Pomegranate and Orange Sangria

"It's that time of year...when the world falls in love. Every sound you hear seems to say...Merry Christmas! May your New Year dreams come true!" 

 

There's something about this sangria that makes me think of happy Christmas songs. Maybe it's because this sangria is so pretty and festive. Maybe it's because I made it for a Christmas party. Maybe it's because it's tastes wonderful and has alcohol in it. So many possibilities as to why...



Well, I guess it IS that time of year, isn't it? I mean, I'm not falling in love with a person, but I am falling in love with the Christmas spirit!

 

I got my Christmas tree this past weekend.

Tada! I named it Treevor, the Christmas tree. (And no, it's not small. I happen to be very tall.)

 

I also made Christmas cards this past weekend. People liked my handmade Christmas cards from last year, so I made some more this year (with different designs, of course!)

 

I also sang a lot of Christmas music yesterday with orchestra. Oh, and it snowed all day on Saturday.

 

I guess all these things are contributing to my Chritmas-y feeling. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...at least in my neck of the woods it is!

 

Are you getting ready for the 25th? If you're looking for a festive cocktail, this sangria is one of the best sangrias I've had. The addition of orange juice and pomegranate juice creates a subtly sweeter drink but the brandy, wine, and cinnamon stick equalize the sweetness so one is left with a smooth, tasty drink with a kick of spice.

Pomegranate and Orange Sangria (found at Completely Delicious)

1 bottle (750 ml) of red wine, like a Cabernet Sauvignon

1 cup (237 ml) brandy

1 cup (237 ml) pomegranate juice

1 cup (237 ml) freshly squeezed orange juice

1 orange, thinly sliced

1 pomegranate, arils removed

1 cup fresh cranberries

1 cinnamon stick

 

In a large pitcher, stir together the wine, brandy, pomegranate juice, and orange juice. Add orange slices, pomegranate arils, cranberries and cinnamon stick. Chill in the fridge for 2 hours. Serve with ice cubes. (Erika's Extra: I didn't serve with ice cubes since it was still nice and cold from the fridge.)

Bake well and prosper!

Brandy Slush (a great summer cocktail)

I had a lovely weekend.! I was busy doing things I wanted to do. Isn't that always nice? Most of my weekend involved hanging out with friends.

 

Friday night involved a birthday party at a beer garden.

 

On Saturday I hosted a poster making party.

I have been waiting for a summer party to be able to make these brandy slushes. When I tried this recipe in April in Texas, I fell in love with the slight tangy flavor created from the lemonade, oj, and tea mixed with the kick of alcohol. I knew my running buddies would enjoy them while making great running posters. I threw in some fun colorful straws and let the good times roll.

The good times ended up involving glitter which is now all over my apt. But it was worth it. Plus, the glitter is a visual reminder of the fun weekend. :)

Saturday night I went to an engagement/album release/going away party (for which I made this cake.)

 

Sunday morning I brought all the posters to Central Park. The other poster makers were running in to the park and I handed out the posters to their owners when they arrived to cheer on the racers.

Why am I dressed at a flapper you ask? Well, it's because after the race I went to Governor's Island for the Jazz Age Lawn Party.

I love Governor's Island and so does my best friend from college who came with me. We had so much fun! Maybe too much fun...

After all that fun, we headed back to my place and quenched our thirst with a brandy slush, naturally!

Miraculously after such a busy weekend, my aptartment was still rather clean. Can you imagine?

Also, since the Brandy Slush recipe yields a large amount, I've still got a container left in my freezer and ready to go for THIS weekend.

Brandy Slush(recipe from a friend of my family)
Make at least 12 hours in advance.

 

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

7 cups water

3 family size ice tea bags (about 9 normal sized teabags)

1 12 oz. can frozen orange juice

1 12 oz. can frozen lemonade

2+ cups brandy 

 

Mix the sugar and 5cups of water over the stove until the sugar is dissolved. Then cool.

 

Bring 2 cups of water to boil and add teabags. Steep covered until cool. Then add sugar water to tea along with the frozen OJ, frozen lemonade, and the brandy.

Stir until dissolved. Pour into plastic freezer containers (any size or shape will do), cover and freeze for at least 12 hours. 

 

When ready to serve, fill glass 2/3 full of slush and add ginger ale (or 7-Up) to fill glass. Stir a little with a fork and add a stemmed cherry (optional) and serve. Can also be served as a punch in a punch bowl.

Bake well and prosper!

A Perfect Summer Drink - Brandy Alexander WITH Nutella

Some of y'all might remember my Brandy Alexanders from last summer. Well, I was recently talking to people about Nutella and there was one man that was an enthusiast for the stuff. I mean, we were thinking up recipes to make with Nutella for 15 minutes!

And then...

I thought of something simple. Something so divine that it made both of us stop for a moment of silence to show reverence for my idea.

Add Nutella to my basic Brandy Alexander recipe.

I know. Amazing, right?

You're welcome for my sharing of the awesomeness. Enjoy summer!

Brandy Alexander (from my Mom's Best Recipes Cookbook)

1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
1/4 C creme de cacao
1/4 C brandy
1 T Nutella (or more to your liking)
Mix as malts in blender.

For 2 servings:
2 C vanilla ice cream
1 T creme de cacao
1 T brandy
1 t Nutella (or more to your liking)

Bake well and prosper!

Chocolate Brandy Truffles

A couple of weeks ago I saw a truffle mania challenge that Heavenly Housewife was participating in. (Check out all the awesome entries at the bottom of this post.) I thought that the basic recipe looked simple enough and that these would make great "thank you"s to my coworkers who donated to my Great Strides campaign for Cystic Fibrosis research.

I've never made truffles before and I was excited to see that a basic recipe looked easy. I was even feeling very inventive because I decided to use brandy instead of grand marnier in the mixture.

The starting steps turned out lovely. The chocolate mixture from the first step looked great.

And I only made a SLIGHT mess with the first couple of steps. I was feeling very good about this whole thing.

What I hadn't planned for was heat and humidity. The second to last step involved shaping the chilled chocolate into ball shapes.

Yeah. Need I say more? This weekend was HOT and HUMID (and kinda miserable). And no, I don't have an AC in the kitchen. Thus the mess.

I decided to put the chocolate in the freezer and deal with it at night when it would be slightly cooler.

I left my apartment and headed outside. A Memorial Day street fair greeted me on my way to the subway.

I put my truffle worries behind me as I traveled to Hoboken, NJ to relax with friends and eat BBQ. I also flew a kite.

I headed back to NYC where my truffles were patiently awaiting me.

The shaping and forming of the truffles at night was a success! I can't wait to try truffles again in the fall/winter. Or year round if I ever move to Alaska.

Chocolate Brandy Truffles (adapted from the Food Network)

Ingredients

1/2 pound good bittersweet chocolate
1/2 pound good semisweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons brandy
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cocoa powder

Directions
Chop the chocolates finely with a sharp knife. Place them in a heat-proof mixing bowl. (Erika's Extra: I used Ghiradelli chocolate chips which I didn't chop.)

Heat the cream in a small saucepan until it just boils. Turn off the heat and allow the cream to sit for 20 seconds. Pour the cream through a fine-meshed sieve into the bowl with chocolate. With a wire whisk, slowly stir the cream and chocolates together until the chocolate is completely melted. Whisk in the brandy and vanilla. Set aside at room temperature for 1 hour. (Erika's Extra: I had to set aside in my bedroom with the AC on.)

With 2 teaspoons, spoon round balls of the chocolate mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, until firm. Roll each dollop of chocolate in your hands to roughly make a round ball. Roll in cocoa powder. These will keep refrigerated for weeks, but serve at room temperature.

Check out the other bloggers to see how successful they were in the truffle mania challenge:

Heavenly Housewife - Donuts to Delirium

Stevie - Weird Combinations

Joumana - Taste of Beirut

Shelly - Franish Nonspeaker

Karen - Gourmet Food

Su - Suvelle Cuisine

The Baking Addict - The More than Occasional Baker
 
Bake well and prosper!