I hope all of you were as lucky as I this past Thanksgiving and were able to celebrate it surrounded by everyone you love. We headed east to Kansas to spend some time with the family. I love being there; something about being surrounded by family and the chilly weather was a perfect combination to start my winter with – it was over 80º back home in Los Angeles.
It is so much fun gathering all together and catching up. I love spending time with each and every single one of my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins – and there are quite a few of them. Being surrounded by multiple generations and hearing tales from 5-year olds, 75-year olds and every age in between, is something that words cannot describe.
We crammed in so many activities in such a short amount of time: shopping, sporting events, Thanksgiving dinner, baked goods, hiking, and craft night. Not to mention I got to meet the head chefs and owners of Bluestem, Megan and Colby Garrelts; I was beyond elated. If you are ever in Kansas City, I highly recommend you stopping by this place.
On one of the last nights we were there, we had a taco party and still in the festive spirit that I was in; I began browsing the gourmet magazines that were around the house. While most of these magazines had great cocktail recipes, the Cranberry Margarita recipe I found in Sunset magazine seemed just too fitting; so I brewed up a couple batches and it was a hit to say the least.
Visiting my Midwest family really put my festive mood into overdrive and I came home with tons of ideas, but one I just had to share with all of you was the Cranberry Margarita. This cocktail is so festive and delicious, yet fits right in with the warm Los Angeles weather we’ve been having. I have to tell you that this recipe is a little time consuming so if you are planning to serve these at a party I highly recommend making a few pitchers of these ahead of time and keep them in your fridge – they will go quickly, they are that good.
CRANBERRY MARGARITAS
adapted from Sunset Magazine
¾ Cup of 100% Cranberry Juice (no sugar added)
½ Cup of Water
½ Cup of Sugar
1 ½ Cup of Cranberries, fresh
¾ Cup of Lime Juice, freshly squeezed
¾ Cup of Premium Tequila
½ Cup of Triple Sec
Method
Makes 4 servings
Before beginning, reserve 12 cranberries as well as 1 tablespoon of both cranberry juice and sugar. Combine the remaining cranberries, cranberry juice, water, sugar, and limejuice in the blender and blend for 30 seconds.
Pour the cranberry mixture through a strainer to catch the pulp. Pour the strained mixture into a pitcher and add the tequila and triple sec; stir vigorously.
Use the remaining cranberry juice to rim 8 ounce glasses and dip the rims into the remaining sugar. Fill the glasses with ice followed by the margaritas. Garnish the glasses with a wedge of lime and reserved cranberries.