Holiday Ornament Cocktail Recipe - Small Batch Cranberry Apple Cider and Prosecco

Making “spirits” bright… get it? This is a fun take an a holiday cocktails with an added bit of joy for the season. Great for an at home holiday party or just for two for a date night dinner at home. And this is precisely what this recipe calls for; a small batch to make for two. It also packs in those wonderful winter flavors like apple cider and cranberry.

This idea came to me from a trip to Michael’s where the whole store was decked out in full blown Christmas mode. I had came across a whole aisle filled with plastic ornaments for crafting. Since I barely craft, I thought why not make one of these into a fun cocktail.

I will note this drink is more on the sweet side and I did have quite a bit of the punch left over, so this could easily make closer to about 3- 4 drink (especially when you fill the ornaments about halfway). You can also simple remove the prosecco in this recipe for an easy non-alcoholic option as well. Hope this brings you a little joy to make at home this season, enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 small bottle of prosecco

• 1/2 cup fresh cranberries

• 1/4 cup water

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 2 cups apple cider

• 1 cups ginger ale

• 1/2 lemon, squeezed for fresh juice

• 1 cups cranberry juice

• Crushed ice

Additional Tools:

• 2 Coupe Cocktail Glass

• Fresh Rosemary for Garnish

• 2 Plastic Ornament from Michael’s

Instructions:

1. In a small saucepan, combine the cranberries and water and simmer for 2-3 minutes until the cranberries pop and split. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar. Let cool to room temperature (or chill in the refrigerator or add some ice to cool down).

2. In a pitcher, pour in the cranberry mixture. Add the prosecco, apple cider, ginger ale, lemon juice, cranberry juice and crushed ice. Mix.

3. Over the sink I poured this mix into the plastic ornaments (filled about half full) and put the top back in place.

Serve & Assemble:

1. In the Coupe Cocktail Glasses - Add about 10 fresh cranberries.

2. Place the ornament cocktail on top of the cranberries

3. Garnish the side of the glass the a spring or two of rosemary

Cheers & Season’s Drinking!

Red Pepper and Spinach Egg Muffin Quiche Bites

Being a big egg fan and not a big chef in the mornings… ( I love my sleep.) I make these quiche egg bites almost every week as my breakfast meal prep. It makes mornings so much easier to reheat in the microwave for a minute, make my coffee and be on my way.

These mini quiches pack a lot of veggies in and can easily switch up or add ingredients, this particular batch I added bacon and cheese. It proves to be a no fuss recipe as I use pre-made pie crust, sauté some vegetables, and bake.

Hope you enjoy these bite sized egg bites!

Red Pepper and Spinach Egg Muffin Quiche Bites

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 12

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Ingredients:

Base:

• 1 Pre-made pie crust (I use Pillsbury pie crust)

Fillings:

• 1 red pepper

• 1 6oz bag of spinach

• half an onion (diced)

• 2 cloves garlic

  • Optional or Additional Filling Options:

  • Cheese: shredded cheese, feta

  • Bacon

  • Mushrooms

Egg Mixture:

• 6 eggs

• 1/4 cup of milk

• Salt & Pepper

Hardware:

• Muffin Tin

• Mason jar

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Chop up and dice the garlic, onions, and red pepper.

Drizzle some oil in your pan and sauté the garlic, onions, and red pepper until slightly browned and softened (about 10 minutes).

Add in the spinach until wilted. Set the veggie mixture aside.

Get out your muffin tin and spray with some non-stick spray.

Roll out your pie crust on a clean surface. I use a mason jar to cut out circles in the dough. If you have a round cooke cutter that would work as well. When I use my mason jar it gives me 8 round dough circles before I have to re-roll out the dough for the remaining 4 circles.

Place the round dough into the muffin tin. Next, I put these in the oven for about 7 minutes to cook the dough a bit for a sturdier base for when I add the filling.

Meanwhile, start making the egg mixture.

Combine 6 eggs in a bowl. Add the milk and some salt and pepper and whisk up.

Add the egg mixture and fill each muffin tin to the top.

Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool and enjoy for brunch, breakfast, or meal prep for the week.

That’s it! But here’s some additional notes….

Reheating: Place on a plate and heat up in a microwave for 1 minute.

In this recipe I used bacon. I prefer to bake my bacon at 350 degrees and let it bake until I start to smell the bacon and until it gets really crispy. You can then chop up some bits and add the the veggie mixture you create. I also added Trader Joe’s Unexpected Cheese and it’s just so good in this recipe… options ;)

Creamy Winter Italian Spinach and Sausage Soup

Here we go guys, my all time favorite soup to make all winter. I’ll truly makes this serval times a season with how easily and delicious it is to make. It’s the perfect mix of hearty, comforting, and really warms the soul.

It also makes a huge batch so it’s great for meal prep for the week or for a large family lunch or dinner. Hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

Yields 8-10 serving // Cook Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground mild Italian sausage

• 1/2 cup diced onion (about half an onion)

• 1/2 cup diced red pepper ( about 1 red pepper )

• 2 tsp minced garlic

• 2 tbsp butter

• 2 tbsp flour

• 6 cups chicken broth

  • (Note: I prefer to go with a no salt or lower sodium broth because the sausage adds a lot of salt itself to the dish.)

• 12 oz fresh ramen or lo mien noodles

  • (I used a 16oz here because it was the only fresh lo mien type noodles I could find, it just means more noodles which are the best part :)

• 2 cups half-n-half cream

  • (Note: You can substitute for whole milk or 2% milk)

• 3 cups baby spinach

• 1/2 tsp black pepper

• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Instructions:

1. Brown the Italian sausage in a large pot. Drain the excess fat and set the sausage aside.

2. Using the same pot, return it to the heat and melt the butter. Add the diced onions, diced red peppers, and garlic. Sauté over medium heat for 4-5 minutes.

3. Sprinkle with flour and stir to coat. Cook for about one minute, stirring constantly. Stir in the chicken broth and bring to a boil.

4. Once the soup is boiling, stir in the fresh noodles. Return to a boil and cook according to the package - fresh noodles take about 3-6 minutes, stirring often.

5. Once the noodles are cooked. Stir in the sausage, cream, and spinach. Cook for several minutes until spinach is wilted.

6. Add black pepper to taste and serve with shredded parmesan cheese.

Candy Corn Waffle Recipe🍁 🎃

Hope you’re ready for that fall content, because here is comes! I originally found this recipe in a magazine, who still reads those?! And modified it slightly based on ingredients I actually had in the house.

Really easy and fun breakfast to make for the fall spirit, hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Flour

• 2 Tablespoons Sugar

• 4 Teaspoons Baking Soda

• 1 Teaspoon Salt

• 2 Eggs

• 1 1/2 Cups Milk

• 1 Stick of Melted Butter

• Orange & Yellow Food Coloring to Tint the Batter

• Waffle Maker

Directions:

• Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl or stand mixer.

• Whisk in eggs, milk, butter with the dry ingredients on low/medium speed or by hand.

• Tint half the batter with orange and half yellow food coloring.

• Preheat waffle maker to the lowest setting and spray with some non-stick spray.

• Spoon some orange batter into the middle of the waffle maker and some yellow batter around it.

• Cook until just crisp.

• Separate into triangles.

• Dip the tips in melted white chocolate.