I love a bubbly sip to cheers with on New Year’s Eve.

Whether you are looking for a cocktail or a non-alcoholic drink, I’ve got you covered to celebrate!

I am forever creating new cocktails, especially using seasonal ingredients. So, here are some of my favourite for the season to cheers with on New Year’s Eve!

Sparkling & Festive

You can never go wrong with a sparkling, fizzy cocktail.

Cranberry Rosé Fizz

Pomegranate Vodka Cocktail with Rosemary Simple Syrup

Lavender French 75 Cocktail

Minty Cucumber Gin Spritz

Winter Cranberry Aperol Spritz

Cocktails for Sharing

These cocktails are perfect to make for a crowd. Easily double the recipes to make larger batches or serve as a welcome cocktail for guests.

Spiced Winter Punch

Easy Mulled Wine

Pear Cider Sangria

Minty Cucumber Lime Sangria

Winter Rosé Sangria

Non-Alcoholic Drinks

It’s always good to have a non-alcoholic option and these are my absolute favs!

Ginger-Honey Sparkler

Citrus Vodka Crush (just omit the vodka and add more ginger soda or ginger beer)

Winter Spiced Kombucha Punch

Kombucha Cranberry Bourbon Smash (can be made non-alcoholic by just adding more Ginger Kombucha)

And, if you’re looking for savoury and sweet recipe ideas to celebrate with, check out my New Year’s Eve Party Menu!

Or I’m showing you how to make the perfect Holiday Sharing Board over on one of my latest Reels!

Cheers to the New Year friends!

More New Year’s Eve recipes from the blog

15 Recipes to Make for New Year’s Eve

A Sparkling New Years Eve Party Menu

Until the next cooking adventure,
Jess

The post Cocktails & Mocktails for New Year’s Eve appeared first on Cooking in my Genes.

I can hardly believe it’s the New Year but I’m so very excited to get back in the kitchen, developing and photographing recipes and sharing all of my monthly favourites with you!

I hope you all had a lovely holiday season and are feeling refreshed. From recipes to make in January and my favourite cookbooks, I’m ready to get started with 2019! Let’s get to it!

We ended last year with a trip to Ontario for Christmas. It was lovely to see family and friends and enjoy each other’s company over many delicious meals and drinks.

We spent time reading, relaxing and playing board games, and took some time to enjoy the gorgeous weather by Lake Ontario.

I came home with a couple new cookbooks including The Pretty Dish from the How Sweet Eats blog. And, I also dove right into Love Real Food from blogger Cookie & Kate; a vegetarian cookbook that I am LOVING for ‘meatless Monday’ recipes!

One of my goals for this year is to cook a new dish once per week. Scott and I used to do this but were not consistent so back to it we go! It’s a great way to really dive into the cookbooks I already own and discover some new favourites.

So, What’s In Season to make this month!?

Apples – Mojito Smoothie

Beets – Roasted Harvest Vegetable Bowls

Citrus – Tropical Blood Orange Smoothie

Kale – Sweet Potato Kale Flatbreads

Peppers – Green Pepper & Mushroom Pita Pizza

Sweet Potatoes – Savoury Turkey Breakfast Sausage Egg Muffins

Beyond cooking new recipes in the first couple weeks of 2019, I’m planning on taking things slow, enjoying more time at home and with our dog, Doug, and reading. To me, there’s value in taking a bit of a step back to acknowledge accomplishments from last year and give space to dream and create amazing things in the New Year.

I can’t wait to share all of that creativity with you this year so stay tuned for all of the deliciousness to come!

Until the next cooking adventure,
Jess

The post What’s In Season – Monthly Favourites appeared first on Cooking in my Genes.

Whether you’re hosting a your family and friends or you’re having a small, cozy New Year’s Eve at home, this menu is perfect for both.

I’ve created this entire menu with YOU in mind; keeping recipes easy to you can enjoy time with family & friends while celebrating 2018 – I promise there is something for everyone to enjoy as you ring in 2018!

When I think of New Year’s Eve the words ‘pop & clink’ always come to mind. I think back to my favourite New Year’s Eve parties and they were always just a ton of FUN! So with those words in mind, this colourful décor and menu were created.

Your party will start off with a refreshing mocktail, the Ginger Honey Sparkler!

The combination of honey & ginger with sparkling water creates the most delightful sip! Plus, I cannot get enough of the ‘frosted’ rosemary sprigs – they are so festive!

Ginger Honey Sparkler

Total Time: 15 minutes
Equipment: small pot, strainer
Servings: 6-8

Ingredients:

1/2 cup fresh ginger, peeled & cut into pieces
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
3 mint leaves
1-2 bottles sparkling water, chilled

Garnish:

6-8 rosemary stems (cut to fit nicely as a glass garnish)
1/4 cup sugar

Instructions:

Put all ingredients in a small pot and bring to a boil. Once simmering, turn to medium-low to keep at a simmer and simmer for 5 minutes.

Once done simmering, take the pot off of the oven and strain out the ginger and mint leaves. Set the mixture in the fridge to cool for a few minutes.

When you mixture is cooling, make your garnish. Rinse your rosemary in water, shake to get excess water off and then roll through the sugar to coat – do this for each piece of rosemary.

Once the mixture is cool assemble your mocktails.  Add 3 tbsp of your ginger-honey mixture to a glass with 1/3 cup sparkling water. Then garnish with a rosemary sprig and add ice if needed.

Cook’s Note: As I was trying to come up with a cocktail my friend Gillian mentioned to me ‘why not try a mocktail,’ thus giving guests the choice of the mocktail OR transforming this drink into a cocktail. SO, if you want to make this drink alcoholic, gin, vodka or prosecco would be a nice addition.

To accompany your Ginger Honey Sparkler are Apricot & Pecan Brie Bites.

This recipe is a riff on what my girlfriend’s Steph & Pam call my ‘award-winning recipe,’ a recipe I created to win a Style at Home Magazine contest many, many years ago. To this day, the combination of apricot jam and brie never fails to impress!

Apricot and Pecan Brie Bites

Total Time: 30 minutes
Equipment: baking sheet
Servings: 20 bites (2-3 bites per person for 6-8 person party)

Ingredients:

1 square puff pastry, defrosted & rolled out OR 1 sheet puff pastry
175g brie, cut into 20 squares
1/3 cup apricot jam
20 pecans

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

If using a square of puff pastry dough, roll out to approximately 12inch x 12inch square. Then, cut your puff pastry dough into 20 squares and place onto your baking sheet, spaced apart.

Cut the brie into 20 squares, making sure the squares are just slightly smaller than your puff pastry squares.

Bake your puff pastry squares for 10 minutes. Then, remove them from the oven and top each puff pastry square with about 1/2 tsp apricot jam, a square of brie and one pecan. Put the squares back in the oven and bake for 6-8 minutes, until brie is starting to melt.

And you can’t have a party without something sweet, so my Party Chocolate Bark does just the trick!

Using both white & dark chocolate, plus a ton of sparkly sprinkles, my Party Chocolate Bark is the perfect sweet bite to accompany your New Year’s Eve evening.

Party Chocolate Bark

Total Time: 50 minutes
Equipment: baking sheet
Servings: 6-8

Ingredients:

12oz/350g dark chocolate (approximately 2 cups dark chocolate chips)
12oz/350g white chocolate (approximately 2 cups white chocolate chips)
3 tbsp colourful sprinkles

Instructions:

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

First, melt your dark chocolate using a small pot on low heat, stirring constantly as the mixture melts. You can also melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments.

Pour the dark chocolate onto the parchment paper and spread out to about a quarter-inch thickness. Put the dark chocolate layer in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Once your dark chocolate has been in the freezer for 15 minutes, melt the white chocolate. Let the white chocolate sit for about 2 minutes and then remove the baking sheet from the freezer. Pour the white chocolate on top, smooth out and then sprinkle on the sprinkles. Freeze for 20 minutes.

Once your Party Chocolate Bark is set, break into chunks and keep refrigerated.

I hope you enjoy all of these recipes this New Year’s Eve; I’m sending you a virtual CHEERS from here in Calgary!

Thank you for visiting the Cooking in my Genes blog, I can’t wait to share with you so many new creations in the New Year!

More New Year’s Eve Recipe Inspiration from the blog

15 Food & Cocktail Recipes to Make for New Year’s Eve

Cocktails & Mocktails for New Year’s Eve

Until the next cooking adventure,
Jess

The post A Sparkling New Years Eve Party Menu appeared first on Cooking in my Genes.

So, if you’re in need of some cooking inspiration look no further, these are the most popular recipes from 2016. 1. Vegetable & Grains Salad  //  2. Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wraps  //  3. Tropical Smoothie  //  4. Tomato Soup  //  5. Coconut & Almond Granola

I have so many amazing recipes and food stories to share with you this year & I’m looking forward to connecting with you here!

Until the next cooking adventure,
Jess

The post My Top 5 Recipes from 2016 appeared first on Cooking in my Genes.

This is one of four smoothies I’ve created for you this month as we get back in gear and start fresh for the new year!   This smoothie can be enjoyed for breakfast or even a mid-day snack.  Sometimes I will make it ahead of time, store in a mason jar in the fridge and drink it later in the day before or after a workout.  I have also been known to drink these for lunch when I’m ‘on the run.’

Enjoy it as you see fit!

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Equipment Needs: blender

Ingredients:
1 cup frozen mango
1 cup spinach
1.5 cups coconut water
1 tbsp ground flaxseed
2 tbsp shredded coconut
Optional: 1/2 scoop of your favourite protein (my personal favourite is Vega)

Pour all of the ingredients in a blender, blend & enjoy!

Until the next cooking adventure,
Jess

The post Green Mango Dream Smoothie appeared first on Cooking in my Genes.