Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, and in the past few years, Friendsgiving has been moving up the list too! At Friendsgiving you get all of the perks of a Thanksgiving feast (more stuffing please!) without any crazy family drama, and usually a few more holiday cocktails. We attended a Friendsgiving brunch this weekend and it was a blast, I ate enough that I started to resemble a Thanksgiving turkey! In preparation for lots more holiday events, Friendsgiving included, Target Grocery sent me a big box of Thanksgiving essentials, and challenged me to step up my holiday table game using only products from Target. Inspired by a local and seasonal treat — cranberries — I set out to share a handful of ideas to bring cranberry flavors to your holiday table with all of my favorite Target products. From cocktails to appetizers to desserts, I’ve got a cranberry spin on just about every Thanksgiving angle!
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If you head on over to Style Me Pretty Living today you’ll see some pictures from a Crafts and Cocktails party my girlfriends and I threw to kick off the holiday season earlier this month. But before I share a few of my favorite pictures from the day, I thought I’d focus on the signature cocktail I whipped up for the event, priorities, right? I called it the Cran-Bourbon Fizz — just a little sweet and a little strong, a perfect combination if you ask me. And the cranberry and anise garnishes look so darn festive, don’t they? Full recipe below!
Cran-Bourbon Fizz
2 oz Bourbon
.75 oz Grenadine
Seltzer water
Cranberries
Star Anise
Ice
Mix bourbon and grenadine over ice and stir to combine.
Top the glass with seltzer water to taste.
Garnish with cranberries and star anise.
All images by Bring To Light Photography, floral design by Little Flower Cottage
This is a DIY gift that I can nearly guarantee anyone would love to receive, homemade simple syrups. Sometimes I wonder, do they call it simple syrup because it’s so simple to make? I think they might! I used this recipe, and added apples for my own twist. Then I packaged it up in mini-mason jars and labeled the tops with brown craft paper, bakers twine, and recipe tags. Experiment with flavors and come up with your own mixture (I’ve used this recipe before too) — it’ll make your gift even more unique when you give it your own spin!
Looking for more DIY present ideas? Check them out here.
It normally takes about 3 days to fully recover from New Year’s Eve, right? I’m working on it — it’s so hard to get back into ‘reality’ mode after a long holiday! Which is why I’m a little late sharing some pictures of our annual New Year’s Eve bash. Having a few extra days off after Christmas gave me the time to craft some fun decorations and think up some tasty dishes and cocktails. It was a great way to kick off 2013, and I hope it sets the tone for many more fabulous parties to come this year (like, ahem, a pretty exciting wedding coming up in May). How did you celebrate the New Year?
