Friday, November 23, 2007

It's the holidays: get your drink on

hot spiced cranberry punch
I like seasonal drinks: muddled fresh raspberries and vanilla vodka with spritzer and topped with some mint from the garden was a good one this summer. (The basil with strawberry wasn't quite as good, but it sure did make for some fun photos.) Yesterday we test drove a hot rum punch that I'll be making again for get-togethers and special occassions. It calls for an ingredient I have never purchased before (jellied cranberry sauce) and we had as much fun getting it out of the can and admiring its weirdness, as we did drinking the end product.
can o'  jell
Slashfood did a great series this past week, and somewhere in there I found the recipe for hot spiced cranberry punch. It makes the house smell delicious, and it's pretty tasty.
Hot Spiced Cranberry Punch
  • 4 cups pineapple juice
  • 4 cups water
  • 2 cans jellied cranberry sauce
  • 2 cups light rum
  • 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 3/4 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. grated nutmeg

Directions:

Bring sugar, 1 cup water, salt, and spices to a boil.

Mash cranberry sauce with a fork.

Add remaining water to cranberry sauce and beat with a rotary beater until smooth.

Add cranberry liquid and pineapple juice to hot spiced syrup and heat to a boil.

Add rum.

Serve hot with cinnamon stick stirrers.

Makes approximately 20 5-oz. servings.

Today we are working outside, taking Wink for a long walk, and getting some of the holiday decor up. I know it's early, but this year, it's just how we roll. Now go make some punch and get your holiday cheer on. Salud!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

I find it hard to believe that someone who heralds jell-o so much has never bought the much ignored but brilliant cran-in-a-can... :)

Just imagine it so thinly sliced with Miracle Whip on buttermilk bread with some of that leftover bird... yum.

Rozanne said...

This is the best use for "cran in a can" (thanks kristin), I've ever seen.

Thanks for the recipe. It sounds delish!

CrackerLilo said...

Kristin, I now know that people besides my wife and my brother, both of whom will pretty much eat anything that doesn't try eating them first, will use "cran in a can" as a condiment for turkey sandwiches, so thank you for that.

I think I like the drink idea better, though.

You mean you *can* make seasonal drinks that are actually tasty so people want to drink them, and not just really vile concoctions that you can then dare your cousins or friends to drink after dinner? That's gonna be a revelation around these parts. :-)

I hope I remember the vanilla vodka with muddled raspberries for next summer! I still like mojitos better than anything. (I know, so uncool!)

Anonymous said...

Sounds divine.

Kiss Wink for us!

Monogram Queen said...

Mmm i'm jonesing for a nice hot buttered rum toddy!