Well, this year flew by and now it’s over.

If you are having a gathering or participating in other festivities this evening, some of these recipes might be of interest to you.

Happy 2012!

Drinks:

• The Perfect Holiday Cocktail
• Vanilla Bean Dirty Shirley Temple
• Chocolate Martini

Appetizers:

• Chipotle & Rosemary Spiced Nuts
• Artichoke Stuffed Mushrooms
• Cheddar Dill Gougeres
• Brie with Apples & Balsamic Reduction
• Lemon, Pepper & Pecorino Dip
• Texas Caviar

This is a super decadent dessert cocktail. It has a lot of flavors in it, but they all come together perfectly to make a wonderful wintery cocktail. The original cocktail called for coconut vodka. I searched all over town for it, but the only kind I could find was $30 ciroc. It might be great, but I’m sorry P. Diddy or whatever you are going by these days, that is just too much moola for me. One of the the guys at a grocery store I went to said I should just infuse my own coconut vodka, but that required work. I just wasn’t into that idea. So I just used regular vodka.  I used a ratio of 3 ounces vodka to 1 ounce of everything else.

Aspenlicious (from About.com)

This is a super decadent dessert cocktail. It has a lot of flavors in it, but they all come together perfectly to make a wonderful wintry cocktail. The original cocktail called for coconut vodka. I searched all over town for it, but the only kind I could find was $30 ciroc. It might be great, but I’m sorry P. Diddy or whatever you are going by these days, that is just too much moola for me. One of the the guys at a grocery store I went to said I should just infuse my own coconut vodka, but that required work. I just wasn’t into that idea. So I just used regular vodka.  I used a ratio of 3 ounces vodka to 1 ounce of everything else.

Aspenlicious (from About.com)

This has been a busy week of baking and getting Christmas presents together. I have to mail most of my presents to various parts of the globe, so I’m kind of slacking… I also never want to see sugar or a red or green M&M ever again. Luckily, I had Amy Winehouse’s last album to see me through it all. I really can’t begin to say how great it is. I

Things I Made This Week:

• Sparkling Cranberry Bites
• Butternut Squash Gratin with Goat Cheese & Hazelnuts
• Ina Garten’s Chipotle & Rosemary Spiced Nuts
• Cranberry Margaritas
• Gluten Free Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie 
• Savory Crepes with Spinach, Caramelized Onions & Brie

Things I Want to Make:

• Boozy Olives – Sunset
• Homemade Amaretto  - Shutterbean
• Creamy Polenta with Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts – Veggie Belly

Things to Check Out:

• Freezer Fundamentals – Real Simple
• A Guide to Gluten Free Flour Blends – The Mama Cooks
• 5 Essential Sparkling Wine Cocktails – Serious Eats

I was determined to right last week’s margarita foul. This one is most definitely a winner!

I was a bit short on fresh limes and since there was a bottle of cranberry juice just sitting on my counter, it seemed like the perfect solution. Cranberry and lime just seem to go so well together. I don’t like my margaritas sweet, which was my major problem with last week’s, but this marg more than made up for it. It’s tart, tangy and refreshing. I used a bit of green sugar sprinkles on the rim to make it feel a bit more ‘festive’, which is probably as festive as it’s going to get in these parts (I relate to this guy on multiple levels). I will warn you the green sugar can ‘run’ when it gets wet, so you might end up with some stains on your hands/mouth/face/coaster/etc., so consider yourself warned.

Cranberry Margaritas
Yields 2 margaritas (or 1 if you’re me) 

• juice of 2 limes
• 4 ounces cranberry juice
• 4 ounces silver tequila
• 2 ounces triple sec

I was on the fence about trying this margarita from the beginning. I’m not a big fan of gold tequila or cinnamon, especially when combined (too many flashbacks to shots at Morrison’s in Budapest (yes, in Budapest they serve shots of gold tequila with cinnamon and a wedge of orange, kinda horrible, kinda great)) and I have always had an issue with apple juice ever since I was on a field trip in preschool and the kid next to me yacked up their juice box during a tour of a hospital. I went to a dirty, hippie parent-child ‘workshop’ (not a preschool, a workshop) and they were really big into broadening our horizons from an early age and took us on many field trips to hospitals, marine biology labs and the city jail, but in fact these attempts have left me with a lifelong fear of needles, apple juice and law enforcement officials (but that’s another story).

I digress, you all don’t need to hear about my issues that stem from early childhood, let’s get back to this marg. So, like I said, I was apprehensive from the get go. I was only able to get about 2 sips into this thing before I had to add some lemon juice. SWEET. So, so sweet. I do not like sweet margs, tart and tangy is how I roll. I added some fresh squeezed lemon juice and it helped improve the drink a lot, at least for me. I guess I can now say, I’ve finally met a margarita I don’t like, but if you are a fan of super sweet drinks or apple juice this would probably be right up your alley.

Apple Cider Margaritas (from How Sweet It Is)

• 1.5 ounce Grand Marnier/triple sec
• 1.5 ounce gold tequila
• 5 ounces apple cider/juice
• orange segments and apple slices
• cinnamon + cane sugar + coarse sugar for glass rimming
• cinnamon sticks for garnish

This drink doesn’t really have a name. It was created 3 Thanksgivings ago in a kitchen in a student dorm in London.

It was a particularly memorable Thanksgiving. We had a lot of friends on our graduate program from various parts of the globe and not all of them had the opportunity to celebrate the world’s greatest holiday. My friend and fellow American, Lauren, and I were determined to celebrate regardless of London’s numerous attempts to thwart our plans. One meal for nearly 25 people required nearly a month of planning, numerous tube and taxi rides, trips to parts of London we never knew existed before (I swear we ended up in Wales at one point) and even mailing in supplies from the States. Now add on the fact that there is only one kitchen big enough for that many people and it only has one functioning European sized oven (the 2nd oven was replaced the next day… perfect timing by the management) and Lauren and I were both dealing with a lovely case of meningitis. It was pretty epic adventure and it will always remain one of my favorite Thanksgivings.

So, it was under these circumstances that this cocktail came about. It was partially out of necessity and partially out of what we had left on hand. You most definitely need a cocktail after dealing with all that. You might need a cocktail after dealing with family the kitchen all day. I would highly recommend this little concoction, as it turned out perfectly and has become a little Thanksgiving tradition of mine.

Thanksgiving Cocktail

• 1.5 ounce vanilla vodka (or regular vodka for a less sweet version)
• 1.5 ounce berry juice (like cranberry, raspberry, or even cranberry-raspberry if you’re feeling wild)
• champagne/prosecco/any kind of sparkling wine

Just incase you missed some of my Thanksgiving recipes, here’s a quick recap if you need some inspiration.

Appetizers

• Brie with Apples & Balsamic Reduction
• Lemon, Pepper & Pecorino Dip
• Sweet Potato Cakes with Chipotle Black Bean Salsa
• Cheddar Cheese Crackers
• Smoky Pumpkin Hummus
• Black Pepper Cheese Crisps

Side Dishes:

• Creamed Onion Gratin
• Hashed Brussels Sprouts with Hazelnuts and Fried Capers
• Balsamic Roasted Asparagus
• Green Beans with Hazelnuts & Blue Cheese
• Jamie Oliver’s Best Ever Green Beans
• Parmesan-Rosted Broccoli
• Crispy Potatoes
• Boursin Mashed Potatoes
• Garlicky Carrots
• Pumpkin Gnocchi with Sage-Brown Butter Sauce
• Dried Cherry-Cranberry Sauce
• World Famous Cornbread Stuffing

Drinks:

• Ginger, Apple, & Bourbon 
• Pear Haymaker