The Weekly Wrap: January 18, 2026

I went out to dinner with one of my friends on Thursday. Whilst perusing the menu, I spotted a small list of mocktails. I try not to drink on weeknights, so I was overjoyed to see something fancy without the alcohol.

I selected the Apple Cinnamon Sparkler. It was a mix of apple cider, cinnamon simple syrup, and soda water. The mocktail had just the right amount of warming spice and fizz. Plus, it came with a cinnamon stick!

This is why I love that mocktails are a thing. I hope they're a trend with staying power.

Sometimes I don’t want alcohol, but I also don’t want to default to water or soda. Mocktails give me a choice, and let me order something that still feels special. Also, not everyone drinks. Seeing mocktails on a menu is a small but meaningful signal that everyone can partake.

Also, bartenders can be rather innovate when building their drinks. There's so much you can do with mixers and syrups and bubbles.

What do you like to drink?

---

• Should you put venison on your plate? [The Atlantic - gift link]
• AI doesn't think. It's a prediction machine. [The Atlantic - gift link]
• Is your kiddo too sick to go to school. [WaPo - gift link]
• Put a librarian on a stamp! [Infophilia]
• "Do you tsundoku? Or do you tsundon’t?" [Sketchplanations]

• An emerging market of gun owners. [Up First]
• We should celebrate what our bodies can do. [The Academic Minute]
• We're growing up a lot longer than we think. [Short Wave]
• Making the world better for everyone. [Culture Study]
• Choosing to love. [The Daily] *Note - highly recommend

• PBS did it's job. [tawnyplatis]
• A brilliant innovation for hockey infrastructure. [tyler.m.webb]
• I didn't want to fall too far behind the cultural zeitgeist... so we started Heated Rivalry. It's as good as the hype! I very much love that it's a romance with a little bit of hockey thrown in. But no one told me about the utterly charming side quest romance in the third episode. I was so charmed by that! [HBO]  

• We didn't need to buy many ingredients for me to make garlic basil shrimp and grits. That was partly because I subbed the grits for the polenta we had on hand. (Tastes just as good!) This one is flavor packed, and I need to remember to make it more often. It's also a good use for the smaller sized shrimp. [Pinch of Yum]
• I'm using quesadillas to expand our kiddo's taste pallet. This week, it was cheesy kidney bean quesadillas. The cheese she loves plus some filling to make us adults happy. I love how fast these came together! Using a cup of frozen veggies is a great quick cooking hack. [Budget Bytes]
• For my lunch meal prep, I stirred up loaded bean salad. This very much tasted like a loaded baked potato salad. My only complaint is that the final version needed crunch. I know it's not part of the flavor profile, but tossing in a few stalks of chopped celery would help this one immensely. [Eating Well]