There are beautiful photos of this cocktail available over at Completely Delicious.  Check them out here.  Mine are no where near as pretty, or abundant.  Because, let’s face it: a) it was Friday night and I was thirsty and b) I’m no food photographer.

Anyways, fa-la-la…here is the third installment in The Cocktails of Christmas.  I went a little less sweet this time. Was it love at first sip? Nope.  Was it drinkable enough to have two of them?  Yup.  Plus, I didn’t want the club soda to go to waste.

The recipe calls for an ounce of gin, and ounce of triple sec, a heaping tablespoon of cranberry sauce and sparkling water or club soda.  I found that an ounce of each booze was not…boozy…enough.  So, I added more to taste.  I also didn’t use canned cranberry sauce because I had a homemade relish that I made earlier this week in the refrigerator.  My homemade relish consists of raw cranberries, orange zest, orange juice and sugar.  It’s amazing.  You should have the recipe.  Your turkey will thank you for it.  I have no pictures, so you’ll have to use your imagination.

2 bags fresh cranberries
zest of one orange
juice of one orange
2/3 cup of sugar

Run the cranberries through a food processor until finely chopped.  Stir in orange zest, orange juice and sugar.  Let it sit overnight.  Taste and add additional sugar if needed the next day.

I got this recipe from my Grandpa.  I have no idea where he got it, but you can find it at my family’s every Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner.  One of the first questions I asked when I walked through Grandpa & Grandma’s door on Thanksgiving Day this year was, “Did Grandpa make the cranberry stuff?”

Anyways back to the cocktail.  Actually, is there much more to say?  It was pretty tasty.  Not stunning.  But, drinkable.  Done.