brandied cherries

A few weeks ago, I decided I'd try my hand at making brandied cherries, thinking that they might make good Christmas gifts for a few Manhattan-loving persons in my life. I went out and bought a simply enormous bottle of E&J XO brandy and several bags of pitted and frozen cherries (as it was December, the only fresh cherries available were from Chile and heart-stoppingly expensive) and got to work. Since I didn't have to pit the cherries, it was the work of a few minutes to prep everything. I boiled all the jars and made syrup with the brandy and sugars, tossing in a few cinnamon sticks for good measure. 

This recipe mades a lot of brandied cherries, which is great if you're planning on giving them away as presents. Otherwise, you could easily halve the recipe. 

Brandied Cherries

4lbs pitted cherries (preferably Bing)

8 cups brandy

2 cups brown sugar

2 cups white sugar

2 cinnamon sticks

Jars with tight-fitting lids

In a large sauce pan, whisk together the brandy and sugars and add in the cinnamon sticks. Bring mixture to a boil and then turn down to a simmer until the sugar has dissolved. Remove the cinnamon sticks. Pour the mixture over the cherries in a large bowl and allow to come to room temperature. In the meantime, sterilize your jars by boiling in hot water. Ladle the cherry mixture into the jars and seal tightly. Allow to rest for 4-6 weeks in the refrigerator before sampling. Cherries should stay good in the refrigerator for a year.

happy 2013

close of the year

Yesterday we went to see the coho salmon run out in Lagunitas creek. I took some pictures of the salmon, but they were difficult to capture- photos look distant and blurry whereas in person you could see the salmon clearly in the water. People lined the banks and watched them thrash against the current. Myself included.

Anyway, it was pretty incredible to see. It's one of the things I love about living in the Bay Area. The things you can see, just a few minutes outside the city.

Afterwards, we drove out to Pt. Reyes and did a walk up along one of the ridge lines. 

The light was beautiful, turning from gold to pink to lavender as we moved towards evening.

It's hard to believe the year is almost over (isn't it always that way, at the end of the year?) but I'm looking forward to 2013. Happy New Year, everyone.

merry christmas

I know that Christmas has already technically come and gone, but I'm still in the Christmas spirit.  Christmas itself was lovely- I spent it in Napa with Daniel's family and we did an admirable job of drinking and feasting. There was a magnum of prosecco, sticky toffee pudding, and a healthy dose of red meat. We didn't get around to making Christmas cookies until yesterday, but it turns out that Christmas cookies are still good even if they're made after Christmas. We met up with friends in the city and made gingerbread men and punitions and drank mulled wine. And today I fly back to San Diego for a belated Christmas celebration with my family. I'm pretty spoiled, I know.

Merry (belated) Christmas.

christmas vacation

A few photos:

Everyone arrived late Monday evening- there were storms and my family's flight from Denver was cancelled. They ended up flying to Riverton instead and driving the 160 miles to Jackson. My flight from San Francisco arrived around 9:30. We were up the next morning with the sun to ski at Jackson Hole. In the evening, we drank whiskey at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. We celebrated an early Christmas.

Thursday, we went dog sledding. Ten miles out to Granite Hot Springs where we wrestled out of our heavy coats and boots and hopped into the steaming water. We saw a bald eagle.

At night, we took a gondola up to dinner.

It was a great vacation.

jackson

Greetings from Jackson.

I'm on vacation with my family in Wyoming. It was -10 degrees today. The sky was incredibly blue. It feels good to be here, breathing in the cold air and looking out at the mountains. It feels good to get away, just for a few days.

happy thanksgiving