Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from Wisconsin!

And from the most nontraditional celebration I've ever experienced. And yet quite possibly one of the yummiest. But don't I feel that way every year? Yes. Yes, I do.

This year, Thanksgiving is split into two celebrations because my dad is currently on the road (in Iowa as we speak, on his way back from a nearly two-month visit to the west coast) and won't be with us until tomorrow. Our second and all-inclusive turkey dinner will be on Sunday. But tonight my youngest sister is visiting on holiday break from college, and my other sister stopped by with her fiance and his daughter. My grandparents dropped in with the all-important bottle of wine. And one thing we were not short of this year was wine!

My contribution was the putting-together of sangria, which one could say came from a recipe, but was mostly my own throw-stuff-in concoction. As follows, the way I made it, with ideas:

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Fruit:

About 2-3ish cups of fresh cranberries (or one of those little mesh bags)

2 large crispy apples, such as Granny Smith or Honeycrisp, diced

1 cup Patron Citronage

2/3 cup granulated sugar

Sangria:

1 750ml bottle wine, chilled (red, white, blush, whatever you want!) -- I split a sweet red and a rose blush.

1/2 cup Patron Citronage

1/2 cup cranberry juice

(Optional: Would be AWESOME with a little fizz: substitute part of the wine with champagne, or add club soda and more wine)

Mix all of the ingredients for the fruit mixture together in a bowl or container, then seal and refrigerate for 4-6 hours, or overnight if you've got the time. Pour the fruit into a large pitcher or dispenser and add wine (and/or champagne if you choose) and the last of the Citronage. Stir. Serve chilled over ice.

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The best thing about sangria is that it can be made pretty much however you want to make it. This was a fall inspiration from Toasts & Tastes, the first recipe listed there with many other ingredients. What I made was based partly on what we already had available, so we cut out the port and used sugar instead of the syrup. The sugar could be adjusted however you'd like to accommodate varying tastes for sweetness -- this does turn out quite sweet. But then again, that's the way I love my sangria!

Aside from this yummy drinky, mom put together olives and tapenade, bacon-wrapped chicken thighs, asparagus, corn, sweet potatoes and a pumpkin pie with homemade whip. My sister contributed some Martha Stewart-inspired homemade cookies that rivaled Pepperidge Farm's Brussels cookies.

A nontraditional dinner as far as Thanksgivings go -- but what a dinner! I'm so thankful to have been able to spend some time with family today. And then we went to see Lincoln at the theatre. (Go see it!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Next time I'll post a little something about my recent trip to Chicago. 

Cheers, lovelies!