being grateful

the beginning stage

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.  We went around the table at our Thanksgiving dinner and gave thanks for something in our lives.  I am grateful to be in a happy marriage and to not only have one great family, but two.  No matter where I spend the holidays I am surrounded by love, togetherness, holiday cheer, and merriment.  I think it is a great tradition and hope we do it every year.

I experimented with two new items.  The first one I want to mention was a seasonal drink - a spiced sangria.  A coworker of mine made it for our Thanksgiving office feast and I thought it would be a great addition to our holiday.  The original recipe can be found here.  I made the following changes and it still came out great:

* Instead of an unoaked Chardonnay I used a citrus-y Sauvignon Blanc.
* Instead of peach schnapps I used Domaine de Canton Ginger, a french ginger liqueur.
* I omitted the pisco.

* I did not rim the glasses with cinnamon and sugar.
* I did not use mint as a garnish.

the final stage

After I put it together (using half the fruit the recipe called for), I let it sit over night. Recycled Poland Spring bottles work great because the sliced fruit fits through the large hole and they come with caps that you can easily put back on.  When it was time to serve the sangria, I strained it, then cut the rest of the fruit and added it to the serving bowl.  I also made four batches because let's face it, a quart of this stuff wouldn't have lasted for longer than a few minutes.

Please take notice of the clove and cinnamon used in this recipe.  It in no way resembles a summer sangria.  It is spicy and pie like, just the way Thanksgiving should be.  This really is delicious, just keep in mind that the fruit isn't necessarily in season during this time of year...it is worth it, but I wouldn't recommend making more than four batches at a time.  Enjoy and drink responsibly.