It’s December 10th, and the holidays are in full swing. Parties are everywhere, and it even freaking snowed. In fact, it snowed so much that school was cancelled for my kiddos on both Thursday and Friday…I mean, seriously, it was a total blizzard: I mean an entire INCH of snow…Do you have any idea how TERRIFYING that is???? Shit! who KNOWS what could happen in a blizzard like that! If there’s a snowflake on the weather.com app, that certainly is grounds for shutting the entire city down, right? *insert eye roll*
Oh, Portland, how I love thee! (Ok, fine: to be fair, in Portland snow turns to ice….and the roads turn into ice skating rinks…and while ice skating rinks are great for hockey, they aren’t great for driving).
All that to say, there was a lot of time spent at home the last few days, and by this evening I was more than ready to head to the Rose City Rollers Wrecker’s Christmas Party. I had dropped the ball on signing up for the Secret Santa thing – even though I totally would have done it if I would have freaking taken even just two seconds to think about it – and we feeling like maybe I should just stay home…but I knew my derby wife (my BFF who also plays derby…or is she a derby play who is also my BFF???? Not sure exactly how to define that) was coming over for dinner, so rallied a bit and threw something together in the kitchen so I didn’t arrive empty handed.
I turned to an old faithful holiday favorite from my old blog, Deer Park Farms and pumped out a quick batch of Cranberry Elixir deliciousness. This stuff is so damn versatile and yummy…I try to always have some in the fridge over the holiday season.
For the party tonight, I used the elixir to make a large batch of Cranberry Pear Martinis and for those of us who prefer non-alcoholic beverages, a spectacularly popular Cranberry-Pom Lime Mocktail. All were welcomed with open arms…..errrrrr….mouths and bellies.
Cranberry Elixir
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 to 2 cups fresh cranberries
- 1 cup water
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 5 whole cloves
- 5 whole allspice berries
Instructions
Place spices in cheesecloth or spice bag and tie tightly with kitchen twine.
Place cranberries, water and sugar into a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the berries begin to break apart (about 15 minutes).
Strain through a fine sieve (I use a metal coffee filter) and allow to drain for about an hour. Bottle and refrigerate. Add to mocktails, champagne, vodka, or apple cider for a taste of the holidays right in your glass!
