To the fifth holiday party
I brought along with me
five homemade liqueurs
(limoncello, kahlua, amaretto, Irish Cream, and cranberry, yum!)
red & green sugar-coated popcorn
chile-rosemary infused olives,
homemade Bloody Mary mixer,
and a flavored olive oil with a fabulous loaf of crusty bread

So, instead of a recipe, I was going to tell you the story of how I will NOT be giving cranberry liqueur as gifts this year. Let’s back up to Thanksgiving weekend: I set up cranberry liqueur to cure for the three weeks. Fast-forward to Tuesday of this week: I went to have a facial and left my 5-year-old home with my 12-year-old and two of his friends. I made the decision to leave my cell phone in the car, because the last two times I had a facial, my phone rang off the hook—“emergencies” from my older two sons, not very relaxing.

When I returned to the car from my facial, my cell phone read, “18 missed calls” (17 from 12-year-old son at home; 1 from 15-year-old son who was called by 12-year-old son after I didn’t answer my phone 17 times). Problem? Yup, from what I have ascertained, 12-year-olds were getting a snack from the pantry. They returned to the video games. They heard a dripping sound in the kitchen. They walked into the kitchen.

“Jude, why is your pantry bleeding?”
“I don’t know.”
Jude opened the pantry.

Apparently when the pantry door was closed, the 2-gallon glass canister of flour banged against the 2-gallon glass canister of just 3-week-old cranberry liqueur. Guess which canister got a hairline fracture? Yup, cranberry liqueur.

Anyway, Jude is a good boy. He did a good job cleaning up the very sticky cranberry-sugar-water-vodka mixture. He called me, his brother, finally his father, to make sure he was doing the correct thing. But, boy, did that floor need a good washing the next day!

What did I learn? Next time I have a facial it is going to be while the kids are in school.

Now I’ll share another little family anecdote with you. When I was a Freshman at UMass-Amherst I bought a cookbook that had been put out by the staff and faculty as a fundraiser for my father for Christmas. In that cookbook there was this recipe for Irish cream that became a family favorite. Each of us makes batches each Christmas (and St. Patrick’s Day). Years later I found out that my brother, Brendan, will not share the recipe. He tells his friends that it’s a “secret family recipe.” Well, I don’t think it’s a secret. Try it, enjoy it.

Friday night cocktails and appetizers

Part deux. I have some homemade amaretto on the hutch staring me down. My friend Tammy has seasonal cocktails, and my husband usually loves them. I can’t remember what her summer cocktail is right now, but her winter cocktail is amaretto and ginger, and Fred loves it. I’m not a ginger ale person, but you can only drink so many amaretto on the rocks before you’re lying flat on your back, so I came up with amaretto and orange juice. Whether you prefer ginger ale or OJ, serve it in a highball glass, on the rocks.

This evening, we’ll be having our amaretto cocktails with black bean “hummus”. This is a recipe that originally came from my friend Eileen. It isn’t a Mediterranean inspired hummus, it’s more of a Mexican black bean dip, but because of it’s consistency and color, we had trouble coming up with a name for it [that didn’t sound like the punchline of a 5th grader’s off-color joke]. Thus, I’ve taken to calling it “hummus”. Again, one of my favorite things about it is that I usually have all the ingredients on hand, and if I don’t, they’re simple enough that I can remember what they are without writing them down.

Black bean hummus

1 can black beans, drain and reserve liquid
½ jar Mrs. Renfro’s Roasted Garlic Salsa, more if you like
1 clove garlic
juice of 1 lemon
½ bunch cilantro, more if you like

Put garlic in a blender and blend until garlic is chopped fine. Add beans, salsa, lemon, and cilantro to blender. Blend until smooth (a hummus-like consistency). Add as much reserved liquid as you like to reach your desired consistency.

There’s nothing like a homemade gift to say you really care about someone. At the holidays things are always busy, but it’s so nice to make someone feel extra special. When you’re baking your favorite cookie recipe, make an extra batch of dough, freeze it, and bake them for a special gift for someone—tie them in a pretty box, put them on a festive plate (look at yard sales and flea markets year-round for odd plates), or put them in a jar with a nice ribbon.

What could be better than a thoughtful gift that’s also easy? The following Amaretto recipe takes all of half and hour—even if you multiply it, then just pop it in a pretty bottle (pick these up through the year too, or save your wine bottles) with a stopper (also in abundance in kitchen stores) and a ribbon. It stores at room temperature, and you probably have all the ingredients in your house already! It’s perfect for a hostess gift or a special friend.

Amaretto
(from allrecipes.com)

1 c water
1 c white sugar
½ c brown sugar
2 c vodka
2 T almond extract
2 t vanilla extract

Combine water, white sugar and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Heat until boiling and all sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let mixture cool for about 10 minutes. Pour in vodka, almond extract, and vanilla. Mix well and store in a sealed bottle.