Sangria for the holidays?

Today at work, I took a little me time (shh…don’t tell my boss!).  While quietly enjoying a lovely spot of tea, or coffee as it were – I ran across a pretty cool recipe in a magazine.

I have spent my fair share of time overseas.  Spain is one of those countries that you can never quite get enough of..just a lovely place to visit.  During one particular port call, a few of us “old salts” were playing chess in a small, local bar.  This was no ordinary chess set; it was a table sized chess set, with each piece about 6″ or so in height, and the board covering the entire table.  We ordered the local brew of Sangria – and my taste buds have never been the same.  The waiter (waitress?) brought us this fantastic tunic very few of us had enjoyed in the past.  A fruity, red-wine based beverage that you’d swear had no alcohol – until you tried to stand. check out this website for an interesting look at the history of sangria.

To get back to my lunchroom oasis, I ran across a recipe in a magazine for sangria; prep time is 15 minutes followed by a chill time of 4 hours (better yet to let it sit overnight).  I thought I’d share it & document as I do my favorite recipes here:

Ingredients:

• 2 Apples, 1 cored & chopped.
• 2 Oranges, 1 sliced in quarters.
• 1 Lemon, quartered.
• 1 Lime, quartered.
• 2 slices ginger (about a quarter sized each).
• 3 cloves, whole.
• 1/4 cup honey.
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp sugar
• Ice
• Club soda
• 1 bottle (750ml) chardonnay (grape juice for non-alcohol version).

Instructions:

1. Mix the bottle of wine and honey in a large bowl.
2. Mix in the cored & chopped apple, the quartered orange, lemon, lime, cinnamon sticks, ginger, and cloves.  Refrigerate over night (4 hours minimum).
3. Strain this concocted goodness into a pitcher.  Core and chop the remaining apple & slice the remaining orange. Throw these in the pitcher.
4. Using a small plate; blend the sugar and cinnamon together.  Moisten the rims of your wine glasses.  Dip the wine glasses in the mixture to coat them with sugar and cinnamon.
5. Put some ice in your wine glass, pour the concocted goodness into your glass, filling the glass about 3/4 of the way full.  Add a splash of club soda and spoon in some fruits.
6. Share with me, your newest, best-est friend 🙂

Disfrute, genial salud!