Crayons + Cocktails: Cranberry Cordial

Massachusetts native Sheila Corcoran-Abraham, who is now making a life for her family in the far western 'burbs, has launched a stylish design and lifestyle website called Crayons + Cocktails. Here she shares a recipe for a drink that is about as pretty as it gets. She was inspired to make it by a trip back home.

 Visiting the Cape, I was able to find some local cranberries from P.J. Cranberries as well as a simple cocktail recipe from The Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’ Association to make a perfect (tasting and looking) holiday cocktail. I admit, I did not have the patience (or space in my refrigerator) to let this sit for a month, so to soften the taste a bit, I added some seltzer water and a sprig of mint.

Photos by Sheila Corcoran-Abraham.

Cranberry Cordial

Ingredients:
3 cups fresh cranberries
zest of orange
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
1 cinnamon stick
2 cups vodka

Method:
In saucepan over medium heat, combine first five ingredients. Cook stirring occasionally, until sugar melts and berries pop. Reduce heat to low simmer 10 minutes. Cool. Remove cinnamon stick.

Pour into large jar along with vodka. Store in refrigerator one month, stirring or shaking once or twice a week. Strain through sieve before serving.

Note:
A few berries strained from the vodka can be used to garnish pudding or ice cream.

Source:
Massachusetts Cranberry Harvest Festival Recipes 1997 | Lorraine Carr

Crayons + Cocktails: New England Buck

Boston native Sheila Corcoran-Abraham, who has been writing about her transformation from a city mouse to a country mouse, has launched a stylish design and lifestyle website called Crayons + Cocktails. Here she shares a recipe for a drink I was very lucky to have her make for me: A New England Buck. I'm not being a brown noser when I say it was one of the most flavorful cocktails I've ever enjoyed!

Leading up to the last few days of packing to leave Boston for Chicago, the thought of crossing the Charles River to get over to Cambridge was out of the question. However there was one restaurant that would have been schlep-worthy. Craigie on Main.

Photo by Sheila Corcoran-Abraham.I had heard such raves about this restaurant, mainly the cocktails. I’ve taken a page out of their bartenders handbook by making a Craigie on Main mocktail fave, a New England Buck. Making the simple syrup infused with juniper berries and sage was easy, it looked like Christmas in a bottle, or maybe a taste home in a glass.

Mixmaster Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli was looking for a way to marry warming winter notes with classic New England flavors and combining sage-juniper syrup with apple cider did just that. The adding of ginger beer is to remind us of the winter months in the tropics, and also give a flavor that in and of itself is hot. Give it a try.

New England Buck

•    4 oz. apple cider
•    1 oz. sage and juniper syrup (see below)
•    1 oz. fresh lemon juice
•    2 dashes orange bitters
•    Ginger beer
•    Ice cubes
•    Tools: shaker, strainer, barspoon
•    Glass: highball

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Tales of Transformation: Remote (Out Of) Control

Yesterday my cable guy arrived in great time. My son was still down for the count during his afternoon three-hour nap, and I was just finishing up a freelance assignment. In lighting speed the TV in the kitchen was working again, and soon I was able to catch up on Gordon Ramsey and his Kitchen Nightmares.

Photo illustration by Sheila Corcoran-Abraham.Like ambient noise (or pollution), the chatter of the TV is always on while I am running around getting as many things done in those three hours. During that time, I feel like a game show contestant where in one minute they’ve got to grab a grand as the dollar bills are fluttering in the air before the sound of a baby crying -- I mean buzzer -- goes off. If I am able to absorb a drip of news or pick up the affairs of anything current during that naptime, even better.

The cable guy asked if I had any questions as he was heading out the door. In high school I would have never raised my hand to that sort of question. It seemed more rhetorical, and I prayed no one would take up the teacher's offer. But this time, I really did need to take things into my own hands and understand something. 

My big question? “Why are remote controls so difficult to use, or is it just me?” Seriously, I can’t tell if old age is setting in (yes), or are these remotes too remote for my visual aesthetic and intellect to take in? Why is it, when I turn off the TV at the end of the day, as I turn to walk away, it comes back on again? Why does the sound come on mysteriously at 2 in the morning? Most importantly, why can’t I find anything on TV?

In his polite Midwestern way, the cable guy buzzed around the basics and showed me where I could find the “Help Videos” for some of the questions I might have. It was as if to say, “Lady, it is you, and you’re on your own.” 

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Tales of Transformation: A Rude Introduction to Hard Water

Let me start by saying I am spoiled. I've never experienced hard water. Didn't even know what it was, or cared. A topic other people had to deal with, but not me.

Photos and design by Sheila Corcoran-Abraham.Starting in 2009, I've gotten engaged, married, had a baby, my husband lost his job, we packed up, picked up and moved to Chicago. I am now a homeowner with a John Deere lawn tractor in our two-car garage. I've been told that while these life-changing events are exciting, they are also top life stressors. Whatever looks I had pre-2009 are gone. Stress and a busy toddler can do that to a girl.

The past few weeks I've been dutifully tending to the landscape of this house. Weeding, pruning, mowing, planting and planning for next year. Now that this land has been somewhat tamed and under control, it's time to do some of my own grooming. Facials, peels, lash tints, extensions, mani-pedi. It's all very much needed and very much not going to happen if I want that new Craftsman front door I've got my eye on installed by Christmas.

Pre-baby, city-girl-self would stop on the way home from work and pick up a pick me up. C.O. Bigelow Apothecary on 14th street in NY was my fave spot for a small splurge or Barneys for a big splurge. Yves Saint Laurent lipgloss with a hint of mango to plant extract eyelash conditioning gels. Or a pedicure with a Acai Super Antioxidant smoothie in one hand and a stack of fashion magazines in the other. Time to treat myself before getting on the gritty subway for home.

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Tales of Transformation: Going Native

Moving day came and went. The hired movers were seamless, the contractor finished on time. We were ticking off boxes, getting things done. We both found common ground on some of the design challenges. We were both commonly broke.

Our plan for the garden areas and lawn were to wait a year to see what grows. Let nature do its thing, and we can then evaluate, germinate, propagate and other gardening terms that end in “ate” next Spring.

We came to the ‘burbs without a rake, a hose or a pair of pruners – nothing. Some of my city apartments had a deck or a back door for a few pots. In the summer, I’d have a red geranium as a nod to my grandfather who planted them in two pots at the front of the house back in Arlington, Mass. That, and catching up on the entire 5^th season of Showtime’s "Weeds" while visiting my parents in Florida for a few days in February, was the extent of my green thumb.

Photos and design by Sheila Corcoran-Abraham.We decided to hold off buying yard/garden tools for a bit so we could tackle some other items on or to-do list. We hired a high school kid with a John Deere and a rake to cut the grass and pull weeds on Mondays, while we focused on unpacking, setting up and getting back to work.

Spring had sprung and we were beginning to see nice purple tulips popping up along side some yellow daylilies. The yard was beginning to take shape. It was tidy and inoffensive. Even the birds found shelter by building nests and laying their eggs in the trees close to the house. They too could look past the tacky industrial grade front door and settle in.

April showers may bring on May flowers, it also brings on May and June weeds. While my husband and I were inside drawing up to-do lists and giving congratulatory high-fives for painting our toddlers bedroom, the outside had a mind of its own. We had our own "Little Shop of Horrors" on all four sides of the house. Feed me! It was becoming clear that the weeds were boss and taking over. It was time to refocus our to-do list, put the paint bushes down and pick up a 1.33 gallon of Roundup Pump N Go (with up to 5 minutes continuous spray.)

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