Monthly Archives: December 2009

I can’t believe we’ve already had two Christmas dinners, and it’s only the 23rd!  Tonight’s dinner was extra special for me…all I had to do was show up!  That was more of a treat than I thought it would be.  It was such a breath of fresh air.  It feels like Christmas, for sure.

Mom and Ed prepared an awesome spread – Ed cooked a turkey and all the trimmings, and mom made the house look spectacular.  The table was beautiful, and she made our favorite little caprese appetizers that she discovered right here at Deer Park Farms.  I brought along my latest concoction: Christmasy Cranberry Cocktail Mixer and mixed it with DPF’s Plain Apple Vodka.  It’s definitely going down as one of my favorite all time Holiday Cocktails.

Rose (Ed’s youngest daughter, therefore my sister) arrived from the East Coast today, but it was Hannah (my oldest sister) and Sydney’s last night here, so it was nice to hang out and enjoy being all together.  I hadn’t seen Rose since Christmas of 2006, and her 21st birthday is this weekend! The boys are going to take her out on the town!

Ellie Graye can’t get enough of her cousin, so the two of them were pretty inseparable even though they had spent most of the afternoon and evening together.

Colin showed up after dinner, and provided the entertainment while Jay-Jee (EG’s name for Uncle Jake) helped out with the kiddos.

We opened the gifts that Hannah had brought, and she opened hers and Sydney’s.  It was definitely family hanging out – not always smooth, but certainly lots of love.

Thanks, Mom and Ed, for all the effort, the delicious food, the beautiful house, and an all-around great night!

4 cups fresh cranberries

1 bottle cranberry juice

9 whole allspice berries

5 cinnamon sticks

9 whole cloves

1 cup sugar

1. Place cranberries, cranberry juice, 5 allspice berries, 3 cinnamon sticks, 5 cloves and 1 cup sugar in a large pot, and bring to a boil and cook until berries start bursting – about 10 minutes.

2. Strain mixture through a fine sieve (I use a metal sieve first, followed by a re-usable coffee filter).  Return to pot.

3. Place remaining spices (2 cinnamon sticks, 4 cloves, 4 allspice berries) into a parchment bundle or bag, add to pot, and reheat mixture over low until the desired temperature is reached (I usually let it simmer this way for an hour or more). Remove spice packet.

4. If serving cold cocktails, bottle mixture and place in refrigerator until ready to serve.