As Promised (11/09/10)

So yesterday I mentioned that I will be busily making all of our Christmas gifts this year for friends and family, and believe it or not… starting now. So for those of you looking for economical gift giving solutions…. today’s entry is one of my ideas for the adult friends/family, and in particular for those who entertain and/or imbibe themselves occasionally.

Wine Bottles: I have been saving them throughout the year (the ultimate recycler) but you can easily find a fun variety at thrift stores and/or goodwill locations. Now I prefer clear ones for my gift giving but you can choose anything that feels like you or the person you are giving it to. Now what we will be making are flavor infused vodka and Kailua. The following is what I will be making (let me know if you like the ideas and want specific recipes/amounts/etc. and I will be sure to post them for your use). 

1.             For the Bloody Mary lovers in my life…. I will be making a bottle of jalapeño vodka and I will include a recipe card for my famous Brunch Bloody Mary. 

2.            For my Sex in the City fans/girlfriends…. I will be making a bottle of lemon vodka and include a recipe for a Cosmo and a Lemon Drop martini.

3.             For the more evening aperitif people in my life… I will be making a bottle of Vanilla Vodka and a bottle of Kailua… and I will include a recipe card for a White Russian, Black Russian and Kailua and Coffee.

Now depending on the budget and what else I may cook for my own family or what is leftover after the Thanksgiving feast has run its course, I may also include my own jar of heirloom tomato juice for the Bloody Mary gift and my own fresh cranberry Cosmo juice for the Sex in the City gifts. But for frugality purposes we are just going to discuss the alcohol beverages above.

Making flavor infused vodka is super easy and nicely personal. Plus I find it has loads more flavor then all the ones currently on the liquor shelves. So, to infuse vodka all you do is add your item (jalapeños/lemon/vanilla/etc.) to the bottom of an empty wine bottle, then fill the bottle with the vodka of your choice. Top the bottle, so that it will be leak proof when the bottle is placed on its side, and lay it down on a shelf in your freezer. Depending on how much flavor you want the vodka to have upon giving the gift you can let it stand anywhere from 3 days to 30 days. I choose to do more of the latter … one, because my Kailua will take at least 30 days to be ready for drinking and two, because I will be making all of this on the same day. I find it is easier to prepare the gifts, freezer and kitchen clean-up all in one day. As a note… make sure to remove all the bottles from the freezer for a minimum of a full day prior to gift wrapping them. For Kailua… I have a super easy recipe that calls for vodka, coffee, vanilla extract and sugar.

Again, I will post all of the recipes mentioned above based on feedback I get (including the heirloom tomato and cranberry juice), and stay tooned for tomorrows non-alcoholic gift giving ideas.

Now for Today’s blessing.

I don’t know if any of you are following the status of the Carnival Splendor and its stranded situation off the coast of Mexico… but as it will almost be a year to the date that my husband and I went on our Mexican Rivera cruise on the Carnival Spirit, I have been glued to the news and media about this ship and its nearly 4,500 occupants. My prayers are with them all. I know first hand that with Carnival they are at least in very good hands, and though not having the vacation they had originally planned, being helped through this trying time with as much of the 5 star treatment Carnival always aims for as much as humanly possible.

My husband and I were blessed to have had the ultimate cruise experience on the Carnival Spirit last year, and send our thoughts and prayers to the people aboard the Carnival Splendor. May you reach land soon.