Sarah — my friend who’s a super cook, former caterer and an Episcopal priest — 
gave bottles of cranberry homemade liqueur for Christmas presents this past holiay season. So lovely! I thought they’d make great Valentine Day’s gifts, too — the red is such a gorgeous deep color. The recipe is from Cooking Light and needs to be started three weeks ahead of time, so this is the perfect weekend to gather supplies and get started. Since cherries and raspberries are the traditional red fruits associated with Valentine’s, I wonder if you could use those instead of cranberries. If anybody tries that, please pass the results along! Sarah put the liqueur in these very cool bottles and added the cocktail recipe — delicious!
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 12-ounce package fresh cranberries
- 3 cups vodka
Preparation
Combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan; cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until sugar dissolves, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and cool completely. Place cranberries in a food processor; process 2 minutes or until finely chopped. Combine sugar mixture and cranberries in a large bowl; stir in vodka. Pour vodka mixture into clean jars; secure with lids. Let stand 3 weeks in a cool, dark place, shaking every other day. Strain cranberry mixture through a cheesecloth-lined sieve into a bowl and discard solids. Carefully pour liqueur into clean bottles. Note: Liqueur can be stored refrigerated or at room temperature for up to a year.
Coffee with Cathy 
What a cute idea for a gift!!! I think we even still have one bag of cranberries left in the freezer…I may try this one out.
What a great idea! You are so right — we all have the leftover bag of cranberries tucked away.
OH I am so trying this!!
That looks truly fantastic!!!
Deborah — It is fantastic, I promise you. Sarah is an awesome cook who generously tries to teach the rest of us her secrets, but mainly I just like to eat what she cooks instead of replicate it. This, though, is truly a simple and impressive thing.
What a wonderful idea…I love homemade gifts!
Oh my glory, isn’t that lovely? What a great Valentine gift! I think I may have to try that…if not to make for gifts, then simply for the fact that I love cranberry 🙂
Thanks for sharing the recipe! I will have to give this one a try. Thanks for your sweet comments on my blog. xoxo
Hope y’all have great success with this — keep us posted!
What a fantastic idea! Thanks for sharing!