Welp.

That was fast.

2015 was cute, though, and it was packed with a whole lot. My experience of it went something like this: launch this blog, graduate from college, spend a few weeks twirling around the west coast with Matt, take the opportunity to have entire days by the pool in the heat of the summer, spend a week twirling around the desert in Sedona with my mom, freelance, freelance, freelance, figure out a somewhat stable job situation, adopt the Fox, and move into the little pink house I'm currently curled up in.

Actually now that I typed all of that out... it was a pretty awesome year. I'm more tan, less poor, and in general more fulfilled with my daily life than I was at the end of 2014, so I'm counting it as a success.

I'm treating 2016 like I would a first date: no expectations - just an open mind, and a pocket full of mace in case shit gets weird in a bad way. Oh, and the, "drink at least one cocktail before he shows up" rule. Luckily, Matt made cocktails this week in preparation for New Year's Eve, so I'm ready as shit.

The base of the drink is apple cider that spends some time in a kinky hot bubble bath with cinnamon, orange peel, cloves, and vanilla. Pour a little of that into a cute crystal glass (or plastic crystal if you're serving your messy ass guests at a party) and add an equal part aged rum, followed by a good whisking to fully blend it all. Give it a pour of sparkling wine, and yaaaas, you've got yourself something to ring in 2016. This recipe is designed to serve a party, but can easily and effectively be cut down by half or a quarter to suit your needs. The full recipe is below, and I hope all of you honeys have an amazing New Year's Eve and an even better year ahead. K bye!

Spiked Cider 75

serves about 65 (or 1 drunk aunt)

1.5 liters apple cider
1.5 liters (two 750ml bottles) aged rum
4 bottles sparkling wine (cava works great)
2 cinnamon sticks
The peel of three oranges
15 whole cloves
1/3 c dark brown sugar
1/2 t vanilla

In a large pot, combine the cider, brown sugar, cinnamon sticks, orange peels, cloves, and vanilla. Bring to a boil over medium heat. As soon as the mixture begins to boil, reduce the heat to low and let simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, strain out and discard the spices and orange peel, and let cool completely before using.
If you're planning to serve this at a party, add the rum to the cooled cider mixture and transfer to a punch bowl or pitcher. To serve each guest, pour equal parts cider mix and sparkling wine into each glass. To make the full 65 cocktails, you'll need to use about 1.5 oz of the spiked cider and 1.5 oz of the sparkling wine in each glass. If you're up to it, garnish with an orange peel or apple slice!

New Year's Eve Cocktail: Spiked Cider 75