another christmas wrapped up

I think once you're over age 12 it truly is more fun to give than receive at holiday time, but every now and then you get some presents that surprise you.  One of my best gifts this year was from a handsome fellow with a Vandyke beard who gave me Dreamfarm's Teafu tea ball strainer, something I didn't know I needed but am enjoying very much.  I have an off and on relationship with loose tea, and it's currently on again because I made my own holiday blend this Christmas, but I was fine with using metal or mesh strainers until I got this curious Teafu gadget.  The handle is ergonomic, the strainer itself stands upright, plus it's designed to let you squeeze the silicone tea ball and really drain the leaves and essence out.  And it comes in various colors, which is always exciting (mine is an electric spring green).  My old metal strainer has become an ornament for the tree, and it actually looks kind of cute in its second life.  Another highlight from the holidays was a recipe for Masala Chai Sugar Cookies tweeted by Argo Tea and originally from this tasty website -- Chai cookies and Chai icing -- that's well worth getting out the parchment paper and rolling pin for.

(Pictured:  A Young Girl Dressed Up for Christmas -- Kate Greenaway, Wikimedia Commons)

hot chocolate

Pictured:  Hot Chocolate -- Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta, 1841-1920 (Wikimedia Commons)

that must have been some party

Back in 1933 on this day, Prohibition ended and over a decade of supposed temperance came to a close.  Which essentially meant that bootleggers and speakeasies were out of business and drinking became just something to do again as opposed to something fun and illegal.  Whenever I think of 1920s cocktails, the Bronx and the Clover Club come to mind.  The frothy-topped Clover Club originated before Prohibition at the all male Philadelphia Clover Club; it involves gin, grenadine, lemon juice and egg white and seems a little girly for early 20th century gentlemen to have been drinking with pride, plus the foam probably got all over their bristly mustaches.  The Bronx was first mixed in either Philly again or at the Waldorf in Manhattan (sources claim both sites), and involves gin, sweet red vermouth, dry vermouth and orange juice.  Both the Clover Club and the Bronx are poured into your classic long-stemmed cocktail glass and surely best enjoyed while debating as to who's the better writer -- F. Scott Fitzgerald or Ernest Hemingway.

(Pictured:  Scott Fitzgerald in 1921, quite possibly getting ready to take a Bronx break)    

somewhat wildly sweet orangey cranberry sauce

Tis the season to enjoy a lot of cranberry sauce, if you do enjoy such, and over Thanksgiving I was able to use Tazo's Wild Sweet Orange Tea in this homemade cranberry concoction:

1 12 ounce package fresh whole cranberries
8 ounce cup strongly steeped Tazo Wild Sweet Orange Tea
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup orange marmalade
pinch of powdered ginger
1 teaspoon Sure-Jell fruit pectin (optional)

Rinse cranberries and place in a medium saucepan.  Add tea and let cranberries simmer at a low boil until they begin to pop open, then stir in sugar.  Continue to stir and simmer for a few more minutes then add marmalade, ginger and Sure-Jell powdered pectin.  The fruit pectin isn't necessary but will give the cranberry sauce a bit more firmness; allow to cool and set before serving.

Pictured:  The Cranberry Pickers -- Eastman Johnson, 1879