I Had A Cranberry Party

plateful of cranberry goodness

A few weeks ago I had a cranberry party. And I only had to make one thing with cranberry juice, but I'm a total over-achiever and made FIVE things. BOO-YAH!
(recipes below!)

The Back Story:

The Simply Cranberry Cocktail people (through BlogHer) contacted me and asked if I'd like to throw a dinner party and use their new Simply Cranberry Cocktail as a springboard for the menu-planning.

I was already familiar with the Simply Orange Juice Company--we like their orange and apple juice an awful lot, and I'm a complete and total sucker for a challenge.

Before I responded, I texted Adam:

"Hey, we need to have a cranberry juice party, sort of an Iron Chef thing. You cool with that?"

He wrote back: "a la cuisine!"

I love that man.

I was given coupons for Simply Cranberry Cocktail by the Simply Orange Juice Company, and BlogHer paid me for my time and to purchase supplies for our cranberry party.


I then set to work planning the menu: baked brie with cranberries, cranberry martinis, cranberry chicken, triple-threat cranberry brisket, and cranberry fluff for dessert (scroll down for all the recipes).

To round out the meal I also roasted asparagus and made mashed potatoes (out of a box! Capital K classy, I tell you...).

Just so you know: Simply Cranberry Cocktail can be found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store; it is kept chilled from the time it is blended with not-from-concentrate cranberry juice and gently pasteurized with no added preservatives. It's sweet and tart and unlike other cranberry juice cocktails in that you don't shudder after drinking it.

I decided this was a really good excuse to buy cranberry red tablecloths and retire the ecru tablecloths I usually dig out of the china cabinet. (I'm pretty sure stained and bleached and then stained and bleached tablecloths are ecru. Right?)

Since we were having our party on April Fool's Day, I also bought silly straws and nose glasses for everyone out of the dollar bins at Target.

I invited my two best friends (guess what their names are? did you guess? wait for it... wait for it...

JENNIFER and JENNIFER) and their families. This meant we had 6 adults and 9 children for our dinner party. I set up two tables, with the idea that the kids would be at one and the grownups could sit at the other, and we'd all sit down and have sparkling dinner conversation and lovely table manners.

Bree Van de Kamp Hodge would be so proud.
(of course she's on trial for murder right now, but I think Gaby is about to confess.)

It was wonderful.


I need to have dinner parties more often. I think sometimes in the name of saving money I forget it's the little things in life that matter--good friends, good food, and good fun.

Someone else picking up the bill is awfully nice, too.

Thank you Simply Cranberry Cocktail !!

Recipes:

I don't have any photos of the brie because I may have already had a cranberry martini (or 2? not sure) before I thought to take pictures, and by then we pretty much killed the whole thing.

I used the candied pecan and cranberry brie recipe I made back in 2008 but didn't use the pecans because one of our little friends has a nut allergy. I did, though, add a drop of balsamic vinegar to the brown sugar and a bit of rosemary they way I did with the balsamic apricot brie.

8 ounce-brie round

1 cup dried cranberries

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon crushed rosemary

Stir topping together and place on top of the brie. Place the brie into an oven-safe bowl or dish and plop it into a slow cooker for about 2 hours, or until melty and gooey and delicious. Serve with apple slices and your favorite crackers. I'm not supposed to name brand names in this post, but we used the popular round gluten free crackers that come in the white box. Email me if you don't know what I'm talking about!

Cranberry Martinis

Since The Cocktail Lady was at our house I figured I'd use her expertise, and we came up with the most awesomest cranberry martini recipe ever. She also lent me her drink shaker because I accidentally gave away the one we got as a wedding present in one of our many moves.

Thanks, Jen! xoxo

Fill the drink shaker half-full or so with ice.

For each drink, add:

1 shot Simply Cranberry Cocktail

1 shot citrus flavored vodka

1/2 shot Triple Sec

1/2 shot Sweet and Sour Mix

Shake well and serve in chilled martini glasses with sugared rims. (Adam did the glasses by rubbing a cut lime on the edge then dipping the glasses in Baker's Sugar. He froze them for 2 hours or so before the party).

We were able to double this recipe and get two drinks in each shaker.

And they rocked.

Srsly.

Cranberry Glazed Chicken:

4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 large onion, peeled and diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons gluten free soy sauce

1 (16-ounce) can whole berry cranberry sauce

1/2 cup Simply Cranberry Cocktail

1 lime, juiced

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 tablespoons cold water

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Place the chicken into the bottom of your cooker (frozen is fine). Add diced onion and garlic. In a mixing bowl whisk together the soy sauce, cranberry sauce, and juices. Pour this mixture evenly over the top of your chicken. Cover, and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours, or until chicken is fully cooked (if you cook it longer, it’ll shred—it’s up to you!)

With tongs, carefully remove the chicken and place on a serving platter. Whisk together the cornstarch and cold water to create a slurry. Stir this into your slow cooker to thicken, then serve over mashed potatoes or polenta.

Triple Threat Cranberry Brisket:

5 pound beef brisket

1 onion, peeled and diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 (16-ounce) can whole berry cranberry sauce

1/4 cup gluten free soy sauce

1/2 cup Simply Cranberry Cocktail

1/4 cup dried cranberries

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Place the meat into the bottom of your slow cooker insert. Add onion and garlic. In a mixing bowl, mix together the can of cranberry sauce, soy sauce, juice, and dried cranberries. Pour this combination evenly over the top of the meat. Cover, and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, or on high for about 6 hours. Your meat is finished when it has begun to lose it’s shape and can pull apart easily with a fork. Serve over mashed potatoes with a spoonful of sauce.

Cranberry Fluff Dessert

I was channeling TW from Retro-Food.com when I decided to serve this dessert. I knew I wanted something we could all eat together and didn't want a big production (think ice-cream bar) or a huge mess to deal with later (again, think ice-cream bar). But I wanted the kids to like it and the adults to at least give it a half-hearted thumbs up.

I was WAY SURPRISED. We licked the pyrex clean. All 6 adults and 9 children couldn't get enough.

2 cups boiling water

2 (4-ounce) packages cherry gelatin dessert

1 cup Simply Cranberry Cocktail

1 (8-ounce) container whipped dessert topping, room temperature, divided

1 (15-ounce) can whole berry cranberry sauce

1 package shortbread cookies (or something similar. Ours were gluten free, of course!)

Whisk the dried gelatin powder with the boiling water until it's completely dissolved. Whisk in the juice, and then refrigerate the mixing bowl for 90 minutes. You want the gelatin slightly set, but not really. 

Now stir in 2 cups of the dessert topping and the entire can of cranberry sauce. Pour this mixture into a 9 x 9 glass baking pan. Refrigerate for 4 hours, or until completely set. Spread on the additional whipped topping and dot with shortbread cookies.

Cranberry retro yumminess. It's tart, but not too tart, and sweet, but not too sweet.

It was the perfect end to a perfect night. And you know it was good when you wake up to this in the morning:

I had so much fun and feel so lucky to have the best friends ever. Thank you to Simply Cranberry Cocktail for giving me an excuse to have a party. And for the realization that I shouldn't have to have an excuse to have friends over--I should just do it!

 I'm pretty sure we're not going to have a UTI anytime soon...

Guess what? 

Simply Cranberry Cocktail understands that sometimes it's just not possible to have a spur-of-the moment party when you're busy living your life and all "extra" (HA on the extra!) income goes towards retirement, or college, or braces, or new tires. So they are offering to help out by giving one lucky winner a $100 Visa gift card to spend however you'd like.

Maybe you'd like to have a cranberry party of your very own?

What is your favorite way to make a party or get together at your home more festive? Tell me about it in the comments for a chance to win a $100 gift card.

Rules:
P.S: I didn't make these up. 



No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:


a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.


This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.


I'll randomly select a winner from the responses (leave an email address or sign in so I can find you!) and will make sure the gift card gets sent out promptly.


The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 5/7/2012 - 6/1/2012


Be sure to visit the Promotions & Prizes page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!


"Simply Cranberry_™" is a trademark of Simply Orange Juice Company.



BOO-YAH!

Hot Dogs for a Crowd

Guess what? You can fit 60 hot dogs in a 6-quart slow cooker. This is kind of big news if you happen to be:

• planning an end-of-the-year swim party for the 5th grade graduating class
• planning a block party potluck and know that kids really don't want to eat 75 different types of salad
• manning the Little League concession booth
• trying to beat the world's record in hot dog eating
• interested in testing out your cholesterol medication

The Ingredients.

• a crap load (technical term) of hot dogs (60, to be exact, although you can wimp out and do fewer, if necessary)
• buns 
•  fixens'
•  6-quart slow cooker
•  an outlet

The Directions.

Unwrap all the hot dogs and throw the wrappers in a plastic bag and then immediately take out the garbage because if the kittens knock over the garbage can and hot dog juice gets all over the kitchen floor you're going to get annoyed and then have to mop unless you just wipe it up with a baby wipe and pretend the cats didn't really lick your floor.

Stand hotdogs on end if you're trying to cram in 60. If not, you can just dump them in. There's no need to add water. This is for two reasons: 1, the hotdogs will release moisture all on their own, and 2, if you have a crockpot full of hot dog water it'll just be kind of gross to dig through the water to pick them out. and 3 (I lied, there are 3 reasons) if the hotdogs hang out in hot water for too long they'll end up splitting on you.

Cover, and cook on low for 4 hours, or on high for about 2 hours--check to make sure the ones in the middle are fully hot before serving. Serve with tongs into buns and top with desired fixens'.

Your dogs can stay on the "warm" setting for an awfully long time. If your pot has a hot spot (mine does), the dogs on the edge will get kind of crispy and blackened, which will COMPLETELY fool your 10-year-old into thinking you learned how to barbecue.

The Verdict.

If you eat too many hotdogs in a day because you don't want to waste them you'll be really really thirsty for the next three days.

Also? 6 hotdogs in two days is too much for a 2-year-old. Don't do that.

and? it's kind of fun to call your neighbors and have them over for spur-of-the moment hot dogs and it's even cooler that when you call to squeal that 60 hotdogs can totally fit in a 6-quart they know what you mean and highfive you through the phone.

Adam says these dogs remind him of the hot dogs from 7-11 or the movies where they cook on the roller bars--they aren't boiled, aren't barbecued, but hot. And hot dogs are fully cooked anyway in the package, so all you're doing is heating them through.

Happy Almost Summer!!

more cool stuff:

crockpot baked potatoes

use your crockpot as a rice cooker

crockpot as a smoker

make yogurt in a crockpot

crockpot as foot bath

crockpot as air freshener

1 Minute Muffin (not in a crockpot)

Slow Cooker Matzo Ball Soup

I made my very first Matzo Ball Soup yesterday. In the crockpot.

I called my friend Jennifer and she talked me through how to make the broth and Matzo dough--she's not gluten free, but after a lot of googling and texting to confirm my hard-core journalistic researching I figured out what I should do.

AND IT WORKED.

[insert Crush voice from Finding Nemo] I SO TOTALLY ROCK.

This is a 2-day process, or at least a really, really full day process. First we're going to make the homemade chicken broth/soup.

The Ingredients
serves 6-8

   

3 pounds bone-in chicken parts
2 onions, peeled, cut into quarters
6 cloves garlic, peeled with cloves intact
1 cup baby carrots
3 ribs celery, cut in large chunks, leaves okay
1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
1 tablespoon kosher salt
12 cups water
1 package gluten free matzo ball mix, or make your own (recipe below)

gluten free matzo balls
makes 8-10 or so

  
1/2 cup finely ground almond meal
1/2 cup potato starch
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons dill
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening (Crisco)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Use a hand-held or stand mixer to blend the ingredients together to form a dough. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours before using in soup.


The Directions
Use a 6-quart slow cooker.  Place the chicken into your slow cooker. I used chicken quarters, and did try to take as much of the skin off as I can (because of my weird issues). Add vegetables and seasoning. Pour in a bunch of water (4 cups per pound of chicken)—be careful, your pot will be quite full. Cover, and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Unplug the slow cooker, and let it sit for 3 hours, or until the meat is cool enough to handle.

Remove meat from pot, and discard the bones. Scoop out the vegetables and set aside. Some people prefer their matzo soup to be simply broth, some like chunks of meat and vegetables—it’s up to you. I decided to get rid of the onion and celery (the garlic kind of melted into a paste), but kept the chicken and carrots.  

Strain the broth through a cheesecloth or fine-mesh sieve to remove the peppercorns and extra bits. Return the broth to the slow cooker.

Plug the cooker back in and cook on high for 2 hours. While the broth is reheating, mix the matzo dough (if using packaged matzo, prepare according to the written instructions).

Homemade matzo dough.  Don't handle it too much; you want it light and fluffy

Once your soup is hot, drop rounded spoonfuls of matzo into your slow cooker. Cover, and cook on high for about 30 minutes, or until the dough is cooked through and “bounces” in the broth when poked with a spoon.

the matzo balls bounce when you poke them with a spoon!

Serve and enjoy!

The Verdict
I must admit, since I've never had this soup before, I don't have anything to compare it to. But we liked it. The five in my family ate every last smidgen in our bowls, and I packaged up a little tupperware to send home to my mom and grandma. I really liked the dill flavor. Everytime I cook with dill, I'm reminded more and more that it's such an under-utilized herb in my pantry. I hope you enjoy this soup--I look forward to making it again and again in the years to come.

Thank you to Jennifer, for holding my hand (AGAIN)!

other recipes you might like:
chicken and dumpling soup
apple dumplings
honey cake
sweet mustard roast 
I just Spent The Whole Day on Pinterest...