Happy Holidays Sangria

My husband and I had a major milestone this weekend…we hosted our first party together.  Hosting can be a tad stressful, but it's a heck of a lot easier when I have someone else I can tell to clean the bathroom and take out the trash.

Check out Sophie's festive sweater.

The holidays are a great excuse to eat and drink too much.  One of my favorite drinks to make is sangria.  I've been exposed to some quality sangria and some subpar sangria, and I've come up with what I think is a pretty solid combination.  It doesn't involve the most quality ingredients in the world (as you can probably tell by the box of wine) but it's tasty and it's great for a party.  Plus it's super easy to make!

I think the trick with sangria is that you need to make it ahead of time.  That way the fruit, juice, and alcohol really become one.  It's science trust me.

I recommend making your sangria 24-48 hours in advance (just make sure you're not going to sample it too much!).  We had our party on Friday night, so I made my Thursday evening after work.  There's nothing like making a big batch of sangria after a long day at work...

Ingredients:

• One box of white wine (I think they're usually about 3 liters)
• 2 cups of triple sec (more or less depending how potent you want your sangria to be)
• 3 cups of pineapple juice
• fresh fruit 

With the fresh fruit you can really get creative here.  You can use whatever is in season (or on sale!).  My favorite combo is a fresh pineapple chopped up, one orange cut and squeezed, and two limes cut and squeezed.  I throw everything together in a pitcher and 24-48 hours later…magic.

Happy holidays!