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Celebrate the festive season like an expert

Celebrate the festive season like an expert

 ‘Tis the season to be jolly, and we have all the expert tips to bring to life your festive Cellarbrations! Whether your Christmas is all about seafood, or that glorious glazed ham, we’ve got recipes to make sure you’ll impress everyone, even the most festive of critics. And don’t forget the drinks - from cocktails to beer, we’ve got suggestions that will take you through from the festive season into the New Year. So celebrate like an expert this festive season!

 

Sangria Day - 20th December 

To kick off the festivities, nothing says summer like World Sangria Day which conveniently happens this month on the 20th. If you have a bottle of red you think could do with some summer spice, try it in this recipe or alternatively we suggest using Wolf Blass Yellow Label Cab Sav because of its rich flavours of plum, blackberry and cassis.

Ingredients:

⃞   Wolf Blass Yellow Label Cabernet Sauvignon

⃞   1 Lemon

⃞   1 Orange

⃞   2 tablespoons of sugar

⃞   1.5 ounces of Black Bottle Brandy

⃞   2 cups of ginger beer

To create your sangria, start by pouring your red wine into a jug. Next you’ll need to squeeze the juice from your lemons and oranges into the wine, adding to taste. Then, cut the remaining fruit rinds into wedges, making sure to remove the seeds. Add them to the wine, along with your sugar and brandy for that balance of sweet and sour. Finally add your ginger beer and serve with ice for the last touch of summer chill.

 

Christmas - 25th December

People always talk about the 12 days of Christmas, but we’ve decided to shake it up a bit this year and bring you the 12 drinks of Christmas. Have your closest friends and family over every night and never serve them the same cocktail twice! Here are the best of our 2017 Nova Jacuzzi Friday ‘Drink of the Week’ recipes:

1.     Rosé Spritz featuring Jacob’s Creek Le Petit Rosé

2.     Cloudy Apple Margarita featuring Pure Blonde Crisp Apple Cider 

3.     Aperol Spritz featuring Aperol Aperitivo 

4.     Midori Spritz featuring Midori Liqueur 

5.     Espresso Martini featuring Absolut Vodka 

6.     Honey Storm featuring Wild Turkey American Honey 

7.     Orange & Peppercorn Twist featuring Bombay Sapphire Gin 

8.     Haitian Punch featuring Baron Samedi Spiced Rum 

9.     Strawberry & Mint Fizz featuring Cointreau Liqueur 

10.  Maker’s Mark Old Fashioned featuring Maker’s Mark Bourbon 

11.  Le Grand Fizz featuring Grey Goose Vodka 

12.  Stonewall featuring Laphroaig Select Cask Single Malt 

Find the recipes here 

 

Boxing Day - 26th December

Boxing Day is all about the Christmas leftovers. To make sure you do Boxing Day right, we’ve put together a few recipes for a beautiful Christmas spread and combined it with our favourite beverages. Impress your guests at Christmas and enjoy the leftovers the next day. 

PepperJack Shiraz Wine-Glazed Ham

Ingredients:

⃞   Whole leg-ham

⃞   1 teaspoon ground ginger

⃞   1 teaspoon cardamom

⃞   1 Cinnamon quill

⃞   250ml Pepperjack Shiraz

⃞   1 cup brown sugar

⃞   1 cup water 

To master our wine-glazed ham recipe, heat your oven to 160°. Cover your ham in foil and bake for 30 minutes. Then, remove the foil from the ham and score the fat in a diamond pattern before stuffing with garlic (or your favourite flavours). Now you’re ready to glaze! To make the glaze, place all the ingredients in a pan and stir on a low heat, allowing the sugar to dissolve, before increasing the heat to allow the mixture to simmer until syrupy.

Apply the glaze to the ham, using half of the mixture. Cook your ham for a further half an hour in the oven. Take the ham out of the oven and apply the rest of the glaze before serving.

XXXX Gold Beer Battered Prawns

Ingredients:

⃞   2 cups self-raising flour

⃞   ½ teaspoon salt

⃞   1 bottle XXXX Gold

⃞   Olive oil

⃞   Prawns

For our delicious XXXX Gold Beer Buttered Prawns you will need to start by combining flour and salt in a bowl. Make a hole in the middle and slowly pour your XXXX Gold in while stirring to create a batter. Next add enough oil to a large saucepan so that it’s around 5cm deep. Get the oil to 180°C. After peeling your prawns, leaving tails intact, dip them in the batter and then add to the oil cooking for around two minutes each until golden and crispy.   

 

New Year’s Eve - 31st December 

The year has flown by and now it’s time to celebrate. No matter what type of event you’re hosting, we’ve got everything you need to ensure the night is filled with nothing but sparkle and cheer.

It’s a night full of glitzy dresses, bow ties, and sparkling wine, and we think the best accessory is a bottle of Sterling Pinot Noir Chardonnay. It’s creamy and elegant palate is delicious and is sure to bring a sparkle to your party. Best served alongside fancy finger food like smoked salmon canapes and some irresistible arancini balls.

But New Year’s Eve doesn’t need to be all about the glitz and glamour. Sometimes it’s nice to just have a quiet and intimate celebration with those closest to you. Maybe it’s an intimate dinner and a bottle of Wynns The Banker Cabernet Sauvignon, or watching the fireworks on TV with a James Squire One Fifty Lashes in hand, because it’s not really about what you do for New Year’s Eve, but who you do it with.

 

Bloody Mary Day - 1st January

The perfect way to start the year - Bloody Mary Day is on the first day of January and is the perfect excuse to enjoy the refreshing cocktail for brunch following your New Year’s Eve celebrations. Here’s our recipe to start your year with a bit of spice, and a whole lot of nice. 

Ingredients:

⃞   2 parts Skyy Vodka

⃞   4 parts tomato juice

⃞   ½ part fresh lemon juice

⃞   4 dashes of Worcestershire sauce

⃞   4 dashes of Tabasco

⃞   Salt

⃞   Pepper

⃞   Ice cubes

⃞   Celery to serve

To put together your Bloody Mary, add your ice to a glass and top with your Skyy Vodka. Next add your tomato juice, and some lemon juice to taste. Mix in the Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco and season with salt and pepper - stir well ensuring all ingredients are mixed together. To serve, add a stick of celery to your glass and enjoy!

 

No matter how you’re planning to spend your festive season, swing by Cellarbrations, where any day is an occasion!