Beverages – Kara Cooks and Eats

If you think margaritas are only for summer, think again! In the process of cleaning out my place, I found an almost-empty bottle of Sauza tequila and decided it would make the trip home with me for Christmas. And the result was these yummy cranberry lime margaritas that I made on Christmas day. Plus, Christmas glasses can make any cocktail feel more festive!

Cheers!

Cranberry lime margaritas
Makes ~5 servings
Source: Bobby Flay via POPSUGAR.

Ingredients
1 cup tequila blanco
1 cup cranberry juice
1/2 cup orange liqueur, such as triple sec or Cointreau
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
Lime wedges, fresh cranberries for garnish

Directions
Combine all of the ingredients in a large pitcher. Add ice and stir until chilled. Pour into glasses or strain into margarita glasses. Garnish with fresh cranberries and a lime wedge, if desired, and enjoy!

Ingredient prep

Happy Christmas Eve! I love me a warm mug of hot chocolate in the winter, especially if it also involves my couch, a warm blanket, and a good movie or a bad reality TV marathon. I have tried to graduate myself from Nestle and Swiss Miss hot chocolate packets (with marshmallows of course) but have not had much success. Last year I bought some organic fair trade mix that was gritty and not very enjoyable. This recipe in Cook’s Illustrated caught my fancy because it acknowledged (and tried to address) the grittiness problem.

Prepping the mason jars

I hope it’s tasty because this also became part of my holiday gifts for my coworkers. A bit risky to gift something I’ve never tried, but I do usually trust the America’s Test Kitchen folks and based on the list of ingredients, how bad could it be?

Hot chocolate mix
Makes: about 12 servings
Source: Cook’s Illustrated, November/December 2014

Ingredients
1 cup (7 ounces) sugar

Voila…gift ready

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine
1 cup (3 ounces) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup (1.5 ounces) nonfat dry milk powder
5 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

To make one serving of hot chocolate
1. Heat 1 cup of milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until it starts to steam and bubbles appear around the edge of the saucepan.

2. Add 1/4 cup of hot chocolate mix and continue to heat, whisking constantly, until simmering, 2-3 minutes longer.

3. Pour hot chocolate into a mug and enjoy!