Pomegranate Gin Cocktail to Celebrate all of 2013

When the first few days of 2013 passed, we knew it was going to be a big year and a year of many firsts. We love diving into “firsts” because the excitement of wondering what’s going to happen is thrilling.  Our first cookbook, Bountiful, was going to be released in October and back in January 2013, it felt like a long road away. Before we knew it, we were on the road visiting so many of you in some of our favorite cities.  Can’t believe that big moment of cookbook release and travel are over. That’s a first we won’t ever forget.

Another “first” was traveling to Australia and capturing some incredible stories of the people who make food by hand. Adding to travel adventure was experiencing fly-fishing for the very first time. We did it, finally! And though we didn’t catch many fish, we were able to spend some quality time with family and friends.

We can think of so many other reasons why 2013 was the start of many new beginnings for us. This was a year that ignited many new passions that we look forward to pursuing and hopefully we can continue them before 2014 is over.

Most importantly, 2013 was a year of celebrating meals with friends, family and new colleagues. This was the year that we made extra time to gather with people we care about and share a meal. 2013 was the year that we consumed more calories and traveled more miles than the last 3 years combined. Yes, that’s all a good thing!

To celebrate the end of 2013 and new beginnings of 2014, we’re sharing some scenes from a holiday tapas party shoot that we and West Elm collaborated together with.

Thanks to West Elm’s beautiful Crafted red dinnerware and gold rimmed stemless glassware,  and Lindsay’s white platters, we were able to make the  tapas feasting table simple, yet beautiful.

So what do we eat to celebrate the New Year?

To drink, it’s going to be a big batch of these Pomegranate & Grapefruit Gin cocktails from our Bountiful cookbook. To eat, the table spread includes our famous sweet onion crack dip served with grilled bread and vegetables. Also on the munching table are our favorite chicken skewers with homemade teriyaki sauce. All recipes are also from our cookbook.

It’s going to be a great New Year’s Eve. We’re excited to end the year with another great gathering and ring in the new year in the same way.

All four of us thank you all tremendously for being here with us and being a part of our lives. We’re truly grateful for you all and wish you plenty of more great food, gatherings and love for 2014.

Hugs and love you each and everyone of you!

Todd, Diane, Sierra and Lexi.

Here’s a list of all our favorite cocktails for your New Year’s Eve gatherings!

Yield: 1 cocktail

Total Time: 10 min

This recipe is from our cookbook Bountiful. Gins will vary quite a bit so feel free to adjust to your household's gin or to your preferred taste. We developed the recipe based off of Hendrick's Gin and that is what we usually make it with.

3 tablespoons pomegranate seeds1 1/2 ounces fresh grapefruit juice1 1/2 ounces gin1 ounce simple syrup *see note 1A few dashes orange bittersIceMuddle the pomegranate seeds in a cocktail shaker. Add the grapefruit juice, gin, simple syrup, bitters, and ice.Shake vigorously for 15 to 20 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

To make simple syrup combine an equal amount of sugar and water. Heat to dissolve. It keeps for over a month in the fridge, so feel free to make a large batch to always have on hand.

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Pomegranate Juice & Green Globe Pomegranates

We were in the dead of summer heat here over these past few weeks. Well, for us Southern California coastal folks, anything that hits 95 degrees is a reason to complain about it being too hot. Why is it that Summer decided to arrive now? In September? Maybe this is a good thing, all this hot weather because the garden can still fruit its Summer bounty during the same time that the fall figs, persimmons and pomegranates start arriving. Even puppy Lexi can’t keep up with all the transition fruit. She’s a fruit grazer, for sure.

Hot Summer heat, it’s a good thing, right? Who has a swimming pool? We’d love an invite.

Over the last weeks, our eyes have been fixated on these green globe pomegranates. We’ve always written about our other variety of pomegranates called Wonderful. But why we haven’t ever shared our green globes is another mystery, until now.

About eleven years ago we stumbled upon this green globe variety. Our Wonderful pomegranates were doing well and though still young, it wasn’t producing enough fruit for our insatiable pom-appetites. Our search brought us to this unique variety called green globe, which are not red like what you would traditionally expect. These are more green/yellow skinned-toned, with light blushes of red and pink.

When looking at green globes, you would expect that they’re not ripe and that they’re needing many more months of branch ripening. This is certainly not the case because when you break open these green globe beauties, what you find are gorgeous bright red pomegranate seeds that are ready to eat, drink, jam or what ever your heart desires.

What do green globe pomegranates taste like? Super sweet, juicy and amazing. They’re not tart nor acidic like the common red varieties, so the green globes are perfect for drinking and eating. Let the seeds fall into your mouth and what you’ll experience is like sweet pomegranate candy. To everyone’s surprise, these seeds are perfect for snacking on and even when they’re not tart, the bursts of sweet flavor are easy to please.So, where do you get these green globes? we have no idea! We haven’t seen them at farmers markets. Perhaps they’re a harder variety to grow commercially. Or maybe the public would rather have the brighter, tarter variety. If any of you have come across this, we’d love to hear. Many folks have asked us where to find this and it’s nice to be able get new information and pass it on.

 Fresh squeezed pomegranate juice is luxury, no doubt. It takes quite a few seeds to juice down to about less than half the amount of juice. But when you find yourself in a small bounty of seeds, treat yourself to the experience. The fresh flavors of pomegranate juice can’t be duplicated. Use the juice to make cocktails, for drinking or for anything that would benefit from a punch of color and bright flavor.

The seasonal experience of fresh pomegranates only comes for a short time, so indulge and enjoy. These fruits are the welcoming signs of Fall and their beauty alone is an experience to appreciate. Decorate your table top with a few pomegranates or sprinkle the seeds on your favorite salad or breakfast yogurt. What ever you do, don’t forget to appreciate the beauty of the  heart of the pomegranates. We can stare at them all day and our eyes will never tire.

happy Fall,

diane and todd

Our latest view through the pomegranate arch is now a fountain. We deciced to do away with our pond of almost eleven years, but ended filling it up and now the space is a little flower bed with a relaxing fountain. And best of all, it’s a place for all the garden birds to come bathe. So it’s a win! win!

Yield: @ 1 cup

Total Time: 10 min

Super simple and quite delicious, fresh pomegranate juice can take your cocktails and recipes to a new level. Especially when using unique varieties of pomegranates such as the Green Globe. For instructions on seeding a whole pomegranate, the Kitchn gives a nice write.

Put pomegranate seeds in a food processor or blender. Briefly pulse a few times until the seeds are mostly broken up. Don't pulse to much or too long. It is better to under pulse and break up the few remaining whole seeds with the back of a spoon when straining than to over-pulse.Strain the juice and seeds through a fine mesh strainer. Take a sip to reward yourself and store the remaining in the refrigerator.

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