National Champagne Day | Cranberry Champagne Punch

Today is the last food holiday!!!! A part of me thinks I’ll miss this whole thing. What will I do now, and will I do it well? Will I get bored and then come up with something else, only to stress myself out for another 365 days? Geez, I sure hope not. I told a friend of mine the other day that I am going to try this new thing where I don’t over commit and stress myself out. I’m going to relax and have life just be easy for a little bit.

I’m so excited to continue bringing you great food without the pressure of timing or certain foods needing to be made. Truthfully, I had a love/hate relationship with the food holidays, but those moments of stress and spending my paychecks at the grocery store and aching feet at the end of the day because of my hours spent in the kitchen are outweighed by this accomplishment.

I’ve had accomplishments in my 30 years. I did well in school, I have a job I really enjoy, and more. I’ve also been called a job hopper, I sometimes regret making plans immediately after I’ve made them, and sometimes I don’t finish things that I start. Finishing the food holidays is monumental not just because of the amount of recipes, but because it’s one of only big feats that I’ve stuck with and gave my all to.

I made 424 recipes for the food holidays (not to mention many, many other posts along the way). I set out to do all of this on my own. But before I knew it, almost immediately, I had friends and family wanting to help and be involved. Yes, I was the biggest player, but I was crazy to think I could do it all alone, and I’m very glad I didn’t have to! It was better the way it worked out and so for National Champagne Day, I want to give a toast to everyone who mattered with this Cranberry Champagne Punch!

• My husband Mike who was there when I bawled my eyes out from the stress, and then made me chin up and went to the grocery store with me and immediately got me excited about the food holidays again. All in the matter of a couple of hours. And then he conceptualized a number of meals with me, helped me make them, washed so so so many dishes and never complained a bit.
• My family – my mom, my aunts, my cousins, and more – for staying interested and excited for me. And then gave me recipes I could share with all of you.
• My friends who are awesome, like Jackie who cooked for hours with me, Krystal ^[4] who gave me much inspiration and mostly just listened to me talk, Megan ^[5] who shared her grandmother’s Swedish Meatballs ^[6] with me and told me I could NOT quit, Brooke and Jessica who shared some of their family recipes with me, and Autumn who I’m pretty sure shared every single one of my posts via Facebook and Twitter.

There are so many memories this food holiday project created for me, but also, I was brought into the memories of others. I got to hear the background stories of certain dishes, and how those dishes made people feel. Mostly, people approached me to help. That’s just what food does. That’s what it’s all about.

Thank you, my dear readers, for sticking through this with me. I appreciate you more than you know.

Cheers!! Have a fun (and safe) New Year’s Eve!

Print Recipe ^[7]

Cranberry Champagne Punch

Yield: 8-10

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 container frozen cranberry-raspberry juice concentrate
• 1 cup triple sec
• 1 bottle champagne
• Orange slices for garnish

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a punch bowl. Stir and break up frozen juice concentrate with a spoon.