuthing out the best street-food markets, coffee shops, and non-alcoholic venues, hosting non-alc meet-ups, or playing ping pong.
Martha has a brand-new, neuroscience-based course called Luscious 30. It makes taking a month-long alcohol break a joy—not a drag. Save $50 when you use code DRYATLAS50.
