Cranberries | 20something cupcakes

festive cranberry-mint cubes.

December 24, 2011 — 1 Comment

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!

In Cocktails celebrate, christmas recipes, cranberries, drink garnishes, ice cubes, mint, white wine

the perfect {holiday} punch.

December 13, 2011 — 3 Comments

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.

In Cocktails celebrate, christmas recipes, cranberries, fresh herbs in cocktails, rosemary, vodka

cranberry-white chocolate {holiday} cookies.

December 6, 2011 — 1 Comment

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.

In Sweets + Treats christmas recipes, cookies, cranberries, macadamia nuts, white chocolate

the ultimate fall salad.

November 21, 2011 — 4 Comments

Salad on Thanksgiving?

Totally.

But – it has to be remarkable. It has to be…well, this one. It’s everything you could want in a salad this time of year: sweet cranberries, strips of crisp red onion, juicy Bosc pear wedges, and crunchy toasted hazelnuts. The combination of flavors and textures is spot on. There are a few extra – though painless – things you need to do, like soak your onions in water to remove the harsh bite, plump your cranberries in a bit of dressing, and then there are the hazelnuts – which always require that extra step of removing the skins…

In Dinner Party Worthy, Salad Bar cranberries, fall recipes, first-course salads, hazelnuts, pears, spinach, thanksgiving

At first, the idea of a cranberry tart did nothing for me. But once I read this recipe, I realized how genius it was.

For one, you don’t even need an oven for this tart. It’s about the easiest thing I’ve ever seen/eaten/made/done. For two, it’s completely adaptable. Fresh cranberries in the fall and winter, fresh raspberries or strawberries in the spring and summer…

The crust is made out of chocolate sandwich cookies (read: Oreos, though I did buy the Newman’s Own version after reading how the Pastry Queen herself recommends them due to lack of hydrogenated oils – that’s right! These are healthy cookies!) crushed up and mixed with melted butter; but – you could do a graham cracker crust, or gingersnap…heck, you could toss in whatever cookies you have on hand and I bet it would work.

The filling is a simple combination of cream, butter, and light corn syrup – heated and poured over chopped white chocolate, and then whisked into a creamy wonderland. Instead, you could go with dark chocolate. Or milk. You get the idea.

You can make this tart anyway you want! And you don’t even have to bake it!

It’s brilliant. A hidden gem.

So if the idea of cranberries doesn’t get you going, problem solved. Though I must say – the cranberries are delicious. I think they make this tart the perfect dessert for the holiday season. Garnish with a mint leaf and there you have it – Christmas in a tart pan. The creamy sweetness of the filling goes so perfectly with the tart cranberries. Everyone will be super-impressed. Like, beyond. Just look at how sexy this baby is. No one needs to know it took you less than ten minutes.

Oh, and sidenote – I cooked with fresh cranberries for the first time today. Does anyone know what happens when you eat a raw, fresh cranberry? I tried to dare Daniel but he refused. Wimp.

Head on over to Josie’s fabulous blog for the full recipe!

*The original recipe calls for 8 individual foil tart pans, which I couldn’t find, so I halved it and made it in one 9-inch tart pan. The recipe also says to refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight, and if you’re making a big tart like I did, you definitely want to go overnight. After 3 hours my tart was still…not ready for its close-up, as you can see from the photos.