As soon as I blustered out of the blizzard and into a Winter Solstice party last weekend, the hostess offered me some mulled wine. "How festive!" I thought, and gladly accepted the warm mug of delicious cinnamon-, cardamom-, and clove-infused brew. I was making my way to the bottom of the cup pretty quickly until I listened to this startling stream of comments from various people: "That stuff packs a punch!" "I was hungover four three days last time I drank Claire's mulled wine!" "Watch out!"

The concoction tasted innocous enough to me, so I asked Claire what was in it. "Oh..., let's see, brandy, port, and...some rum." Brandy, port, and rum?? Rum?! My most feared beverage?! I had assumed that mulled "wine" meant it was made with just wine. I dashed straight to the food table to inhale my proven hangover preventer (Cheese. Lots and lots of cheese.), and then considerably slowed my mulled wine consumption pace.

The next day I awoke hangover-free (thank you, my dear friend Camembert, with props to your cohort bread and your buddy water) and asked Claire for the recipe. She pointed me to the Glug recipe from Global Gourmet, and suggested it should come with a potency warning. I highly recommend the glug (and the warning) for your next party. If you'd like something with all of the winter holiday spirit but a little less of the alcoholic spirits, try one of the mulled wine recipes from Epicurious.  (If you go for the glug, make sure to also supply plenty of cheese and/or point your guests to our list of hangover cures.)

Pictured: Mulled Red Wine

As I've discussed in previous installments of this series of Holiday Season Healthy-Eating Tips, there's more to staying well this time of year than just avoiding overeating and overdrinking. What you do eat is just as important as what you don't eat (and the "shoulds" are more fun to think about than the "shouldn'ts," don't you agree?).

So I was pleased to see tip number five from active.com's 10 Strategies to Prevent the Holiday Bulge: Take advantage of "nutritionally dense holiday foods." The article's author, Kim Mueller, M.S., R.D., suggests five vitamin- and nutrient-rich ingredients that are also festive. Read on for her list, plus links to healthy recipes from Epicurious for each one. (Hint: A couple of the foods are featured in the Roasted Squash, Chestnut, and Chicory Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette recipe pictured here).

Epicurious's Holiday Healthy Eating Guide has tons of tips on avoiding overindulging and gaining weight during the holiday season. Our sister site Nutrition Data offers more advice in a Holiday Party Survival Guide. Now I'm not suggesting that you throw all of these healthy eating ideas out the window (after all, I wrote some of those tips!), but I do think at this, the height of the party season, it's okay to cut yourself a little slack. Blow off a rule or two (or ten).

Consider this fact: The average American gains only one pound between Thanksgiving and New Year's, according to the article Simple Strategies for Holiday Eating from Self magazine. The same article suggests substituting your favorite seasonal treats (e.g., your mom's pecan pie) for your usual treats. Also keep in mind that a couple of calorie blow-outs in a holiday season will not make you instantly double in size.

I'll be following the "slack" rule as I dash from party to party this weekend sampling Christmas cookies, latkes, holiday hors d'oeuvres, fudge, and cheese plates at each stop. And, hey, all of that dashing should burn off a few calories (which reminds me of the last item in our Holiday Healthy Eating Guide: Add exercise whenever you can).

Pictured recipes: Mini Crab Cakes and Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

When I read the headline Could a Reveillon dinner help you fight the flu? on Anne Berry's blog, the New Orleans Healthy Restaurant Examiner, I imagined a meal composed of a giant plate of some sort of cold medicine or supplement called "Reveillon." I could hear the "Revive with Reveillon!" tagline in my head.

Even though I have roots in Louisiana (it's my mother's home state), I had never heard of the tradition of Reveillon: "During December, New Orleans restaurants host these prix fixe feasts, featuring Creole and seasonal foods," explains Berry in her blog. Berry had read my article about flu-fighting foods and noticed that a number of the immunity-boosting ingredients (including apples, onions, chiles, and citrus) were showing up on Reveillon menus around New Orleans. Leave it to a Louisianan to find a health reason to eat chicken and andouille gumbo or roasted goose with braised red cabbage and apples.

Berry's blog also reminded me that sometimes one of the healthiest things you can do when it comes to food is put aside your stress and enjoy a nice long, leisurely meal with good friends, and, as they say in New Orleans, laissez les bon temps rouler! If your meal happens to have a few immunity-boosting ingredients, all the better.

Having a "calories be damned" kind of day? Then you'll want to dig right into one of the pull-out-the-stops "splurge day" recipes in our new feature Comfort Food Recipes for Splurge Days or Any Day. We've got recipes for burgers topped with bacon, cheese, and a creamy sauce; crispy deep-fried chicken; pudding made with heavy cream; and 12 more decadent dishes.

But we haven't forgotten about you and your comfort food needs if you're watching your calories, fat, cholesterol, or sugar today. Step aside iceberg lettuce salad and carrot sticks and make way for one of our diet-friendly healthy comfort food recipes. For each "splurge day" dish, we have a less caloric, but no less delicious, "any day" counterpart: a bison burger with a creamy low-cal sauce; crispy "unfried" chicken; deceptively rich-tasting chocolate-hazelnut pudding made with low-fat milk; and a dozen more main courses, sides, and desserts.

What are your favorite "splurge day" and "any day" comfort foods?

If it's getting to be that time of the holiday season when you're feeling a bit bloated and gross and you want to clean up your diet for a few days, check out our Detox Diet Recipes and Tips. For the feature, I interviewed the star of 30 Days, Morgan Spurlock, and his wife, Alex Jamieson, who is a holistic health counselor, chef, and the author of The Great American Detox Diet. The two shared tips and recipes from the eating plan that Jamieson developed to help Spurlock lose weight and return to wellness after he ate nothing but food from McDonald's for 30 days for the movie Super Size Me. Jamieson helped Spurlock lose the 25 pounds he gained during the filming. "I truly believe that she helped save my life by nursing my body back to health with care, kindness, and delicious food," he says.

Do you ever feel like you need a few days of "clean eating"? If so, what are your go-to recipes?

For more ideas on eating well throughout the rest of 2009, check out our complete list of Holiday Healthy-Eating Tips and Light Party Recipes.

We're planning a feature for Valentine's Day about how to throw a mixer for singles, and we need your help. Have you been to or hosted a great party for singles? How about one where things went a little (or a lot) wrong? Please share your stories and your "dos" and "don'ts" when it comes to food, drinks, decorations, setting the scene, and music. Should the food be garlic-free? Should there be meet-and-greet games? Should you play slow-dancing songs or booty-shaking music? Please tell us what works, and what doesn't, in the comments section, below.

It seems like every week another gourmet street cart or truck appears on the scene in New York or L.A. As a New Yorker I only have to go a few blocks from my office or apartment to feast on wafels, ice cream, dumplings, coffee, cookies, and grass-fed beef burgers.

The latest street food news: Ketel One-branded trucks dispensing free chef-made food will be in New York from today (December 3) through December 5, then moving to Chicago December 10 to 12, then L.A. December 17 to 19. The New York chef is Michael Psilakis (pictured), who was also at Epicurious Entertains NYC. Rick Bayless, who has blogged for Epicurious, is the Chicago chef; and Ilan Hall is the L.A. chef. In addition to free food, Ketel One will be offering free rides home (to promote responsible drinking over the holidays).  The locations and menus are below.

Whether you're shopping online today, Cyber Monday, or just browsing for gift ideas, food makes a perfect present, and not just for the usual "showing your love through cooking" reason (though that's a good one too). Edible gifts are ideal because they disappear. That means there's no struggle on the part of the giver to figure out the right size and color of sweater that the giftee will be wearing for years to come, and no guilt on the part of the receiver about how long to wait before donating said ill-fitting sweater to Goodwill. All there is to do is eat and enjoy (even regifting will bring joy to somebody).

Epicurious's new Edible Christmas Gifts to Make or Buy slideshow features recipes for a dozen edible gifts, plus online sources for the best alternatives to homemade. Our picks include a make-it recipe for Bittersweet Chocolate and Walnut Fudge with a buy-it option from Murdick's Fudge (both pictured above). Other gifts include jam, chocolate truffles, New Orleans pralines, Cheddar shortbread, and lemon liqueur. Click through the edible gift slideshow and let us know what you are planning to make or buy for the holidays this year.

As my coworker Sarah Kagan discussed in the Epi-Log earlier today, one of the greatest things about Thanksgiving is the leftovers. If you're looking for a light or nutritious meal today or tomorrow, try one of these healthy recipes for Thanksgiving leftovers, below (many of them call for deli turkey, but you can simply substitute sliced or shredded Thanksgiving turkey).

Turkey Roll-Ups with Blueberry Salsa: Blueberries are bursting with antioxidants, and the recipe also calls for curry powder, which contains cancer-fighting turmeric.

Turkey Chili: Hot peppers have anti-inflammatory properties, and beans add filling, heart-healthy fiber.

Turkey Chopped Salad with Spicy Avocado Dressing: Avocados provide healthy fats and red peppers are loaded with vitamin C, which can help your body fight the flu.

Smoked Turkey, Plum, and Fennel Salad: Fennel is believed to aid digestion. It's also a very good source of potassium, which can help lower blood pressure.

Turkey Pinwheels: The spinach in these wraps (pictured above) adds color, iron, and a dose of stress-fighting magnesium.

Smoked Turkey, Black Bean, Bell Pepper, and Corn Salad:  Follow the eat-the-rainbow principle with this colorful, veggie-filled salad. Its tomatoes, peppers, arugula, and herbs provide a broad range of nutrients and antioxidants.

Also try substituting turkey for healthy recipes that call for rotisserie chicken.