December is a rare moment of downtime for Gabrielle Union. The actress, author, and entrepreneur spends the month with her husband Dwyane Wade and children, hosting family and friends at home in California before taking off for their annual Christmas trip to Hawaii.
"Our chef who has been [my husband] Dwyane’s personal chef for 16 years — Chef Richard Ingraham — he always does really amazing pairings for the holidays," Union, who has a partnership with CÎROC, tells BAZAAR.com. "This year we created this really freakin' delicious menu of some of our favorite comfort foods. We’re going big — all comfort food with fun little twists and these creative pairings with the CÎROC Pomegranate. We’re doing this chocolate toffee bread pudding with creme anglaise — girl!"
Wade and Union always have a signature cocktail at their parties, and this year's is the CÎROC Pomegranate Jewel. "It’s the perfect combo of sweet and fizzy and pairs nicely with the rich chocolate toffee bread pudding. Usually when you think of jewels you think of them as rare, beautiful, shiny, expensive, exquisite — and that’s definitely the essence of this drink."
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But while you can definitely expect a lavish spread on Union's dinner table, you'll never see her clad in a Christmas sweater for the occasion. "Thanks to climate change it’s like 90 degrees in LA right now," says Union. "So this West Coast Christmas, I might be in a bikini! We usually spend the holidays in Hawaii where it's even hotter. If I wake up on Christmas morning in a string bikini, it’s gonna be a good day."
Beyond spending her holidays by the pool, Union has some deeper resolutions for the upcoming season. "Prioritizing only passion projects [is my goal for the new year]," she says. "I really want to try and guard my peace and my grace and that inner good will we all have that can go really fast when you feel overextended. That's really what I want more of. A lot of projects of mine got backed up because of COVID, but I will be back on your screens next year. With everything that I do, I want to make sure that peace and love and compassion and grace are in the mix."
Below, Gabrielle Union shares her new favorite cocktail recipe for the season.
CÎROC Pom Jewel
Ingredients
- 1 oz. CÎROC Pomegranate
- .5 oz. Grenadine
- Sparkling Wine
- Lemon
Method
1. Add CÎROC Pomegranate and grenadine to a flute glass.
2. Top off with sparkling wine and stir.
3. Garnish with lemon twist.
Bianca Betancourt is the culture editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com, where she covers all things film, TV, music, and more. When she's not writing, she loves impulsively baking a batch of cookies, re-listening to the same early-2000s pop playlist, and stalking Mariah Carey's Twitter feed.
