Spiced Cranberry Sangría

Makes 2 1/2 quarts-

By dressing up classic Spanish sangría with Spiced Simple Syrup and tart cranberries, Chef Jose Garces has created an ideal cocktail for a winter holiday celebration. Chef Garces serves this with an apple chip garnish for a more elegant finish, but even without it it’s delightful.
What to buy: If you can’t find a Tempranillo rosé, a less earthy Grenache rosé is a suitable substitute.

For the fruit:
2 cups fresh cranberries
2 Granny Smith apples, large dice
1 cup Spiced Simple Syrup (sugar & water -2 c each, cinnamon sticks & cloves- or other spices you desire)
3/4 cup Cointreau
1/2 cup ruby port wine

Combine all ingredients in a 3-quart container with a tightfitting lid.
Cover and refrigerate at least four hours or preferably overnight.

For the sangría:
"1 750-milliliter bottle Tempranillo rosé"
1/2 cup ruby port wine
1/2 cup Cointreau
1/2 cup cranberry juice

Add all ingredients to the fruit mixture and stir to combine.
Refrigerate until chilled, and serve over ice.

Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

My mom introduced me to this biscotti recipe a couple months back, and, even though it calls for just one teaspoon of citrus, I think it's worthy of citrus month. It's from Giada de Lauretiis and the Food Network. They call it holiday biscotti; I call it cranberry pistachio biscotti. (Recipe source)

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup dried cranberries
12 ounces good-quality white chocolate, chopped

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, butter, lemon zest, and salt in a large bowl to blend. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Add the flour mixture and beat just until blended. Stir in the pistachios and cranberries.

Form the dough into a 13-inch long, 3-inch wide log on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until light golden, about 40 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes.

Place the log on the cutting board. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the log on a diagonal into 1/2 to 3/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake the biscotti until they are pale golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a rack and cool completely.

Stir the chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate melts. Dip half of the biscotti into the melted chocolate. Gently shake off the excess chocolate. Place the biscotti on the baking sheet for the chocolate to set. Refrigerate until the chocolate is firm, about 35 minutes.

The biscotti can be made ahead. Store them in an airtight container up to 4 days, or wrap them in foil and freeze in resealable plastic bags up to 3 weeks.

Notes: You can skip the dipping in chocolate part if you'd like. Also, I think, adding white chocolate chips to the batter would achieve the same effect as dipping in chocolate.

Favorite Holiday Cookie - Chocolate Crinkles

I wish I could be like my grandma and make batches upon batches of cookies to have on hand for guests every year during the holiday season. Admittedly though, I'm not much of a holiday cookie baker, or cookie baker in general, but if I had to choose a favorite it would have to be Chocolate Crinkles!

Image courtesy of: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/208/443212217_8b7bad0aab.jpg?v=0