Try this spiced Cranberry Cocktail from SarahsJoys.com.
The special difference is simple syrup infused with allspice, cloves, fresh ginger, cinnamon and fresh cranberries; then blend with vodka and a splash of club soda. The cranberries and mint leaf are a perfect holiday garnish.
The simple syrup can be made in advance (just simmer in a saucepan) and stored in the fridge.
RECIPE: CHRISTMAS COCKTAIL
Ingredients For Simple Syrup
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
12 whole allspice berries
12 whole cloves
The cocktail that shouts “Christmas!” Photo courtesy SarahsJoys.com.
1 to 1-1/2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
3 cinnamon sticks
1-1/2 cups fresh cranberries
Ingredients Per Drink
1 ounce cranberry syrup
2 ounces vodka
2 ounces club soda
Optional: 1/2 ounce triple sec or other orange liqueur
Ice
Garnish: uncooked whole cranberries and mint leaves
Preparation
1. MAKE simple syrup. Inspect your spices to be sure they are fresh. Allspice that’s been on your shelf for years won’t pack much of a punch.
2. COMBINE water, sugar, allspice, cloves, ginger and cinnamon in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer. When the sugar has dissolved, add the cranberries. Bring to a boil and boil until the cranberries pop, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to steep for one hour. Then strain mixture through a fine sieve, gently pressing with the back of a rubber spatula or wood spoon to extract the juices. Cool and refrigerate until ready to make drink.
3. COMBINE the cranberry syrup, optional triple sec and vodka in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously for 10 seconds. Fill a rocks glass with ice and strain the contents of the cocktail shaker into the glass. Top with club soda. Garnish and serve.
Here’s the full recipe with step-by-step photos.
Mom’s Lime Gelatin Mold with sour cream and pineapple. Photo courtesy PleaseBeSeated.Wordpress.com.
Mom’s recipe for a Pineapple-Lime Gelatin Mold has been part of our holiday for decades. The recipe arrived way back in the 1960s, on a box of lime Jell-O (we think). Made in a fluted mold, it became a family favorite at Christmas and Easter.
Mom served it as a side with the turkey or ham; we enjoyed the leftovers as a sweet snack or dessert. And as simple as it is, it’s a favorite of our foodie friends, who invariably ask for the recipe.
Alas, we didn’t have time to make it and shoot Mom’s recipe, so we’re grateful for the use of this photo from the blog Please Be Seated. It’s actually a different recipe—a cucumber lime mold—but it looks close enough. You can even use the cucumber slices and parsley as shown.
1. DISSOLVE gelatin in water a large bowl. Stir in pineapple; cover and refrigerate until syrupy.
2. WHISK in sour cream; add pecans. Transfer to a 6-cup ring mold coated with cooking spray. Cover and refrigerate until firm. Unmold onto a serving plate.
3. BRING to table plain or filled with optional garnish.
RECIPE: CRANBROSIA CRANBERRY-ORANGE GELATIN MOLD
Ingredients For 10-12 Servings
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, coarsely ground
Cranbrosia: cranberries, oranges, pineapple and sour cream. Photo and recipe courtesy Taste Of Home.
Preparation
1. COMBINE combine cranberries and sugar in a bowl. Let stand for 30 minutes or until sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally.
2. DRAIN juice from oranges and pineapple, reserving 3/4 cup juice. Cut pineapple into small pieces. Set fruit aside.
3. SPRINKLE gelatin over reserved juice in a small saucepan; let stand for 1 minute. Cook and stir over low heat until gelatin is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Add to cranberry mixture; stir in the oranges and pineapple. Fold in sour cream.
4. BEAT cream until in a small bowl until it begins to thicken. Add confectioners’ sugar; beat until soft peaks form. Fold into fruit mixture. Pour into a 6-cup ring mold or 12 individual molds lightly coated with cooking spray. Refrigerate until set. Unmold before serving.
Your own holiday bottling of cranberry infused vodka. Photo courtesy Prairie Organic Spirits.
Make cranberry vodka to bring as a house gift or place on your own bar. It will be ready in three to four days.
It’s easy to craft your own cranberry vodka infusion. Instead of vodka, you can use silver tequila, genever, Plymouth gin or a London gin with a low level of aromatics.
This recipe is courtesy Prairie Organic Spirits, which makes both organic gin and vodka (including cucumber-infused vodka) in Minnesota.
The vodka is handcrafted with single vintage organic corn. The line is certified organic by the USDA, which ensures that no genetically modified seeds, chemical fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides are used. The price: just $19.99 for a 750 ml bottle.
RECIPE: CRANBERRY CLOVE INFUSED VODKA
Ingredients
Whole fresh cranberries
Whole cloves
Vodka
Preparation
1. POUR 1/3 of the vodka into a pitcher or a measuring cup with a spout and set aside.
2. FILL the empty bottle space with cranberries and cloves.
3. TOP OFF the bottle with the reserved vodka and tightly securing the cap.
4. STORE in the fridge or in dark, cool space for three to four days. Then, it’s ready to serve.
MORE INFUSED VODKA RECIPES
How about:
Espresso-Cinnamon for Valentine’s Day
Jalapeño-Horseradish-Garlic for Cinco de Mayo
Honeycrisp Apple for Mother’s Day
Lemon Lime for Spring
Orange-Tangerine for Winter
Strawberry Basil for Summer
It’s easy to infuse vodka: Just add simple ingredient to the bottle. Photo courtesy Prairie Organic Spirits.
Gingerbread cupcakes with “gingerbread cookie” frosting and a gingersnap cookie garnish. Photo courtesy Pillsbury.
If you want gingerbread for Christmas Eve but don’t want the chore of rolling out gingerbread men, these easy gingerbread cupcakes from Pillsbury will also delight.
The frosting is made from Biscoff Spread,* ground spice (spéculoos) cookies in a creamy base. In Europe, it’s called spéculoos spread.
The all-natural, nut-free spread is made of 57% ground spéculoos cookies (the national cookie of Belgium). And it is luscious.
Unless you have some relationship to Belgium, France or Holland—or fly Delta Airlines, where they are served as a snack—you may not have heard of spéculoos (SPECK-you-loose; in Dutch, it’s speculaas, pronounced SPECK-e-lahs) cookies. In the U.S. they have been sold as Dutch Windmill cookies.
You can find Biscoff Spread in the peanut butter section. Trader Joe’s carries a private label version called Cookie Butter.
RECIPE: GINGERBREAD CUPCAKES
Ingredients
1 roll (30 ounces) Pillsbury refrigerated gingerbread cookies
4 eggs
Optional: extra roll Pillsbury refrigerated gingerbread cookies to bake into gingersnap garnishes
Muffin pan
Paper baking cups
For The Frosting
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup Biscoff/Cookie Butter Spread
2-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup whipping cream
Pinch of salt
Preparation
1. PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Place a paper baking cup in each of 10 regular-size muffin cups.
2. BRING refrigerated cookie dough to room temperature (let stand on counter for about 10 minutes). Then break up in a large bowl. Add eggs and beat with electric mixer on medium speed until well combined and smooth. Spoon into baking cups.
3. BAKE 14 to 16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean. Remove muffin cups from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile…
4. MAKE the frosting. Beat the butter and cookie butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar, whipping cream and salt until fluffy. Place in decorating bag fitted with large star tip. Pipe frosting on top of cooled cupcakes.
5. GARNISH with a gingersnap cookie.
*The name is a truncation of “biscuits for coffee.”
Here’s a tasty first course in Christmas colors. It’s one of the many recipes on TheAmazingAvocado.com.
RECIPE: ROASTED BEET, AVOCADO & GRANNY SMITH APPLE TOWERS
Ingredients For 6 Servings
3 medium beets, scrubbed with leaves trimmed
1 medium size, ripe Haas avocados
2 Granny Smith apples, diameter close to apples
½ cups goat cheese, crumbled
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
Optional:¼ cups parsley, roughly chopped
Optional: 2 tablespooons pine nuts
Lemon juice as needed
Preparation
1. PREHEAT oven to 375°F. WASH and scrub the beets. Pat dry.
Festive starter: a Beet, Avocado and Apple Tower. Photo courtesy The Amazing Avocado.
2. PLACE beets on large piece of aluminum foil. Lightly coat with olive oil. Add dash of salt and pepper. For even roasting, wrap foil over, covering beets completely, and crimp ends. Roast until cooked through, 30- 50 minutes. Remove, uncover and let cool. Do not discard oil in the foil; you can use it later as dressing.
3. CUT the avocados in half lengthwise and remove the pit and skin. Place the flat side down on a cutting board. Slice horizontally. Squeeze lemon juice on to prevent browning. Cut Granny Smith apple the same way, but leave skin on. Squeeze lemon juice on to prevent browning.
4. COOL beets until you can handle them. Slip their peels off using your fingers or a paring knife. Slice crosswise. Stack on plate alternating beets, apples and avocados.
5. SPRINKLE crumbled goat cheese over top. Garnish with parsley and pine nuts if desired. Drizzle the used olive oil from roasting and the rest of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
