This is just about the prettiest punch you can make this holiday season.
Don’t you think?
It makes use of everything wintry and wonderful and worth celebrating: pomegranate (both the juice and the arils), mint leaves for a pop of festive color, Meyer lemons – which are seasonal and just.the.best, and champagne – a celebration in itself. Plus, it’s served in a punch bowl. Guys, this is pretty much a guaranteed good time.
Merry Christmas Eve!
I’ve got a rad little last-minute idea for you. It’s super, super-simple. You’ll need fresh cranberries, mint, and an ice cube tray.
I bet you’re smart enough to figure out what’s happening here.
Yep, a cranberry and a couple of mint leaves go right into each of the ice cube cells. Fill with water – or, if you’re making something with lemon or lime in it, you could use a mixture of citrus and water. I think it’s best to stick with a relatively clear drink – because you want to see the pretty red and green party in the glass. White wine or champagne are a perfect vehicle.
The time to freeze varies depending on your freezer and the size of the ice cube tray, but you should be good in a few hours.
I got off, like, ridiculously easy this year. I was going to make this insane tiramisu eggnog trifle, but instead I was gifted a beautiful cheesecake that we’re going to enjoy.
All I’m in charge of is, as always, the cocktail – I’m making this gorgeous pomegranate-champagne punch – and putting together Ina’s sopressata and gruyère puff pastry appetizer from her latest cookbook, How Easy Is That?.
I mean, seriously…how easy is that?
*Cheers* and happy holidays to all!
I’d like to be able to tell you these cookies are a breeze to make.
They’re not.
Would you believe me if I told you they’re worth it? They beat out at least 20 other cookies – rather de-licious cookies, I might add – at this year’s cookie exchange.
{Though I won’t lie – I know it has something to do with the torta. I wonder if an appetizer exchange party might be the next big thing?}
Seriously though…aren’t you proud of me for keeping my word and bringing you these lovely cookies this year? I’m not sure how much time you’ll have to make them before Christmas, because you need at least two days for these precious little gems – even if most of it is downtime.
Guys…what if I told you I had found the single greatest Christmas appetizer you could ever wish for?
Because I did.
This is a torta. What’s a torta, you ask? Why, many people think of a torta as a cake! And it kind of is…only this is a cake made out of sun-dried tomato, pesto, and cream cheese – okay, and a smidge of butter. Does this sound like your kind of cake? Trust me when I say, this is everyone’s kind of cake.
It’s definitely Santa’s type of a cake. Does it get more festive than these beautiful shades of white, red, and green? It does not, I can assure you. But more importantly – it doesn’t get any more delicious, either.
Today, my girlfriends and I are hosting our second annual cookie exchange!
I figured this would be the perfect time to show you the cookies I made…last year.
C’mon guys…you know I’m perpetually late to the game when it comes to posting recipes. If a recipe is extremely seasonal, for example, and I miss the boat on posting it in time, I’ll opt to save it for next year – as is the case with many holiday recipes. These I could’ve posted anytime, because who said red velvet is only for Christmas? It’s also perfect for Valentine’s Day, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday – there are endless opportunities to enjoy red velvet!
Is it normal to eat pound cake for breakfast?
Seriously…I’m confused about pound cake’s purpose in life. Is it supposed to be eaten as dessert? All this coming from a person who eats cupcakes for breakfast.
Hi. Clearly, I don’t follow the rules.
But at least I know what the rules are supposed to be for cupcakes…pound cake, I’m not so sure. Pound cake doesn’t seem like something I want to eat for dessert. It doesn’t seem rich enough. Right – because a cake that gets its name from being comprised of one pound of butter, one pound of sugar, and one pound of eggs isn’t rich.
Let me backtrack here. Pound cake is rich…fine. I’ll give you that. But something about it just screams breakfast to me. Is that wrong? I don’t think so. These pound cakes are especially nice for breakfast because they taste like eggnog. And they’re dripping in a rummy-nog glaze. Rum for breakfast? I’m in.
The other day I came across an article on what your drink says about you.
You know vodka-cran made an appearance on the list. And what’d they have to say about it? “When in doubt, you stick to what you drank in college.” And it’s true – I definitely drank my share of vodka-cran in college. So much so, that the thought of it makes me cringe a just a bit. I’ll still have one if it’s completely necessary, but these days I’ll take it with soda water and just a splash of cran.
This is not the college variety of vodka-cran. This is the older, cooler sibling. It’s the adult version, and it’s a reason to appreciate getting older – because this cocktail totally kicks the other’s ass.
You’re essentially making your own cranberry juice by cooking down fresh cranberries with water and sugar. This is the key, because I’m really not a fan of the artificial flavoring of cranberry juice cocktail – which is really, like, a doctored-up apple juice. So fresh cranberries, right, in all their tangy glory…and then we pop in some beautifully woodsy rosemary sprigs for a little infusion. The combination of the two is strikingly perfect, and yes – the color combo makes this punch as holiday-festive as it gets.
If you’re in need of something to get you into the holiday spirit, nothing gets the job done quite like tree trimming.
{Though I can imagine, if you’re not in the holiday spirit, you might not be looking to get into it}
I think tree trimming needs to happen the weekend after Thanksgiving, and here’s why: I want to get the most out of my tree, my decorations – my favorite time of the year. I totally get it if you’re exhausted after Thanksgiving and the last thing you want to think about is
Christmas decorations…you know, getting those life-sized boxes from the attic, lugging them down and…
So…let’s talk holidays. Holiday baking, to be exact.
Have you been baking all sorts of fantastic goodies in your kitchen lately? I bet you have. You’ve probably been very busy back there, you know, baking cookies for cookie exchanges, for your neighbors and friends…for, ahem, yourself.
Not yet, you say? Perhaps I am a bit early here – it is only the first full week of December. Last week, we were still kindasorta in November. Last week, you were living in sweatpants after stuffing yourself silly with deep-fried turkey skin turkey, oyster stuffing with tons of fresh herbs, the creamiest homemade salted caramel ice cream ever, and waaaaay too much apple-cinnamon sangria.
Nevermind. That was me. I supposed I got confused for a second, because we’re just so…similar.
To start, we both love cookies.
Do we both love big, fat cookies packed with white chocolate, dried cranberries, and salty toasted macadamia nuts? I hope so.
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