I’m all about… all things cranberry as soon as they come out every year.

And thought it would be fun to make some cranberry-flavored jello shots. 

I used cranberry juice, vodka, and Jell-O. Cranberry jello is available at Walmart or amazon, black cherry is a great option if you can’t find cranberry or use Knox gelatin. 

These are festive, and for a cute garnis,h place some rosemary sprigs into some fresh cranberries. 

Another possible flavor option is to use cranberry and a little lime for a citrusy kick. I’m thinking raspberry and lemon will be a great flavor as well.

These are the size cups I used, you can use smaller cups as well.

These would be fun for a Friendsgiving, or maybe to amp things up on Thanksgiving if you have to wait for the main course to be served.

Great at a holiday party.

New Year’s…

You name it.

It’s been fun having them in the fridge to enjoy on a moment’s notice!

The amount of vodka can be adjusted to your liking, regular or strong. 

Alternatively, you can make them without vodka, for a fun, small festive jello cups to serve to everyone.

If you were looking for Cranberry Sauce Recipes, check here, I made 6 varieties. Great flavor combinations, something for everyone. Mix it up and try something new. 

Mix up a batch and make them for all your holiday celebrating!

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Cranberry Jello Shots

cranberry jello shots, a festive and fun time to enjoy around the holidays

Course cocktail, Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 18 shots

Author Diane Schmidt - createdbydiane.com

Ingredients

• 3 oz cranberry or another variety red jello
• 12 oz 1 1/2 cups cranberry juice or water
• 6 oz 3/4 cup vodka
• for a fun flavor variety you can add some lime juice

Instructions

• In a saucepan bring the cranberry juice to a boil, add in the dry jello mix and stir until dissolved.
• Stir in the vodka.
• Pour into 2 oz plastic cups (or smaller) cover with lids and place in the fridge until set up about 6 hours.
• For really strong jello shots you can add more vodka 4 oz more.
• For more shots, you can add up to 20 oz juice/water.
• This recipe can easily be multiplied to make more.

The post Cranberry Jello Shots first appeared on Created by Diane.

I am a huge strawberry and lemon fan… and there are so many options to enjoy such great flavors together in a drink to your liking…

You can make this Strawberry Basil Lemon Smash a cocktail or a mocktail you choose.

I just love fresh herbs and adding in some fresh basil to this drink gives it a super fresh flavor that is undeniable!

I’ve been making Strawberry Smashes for months, so many varieties and all delicious. The key is fresh ripe strawberries!

Make this unbelievably delicious pasta sauce. That is the PERFECT thing to do with lemons!

Now this isn’t your typical vodka sauce, which usually has tomato sauce in it now this sauce is for LEMON LOVERS.

I think lemons are an irreplaceable item in my kitchen, and I’m so happy that my mom has a Meyer Lemon tree.

But her tree won’t have any lemons until January, and since Meyer Lemons are my all-time favorite and when someone brought me a whole bunch last week, I just about fell off my chair…

I couldn’t wait to make something super yummy with them.

This is it!

This is my NEW Favorite for sure.

Tangy, creamy, silky, this is so delicious, I have no idea what took me so long to come up with this recipe. I’m glad I did. It’s a keeper, everyone told me so!

While the pasta is cooking, begin the sauce.

In a saucepan, add butter with garlic, then whisk in flour, heavy cream, milk, and vodka.

Add in crushed red pepper, then while whisking, add in lemon juice.

Cook over medium heat until it comes to a simmer.

Pour sauce over pasta and serve with additional lemon, parmesan cheese, basil, and crushed red pepper.

If you like things spicy, add in more crushed red pepper.

You can make this sauce with any variety of lemons.

If you use tangy lemons, add a little more butter to balance the flavor.

Parmesan cheese will also balance the super tanginess, depending on the lemon variety.

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Lemon Vodka Pasta Sauce

Author Diane Schmidt - createdbydiane.com

Ingredients

• 1 lb pasta
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon crushed garlic or garlic paste
• 1 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vodka
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• *garnish with parmesan cheese and fresh basil if desired

Instructions

• Cook pasta according to package directions.
• In a skillet heat butter, garlic, and flour and high while whisking in heavy cream, milk, and vodka.
• Turn heat to medium. and whisk in lemon juice, and crushed red pepper. Cook for 4-5 minutes.
• Pour sauce over pasta, top with parmesan cheese, fresh basil and crushed red pepper.

If you LOVE Lemon, give my Lemon Scones a try, you’ll LOVE THEM!

The post Lemon Vodka Pasta Sauce first appeared on Created by Diane.

Screwdriver Spaghetti

Don’t miss one delicious recipe and get my FREE e-cookbook click here!

It’s no secret, I LOVE pasta.

I wrote a whole ebook called NOODLES if you haven’t seen it yet take a look here.

Vodka sauce has always been a favorite of mine, it’s creamy and tangy and delicious.

I wanted to create a fun recipe with oranges that is similar to vodka sauce, but yet totally different.

This is just that!

There’s something magical about vodka sauce. It’s creamy, a little bold, and somehow tastes like comfort and celebration all at once. With just a handful of simple ingredients, this sauce comes together into something that feels fancy without the fuss.

You will not believe how easy it is to make this fabulous pasta sauce. It’s almost too easy.

You’ll think there is more to it, but I’m sharing all my secrets on this one, but let us let everyone think it’s WAY more difficult than it is, OK?!

Ingredients for a great vodka sauce

• vodka
• heavy cream
• tomato sauce 
• crushed red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper

This sauce will coat a pound of pasta nicely, and can be easily multiplied for more portions.

This is not only great over pasta but makes a great-tasting pizza sauce too.

It’s great with meatballs, chicken, 

You’ll want the tomatoes and the sauce to be smooth.

Blend it with an immersion blender, smooth if needed, especially if you add onions, or the tomatoes are chunky.

How do you make vodka sauce taste better?

It all starts with great-tasting tomatoes (canned San Marzano) or your favorite pasta sauce.

• Add some fresh basil
• fresh or dry oregano
• Sauté fresh garlic in some oil before adding the other ingredients
• Add diced onions to the pan first
• Instead of using sliced sausage, if you want to add meat, add ground beef or ground sausage. Sauté the meat first (with garlic if you choose), then add the remaining ingredients for a rich-tasting sauce.
• If you want a cheesy sauce, add in a half-cup of grated Parmesan cheese.

Vodka sauce is a rich, creamy tomato sauce with a smooth texture and a hint of tang. It’s made by combining tomatoes, cream, garlic, and a splash of vodka, which helps bring out the sweetness of the tomatoes and balance the flavors.

The vodka cooks off, leaving behind a subtle depth that makes the sauce irresistible. It’s perfect tossed with pasta like penne or rigatoni, topped with cheese (Parmesan or Romano Cheese). And can be used for a base for pizza, baked pasta dishes, and seafood recipes.

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Vodka Sauce

This delicious smooth creamy pasta sauce has a really great kick from the vodka (alcohol gets cooked off) and a hint of spice from the crushed red pepper flakes.

Course sauce

Cuisine American, Italian

Keyword sauce

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 6 servings

Author Diane Schmidt - createdbydiane.com

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Vodka add more vodka for less sweetness in the sauce and more tanginess.
• 1/2 cup cream
• 3-4 cups tomato sauce tomato sauce, marinara sauce or homemade tomato sauce
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• pinch salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• In a medium saucepan, heat tomato sauce and vodka, until it comes to a simmer. (small bubbles)

  Alternatively, If you're using tomatoes... saute onion, garlic, crushed red pepper in oil, add crushed or peeled tomatoes, then add vodka, simmer, then add cream. Add oregano and/or basil.
• Add crushed red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste.
• Heat thoroughly.
• Add in the heavy cream. Heat on medium-low temperature.
• Serve over one pound of cooked Pasta.
• Top with grated Parmesan or Romano Cheese.
• Serve with garlic bread and a vegetable like broccoli, zucchini, or spinach.

 

The post Creamy Vodka Sauce Recipe – Easy, Flavorful, and Perfect for Pasta first appeared on Created by Diane.

Cookies are especially nice at Christmas time, but these cookies can be adapted to meet any occasion. This is my favorite cookie recipe. I bake an Italian Cookie, the type you’d find in an Italian bakery. They aren’t as sweet as sugar cookies and rise up nicely, hold their shape and have a cake-like quality to them that is irresistible. They have a lovely vanilla taste with a sweet icing on top.

Follow the recipe to bake the cookies, and then these directions for icing:

To start decorating, begin with a cooled cookie and prepare icing according to the recipe. Place icing in a piping bag with a #2 tip for outlining your design.

Outline your cookie. Leave just a little cookie showing so the icing won’t fall off the edge when you fill it.  When you do this, hold the tip slightly off the surface of the cookie and just let the icing fall down onto the cookie for a smooth line. Don’t stretch the icing.

I outline 6 cookies then fill them in, and the outline is not very noticeable; allowing it a couple of minutes to set up helps the other icing from falling off the edge.

Then to fill in the icing, you can use the same piping bag or you can switch to a #3 tip to make it easier. If it’s not filling in completely within 10 seconds use a tooth pick or the tip of the icing and swirl the icing to fill in the empty spaces.

If you are using two or more colors, finish one color first and allow it to set up, then work with the other colors; that way the colors are less likely to run into each other which happens often with darker colors.

This is a great trick to get sprinkles to stick on a portion of the cookies especially if you don’t want more icing added. If you are working on a large batch, this works well, once the area has dried I take a small paintbrush and lightly apply a stroke of vodka to the area you want sprinkles. If you are covering the entire cookie in sprinkles then just apply the sprinkles when the icing is still wet.

Once the icing has dried (about an hour) you can apply some details without it bleeding. I piped on a simple snowflake with the white icing and #2 tip.

Allow your cookie to set overnight. They will not get stale, the icing is covering the majority of the cookie and they will still taste fresh and delicious.

This project can be broken up into stages and you can make the cookies ahead of time. Just place them in a covered container, and ice them another day. When I work on a large project (8-10 dozen with multiple colors) I break it up and work on them for three days, especially if I’m wrapping them individually, that takes time.

Hope you enjoy the cookies, and Merry Christmas!

Printable Cookie and Icing Recipe

The post Vodka on Cookies first appeared on Created by Diane.