Thanksgiving Sangria

This year was the first year my hubby & I hosted ALL of Thanksgiving.

For the last several years, we have hosted my side for brunch, then we head out to his side for the afternoon/evening feast.

This time, we had the brunch with my side AND the afternoon feast with my hubby's side at our house. Worked for us! We didn't have to go ANYWHERE!! We took care of the large portion of the brunch, then we switched gears & cooked the meats (turkey and ham), I made the green beans in a deconstructed green bean casserole, hubby made his late father's jello salad, and I made my holiday cranberries (recipe HERE).

I had come across several beautiful drinks that folks had made for their own family feasts. Sangrias seemed to be a perfect topper to the dinner, and I'd had a lovely sangria at my hubby's & my favorite restaurant a few months ago. So I decided that we needed to keep chilled out with the family. I tend to stress out with so much prep, so I had hoped to chill myself out, mostly, and anyone of the big kids who wanted to join in, too.

I researched several fall sangria recipes, like I do, and came up with this:

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THANKSGIVING SANGRIA

Ingredients:

1 bottle Riesling

1/2 C apple juice (optional...cuz I just needed to empty out the jug & it worked)

1 1/2 C apple cider

1 1/2 C cran-apple juice

1 bottle sparkling apple cider

1/3 C granulated sugar

about 1 C fresh cranberries (or about half a bag)

1 red apple (your choice - I used Red Delicious), cored & chopped

1 yellow apple (like Golden Delicious), cored & chopped

1 pear (I used apple pear), cored & chopped

few sprigs fresh rosemary

1 can or bottle hard cider (added at the last minute)

Directions:

In a large pitcher (I used a gallon-sized pitcher), add all of the ingredients, minus the hard cider, stir well, cover with a lid, plastic wrap or foil, then let it steep in the refrigerator for several hours.

Right before serving, remove from the fridge, add in the hard cider CAREFULLY and slowly (I used Redd's Wicked Apple Ale). Give one more good stir.

Into cups or wine goblets, it would be easiest to ladle in the sangria & some fruit rather than pour from the pitcher. 

This is a good, big batch for a large group of people. 

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I was so hoping it would turn out OK. I've never done a sangria before. Before I could do some quality control, there were already a few diving right into it! And then I could hear them saying, "Mmmmm!! This is really good!!" And I know it must've been true since they went back for more! I did, too.

Note to self: start the sangria steeping the night before so there's an even better blend of flavors. I'll keep it in mind as I plan my Christmas sangria!

 Definitely a new tradition for the feast!! *CHEERS*

ENJOY!