Merry Christmas and a Tummy Warming Recipe

Good Morning! 

These are the last two Christmas cards I have to show you. I actually made a few of each of the cards I've been showing you lately. These were made using the Simple Stories line. 

I loved making these because they came together so quickly. You don't even really need a tutorial for these cards. The sentiments were rub-ons I've had in my stash for a while now.

I love to make things that are kind of special and that maybe nobody else bothers with. My initial intent was to make Kahlua but I realized with the ingredients I used, it is more correctly called Coffee Liquer! Sometimes things like that matter to me--a little. This time I decided to be 'correct'. I don't know what'll happen next time though. hehehe...

My husband decided we should wax seal one of the ropes I tied around the top of a bottle...I'm not sure why I let him. Lol...oh well, you never know, right?  :)

I used THIS recipe as my base, but this is what I did instead:

I used 750 ml vodka, 1 1/4 c. dark rum and a vanilla bean as suggested (I scraped it and then threw it in). I added more vanilla too, but used Mexican vanilla...about 2 Tablespoons. If I had another vanilla bean, I probably would have used that instead, but Mexican vanilla is an awesome replacement.

I used 1 1/2 c. brown sugar, about 2 or 3 Tbsp of cocoa powder, and strong brewed espresso coffee. I used the sniff test for the cocoa. Works for me. 

I added the sugar and cocoa to the hot coffee to help it mix in better. Then once it cooled, I added the spirits, the vanilla stick and its scrapings.

I left out the cinnamon stick, I don't know why. It just didn't sound good to me.

Then I added 4 cups of boiled and cooled water at the very end. 

I let is sit for at least 4 weeks, shaking it about 3 times a week. 

How easy was that?! 

After that I strained it and poured it into bottles. I got the bottles at the Dollarama locally. They sealed really well, but I added clear packing tape around the tops and then attached some rope....just in case. 

I also made Antipasto this year...you can see it behind the bottles. The Antipasto I gift out every year, and people just seem to love it. This year my daughter in laws and I made a ton of it together! It's so yummy!

Anyway, it'll be nice to have a little tummy warmer with my coffee when the cold gets bitter! 

Have a good week.....

Blessings,

Carmen