Sparkling Cranberry Sage Cocktail

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving! Ours went surprisingly very smoothly. Except for dropping a carton of eggs on the kitchen floor. But you can't win them all. The turkey was juicy, apple and sausage bread pudding was a big hit, and the deep dish apple pie was so good. It was everything I wanted. A long weekend with my family, too much food, afternoon naps, and pin the tail on the turkey. Also, another big hit thanks to Lola! 

Come Friday morning the kids were ready to take down the fall decorations and get the house ready for Christmas. So after a few hours of begging their dad, we slowly brought in the boxes and the chaos began. And as much as I wasn't ready to decorate the house, I couldn't be happier that we did. Sitting here, working, listening to Christmas music, and watching the lights sparkle, how can you not get the in the holiday spirit! 

I originally created this holiday cocktail for my event with Madewell, and it quickly has become my new go-to cocktail of choice. Especially when company comes over! Make a large batch of cranberry sage simple syrup, buy a few bottles of Prosecco, and there you have it, your instant holiday cocktail. PS, adding garnish is mandatory. Cheers!

SPARKLING CRANBERRY SAGE COCKTAIL

INGREDIENTS
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
2 bunches of sage leaves (about ¾ cup)
Bottle of Prosecco or Champagne

DIRECTIONS
In a medium saucepan bring water and sugar to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Once the simple syrup is at a boil, remove it from the heat and add in the cranberries and sage leaves. Cover and let steep until completely cooled, about 2 hours. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Discard the cranberries and sage.

To make the cocktails, pour two ounces of syrup into cocktail glass or champagne flute and top with Prosecco.

To create cranberry garnish, use a long wooden toothpick and carefully slide 4-6 cranberries onto each one. Garnish the cocktail with one cranberry skewer and 1-2 sage leaves. 

this recipe was originally created for Madewell, and first published in The Gorge Magazine