Ah, Christmas. The best part of it is getting the family together, relaxing and enjoying great food. The worst part is the mindless commercialization and over-consumption. Connie and I really don’t do much in the way of Christmas presents for each other. We usually decide on something we need or would like to have as an indulgence, buy it and then wait. No Black Friday ventures into the mall for us!
For those who want to buy something for us as a present, that does make it difficult. We lack nothing we need. So my brother John (the younger), came up with a unique solution. He bought us a bottle of Three-O cherry vodka from Three Olives. He included a thumb drive with 42 pages of recipes, not just for the cherry variety, but all of their flavored vodka. Thoughtful man, and a gift we really can and intend to use.
I will say we thought it a bit strange that John was down on the floor with a flashlight checking out our liquor cabinet on Christmas Eve when the family gathered at our home. Ostensibly he was admiring the variety. Now, we know he was checking to make sure he wasn't giving us a duplicate!
We've made our first cocktail with the Three-O cherry vodka. It comes to us from Three Olives and it is called Three-O™ Cherry Cosmo. When all was said and done, Connie and I had selected the same three drinks we wanted to try. All needed martini glasses. When he called me in to the kitchen to get my opinion and I selected the same ones, he laughed and opened the freezer door. He'd already put martini glasses into the freezer to chill. He knows me so well!!
The recipe called for 3 oz. of vodka per serving. That's two shots is a little strong, especially when you have to cook and straighten the house. Connie backed off the vodka by 1 oz. per serving to two. Still, it was a little on the strong side. We decided that it could use a little bit more of the cranberry juice and / or a bit of simple syrup. I’ll update the post when we revisit this recipe, which we will. It was a tasty drink. Here is the recipe (for two):
Three O Cherry Cosmo
Ingredients:
4 oz. Three-O Cherry Vodka
1 oz. Triple Sec (we use DeKuyper)
2 oz. cranberry juice (we use Ocean Spray)
Splash fresh lime juice
Directions:
Shake with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass.
Garnish with a cherry.
Toast the one you love, and enjoy!
adapted from Three O recipes
