Fresh blackberries and a sprig of thyme bring an interesting combination of flavors to this sparkling holiday cocktail.  Mixed with your choice of Prosecco or Champagne this refreshing festive drink is the perfect way to toast any special occasion.  Use sparkling water for an non-alcohol version of this delicious drink so everyone can join in the celebration.

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Blackberry Bellini

Blackberries and fresh thyme add an interesting sparkle to this festive holiday drink.

Course Cocktails

Cuisine French

Keyword Champagne cocktail, Cocktails

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 1

Author Christoph

Ingredients

Bellini

• 4 ounces Prosecco or Champagne
• 1 ounce Chambord
• ½ ounce blackberry syrup
• blackberry and spring of fresh thyme for garnish

Blackberry syrup

• ½ cup water
• ½ cup sugar
• 6 ounce package fresh blackberries

Instructions

Bellini

• Pour blackberry syrup into the bottom of a champagne flute.
• Add Chambord and blackberry
• Fill glass with prosecco or champagne and garnish with a sprig of fresh thyme.

Blackberry Syrup

• Bring sugar, water, and berries to a boil in a small sauce pan over medium high heat, stirring often.
• Using the back of a spoon smash the berries and simmer on low for about 20 minutes.
• Strain syrup with a fine mesh strainer to remove seeds and chill.

Notes

Either Prosecco or Champagne are great for this cocktail.  Prosecco tends to be a bit sweeter.

 

For any recipe like this that calls for a small amount of a liquor we don't normally keep around I purchase a mini bottle for just a few dollars.  The perfect solution!  

For the perfect dessert paring try our Lemon Ricotta Cookies

There is something very magical about the idea of a white Christmas, almost every mental image we have of this holiday includes drifts of frosting like snow.  Dreaming that I’ll be home for Christmas by arriving in a one horse open sleigh, traveling through a winter wonderland, only to find chestnut roasting on an open fire, is something that we have harmonized about for years.  And snowmen, sleigh bells  reindeer, and Santa all depend on piles of the white flakes.

This year is seems like a lot of the country may not have snow for Christmas.  I realize there are many parts of the world that never have seen a flake, and they are able to celebrate the holiday just fine. I guess I am just a dreamer when it comes to Christmas.  Well I guess if we are not going to have snow on the ground for the holiday, we can still have a White Christmas in glass.

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White Christmas Cocktail & Southern White Christmas

Creamy, dreamy and white. This holiday drink captures the flavors and feelings of the holidays.

Course Cocktails

Cuisine Holiday

Servings 4

Ingredients

White Christmas Cocktail

• 1 quart egg nog
• 1/2 cup white rum
• 1/2 cup white chocolate liqueur
• 1 cup whipped topping
• Grated white chocolate garnish
• Pumpkin pie spice garnish

Southern White Christmas

• 4 oz Eggnog chilled
• 1/2 oz White Chocolate Liqueur
• 1 oz Southern Comfort
• white chocolate flakes garnish

Instructions

White Christmas Cocktail

• In a large pitcher combine egg nog, rum and white chocolate liqueur.
• When you are ready to serve, whisk the egg nog to make it frothy and pour the mixture into cups. Place a heaping tablespoon of the whipped topping into each cup.
• Garnish each with the grated white chocolate and a sprinkling of pumpkin pie spice.

Southern White Christmas

• Stir together lightly in a martini glass or even a snifter.
• Top with white of dark chocolate flakes.

Notes

White Christmas Cocktail recipe from Sandra Lee

Merry Christmas Everyone!

It was not until I moved to the alpine environment of Dillon, Colorado that I had ever heard of Hot Spiced Wine.  Growing up on the plains in central Nebraska I personally had never been exposed to such a thing.  I am sure it existed (with all the ethnic diversity found in a rural farming community), and very well may have been a part our neighbors’ holiday traditions, however the knowledge of this drink had somehow escaped me.

Within hours on my first shift working at the ski resort, I was bombarded with requests for drinks that sounded very odd to me.  Glue wine?  Mold wine?  Neither sounded very good, and I could not help wondering why people would choose to drink something that contained adhesives and spores.  Of course my naive inquiry’s led to laughter (at my expensive of course), but I was quickly educated on this seemingly strange multi-named beverage, and after sampling it for myself, everything became clear.

Hot Spiced wine, Glühwein, Glögg, Gløgg,  Glögi, Mulled wine, Vin Chaud, Quentão, Svařené,  Vin Brulé,  Glintwein, and Caribou are just a sampling of some of the names this consumable pot of simmer potpourri goes by. The exact origin of the drink is unclear, but appears to date back as far as people have been making wine, and is thought that to have been invented by placing a red-hot fire poker into a glass of wine to kill the bacteria (early fermenting processes left a lot to be desired).  Fruits and herbs were added to enhance the taste. The drink was also considered a digestive, and a way to warm the soul on the long dark winter days.

Not long after making the transition from a flat-lander to a mountain boy, hot spiced wine became part of one of my winter traditions, the making of holiday wreaths.   I discovered that I enjoyed the aromatic and warming effects of a glass of mulled wine after returning from gathering boughs and branches in the forest behind my house.

Few things I have ever experienced are as wonderful to me as spending time in the winter woods.  There is a deafening silence that’s only broken by the crunch of snow under foot, and the sound of your own breath that brings a complete sense of tranquility. I find solitude while at the same time feel somehow embraced by the needled giants that surround me. It is one of my favorite place to be, and maybe that is part of the reason I started making my wreaths, as an excuse to go into the woods.

I was delighted to share this tradition with my good friend and kindred spirit Kathy.  With empty packs on our backs and armed with our clippers and cross-country skis, we would head out of the back of the house across the small meadow into the woods.  Fall scouting missions had mentally marked the spots for the best blue spruce and jack pine boughs, holly and mistletoe, and willow branches.  After carefully trimming each plant so as not to cause harm or visible damage, we would offer thanks to each of them for their contribution, and rush back home to a pan of simmering hot spiced wine.

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Hot Spiced Wine

A warming aromatic and festive drink of red wine and spices.

Course Cocktails

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Servings 24

Ingredients

• 2 bottles Merlot or other fruity red
• 1 bottle Chablis or other sweet white
• 8 ounces cognac or brandy
• 2 cup water
• 1 cup sugar or more to your liking
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 orange sliced
• 1 lemon sliced
• 1 apple sliced
• 1 cup raisin
• 1 cup blanched almonds
• 8 cinnamon sticks
• 1 vanilla pod
• 25 whole cloves
• 20 cardamom seeds
• 4 star anise
• 2 tablespoon whole allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon mace

Instructions

• Combine all ingredients in a large sauce pan and simmer for at least one hour before serving.
• Ladle into cups and garnish with an orange twist and a cinnamon stick.
• Add water as needed if the wine becomes thick.

Notes

There are as many different recipes for hot spiced wine as there are pots to cook it in. This is simply my version that I have adapted over time that I think you might like. As with many recipes, this is merely a map to get you started, feel free to add, omit, or adjust any of the ingredients to your personal taste.

I like to make a sachet with cheese cloth to hold all of the spices to prevent small pieces in the drinks.

One winter I made a wreath and sent it to my sister which she hung on the front of her house for the holidays. About the end of January she had decided that enough was enough, and as much as she had enjoyed the fresh wreath it was time for it to go. When she went to remove the wreath, she discovered that a house wren had built a nest in the wreath, and to her surprise there was a baby hatch-ling and several eggs, so she snapped a quick picture and left everything untouched. The wren family lived in the wreath until the babies were big enough to fly away. I don’t think I could have ever received a bigger compliment on a wreath than this!

For many of us, the weekend after Thanksgiving marks the “official” beginning of the holiday season. Folks seem to really swing into action running through malls searching for gifts, and neighbors with boxes of tangled lights are climbing ladders. Everyone is suddenly on the move. Perhaps it’s our subconsciousness way of trying to burn the excess calories that we ingested the past few days and the new-found feeling of freedom from hours spent with family that gives us this burst of energy. Or maybe it’s our awareness of the lack of time before large men in red suits start climbing down our chimneys, whatever the reason, people are bustin’ a move.

I think this weekend is the perfect time to kick back and watch the hustle from a safe distance with a warm and soothing holiday cocktail, a hot apple pie. Made with Tuaca and spiced cider, this festive drink will help you escape the madness. After a few of these tasty beverages, you just might come up with the perfect gift ideas for those on your holiday shopping list, or plan the ultimate outdoor lighting extravaganza. Just leave the credit cards in your wallet, and the ladder in the garage. Relax, there is still plenty of time.

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Hot Apple Pie

This festive cocktail tastes amazingly like a piece of apple pie, freshly baked right out of the oven. It puts all the comfort of being wrapped up in a warm blanket right in a mug, and is the perfect way to relax after a hectic day of holiday preparation.

Course Cocktails

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 1

Ingredients

• 1½ ounces Tuaca
• 4 ounces hot apple cider
• whipped cream optional, but tasty
• cinnamon stick and nutmeg for garnish

Instructions

• Place Tuaca and hot cider in a mug.
• Top with whipped cream, garnish with cinnamon stick and nutmeg.
• Enjoy!

I was looking at my calendar today and realized that there are now only two weekends before Thanksgiving. I was stunned. How in the world is this possible? I guess with the extended fall we have been experiencing, and all the hype over the election, time has simply escaped me.

I love the fall season and all the vibrant colors that nature displays as its last hurrah before bedding down for the winter ahead. As November ushers in the new season with its bare trees, shorter days, and cold nights, there is a sense of quiet in the air. Mother Nature is resting, preparing herself for the snows to come. For me, it signals the beginning of the holiday season. Time for some favorites like turkey and pumpkin pie.

Well here is a festive cocktail that is definitely not your Grandmothers pumpkin pie, but it might come pretty close to tasting like it. A Pumpkin Pie Martini, the perfect beverage for your Thanksgiving gathering, and don’t be surprised if Grandma enjoys one too.

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Pumpkin Pie Martini

A festive cocktail that tastes just like a slice of pumpkin pie!

Course Cocktails

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 1

Ingredients

• 1 ounce Malibu rum
• 1 ounce Kahlua
• 6 ounces half and half or milk for a lighter version
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon canned pumpkin pie filling

Instructions

• Place all ingredients together in a blender with a few cubes of ice.
• Blend until smooth.
• Serve in a glass rimmed with very finely crushed graham cracker crumbs.
• Sprinkle more cinnamon on top for garnish.

Enjoy the holidays, but please do so responsibly.

With the cool crisp feeling in the air, why not end the week with a drink that celebrates the approaching season? Developed in the kitchens of Williams Sonoma, this Apple Cidercar truly embodies the rich flavors of the harvest season, and is a perfect way to “fall” into the weekend.

This apple inspired cocktail made with brandy and citrus, is an autumnal spin on a classic drink known as a sidecar. A traditional sidecar is a mixture of cognac, Cointreau, and lemon, and was created either in London or Paris around the end of the first World War. The first recipes for the Sidecar appear in 1922 in MacElhone’s ‘Harry’s ABC of mixing cocktails’, and in Vermeire’s ‘Cocktails and how to mix them’, however there seems to be some conflicting stories about where the drink originated. A book published in 1948 by David A Embury lists the cocktail as one of the six basic drinks, and credits the invention to an American Army captain in Paris during World War I, and claims it was named after the motorcycle sidecar in which the captain was chauffeured to and from the little bistro where the drink was born.

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Apple Cidercar Cocktail

This apple inspired cocktail made with brandy and citrus, is an autumnal spin on a classic drink known as a sidecar

Course Cocktails

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 5 oz apple cider concentrate¹
• 5 oz water
• 3 oz brandy
• 5 oz Cointreau
• 2 oz fresh lemon juice
• apple slice for garnish

Instructions

• In a cocktail shaker, stir together the apple cider concentrate and water.   
• Add the brandy, Cointreau and lemon juice.
• Fill the shaker with ice and shake well.
• Pour into sugar-rimmed cocktail glasses.

Notes

¹ Apple cider concentrate can be made by reducing apple juice over medium high heat by about seventy-five percent into a syrup.

Take some time to relax and enjoy this weekend.

Remember life is short, have some fun!