When I was a kid, my mother made the extra effort on New Years to make it feel like we were celebrating as well, that it wasn’t just an adult holiday. We had an air popcorn popper when I was growing up and one time on NYE I tried to make a snack for my family. The package said to use ¼ popcorn kernels in the popper however it didn’t seem like enough to me so I added 1 cup to the air popper….18 cups of popcorn and a small panic attack later we had a snack for us and the entire neighbourhood. We would watch movies, have a dance party in the living room and just before midnight my mom would pour us Canada Dry Cranberry Gingerale in wine glasses so we could toast in the new year. Memories like these are my inspiration for most of my blog posts and though a lot has changed since I was a kid I still wanted to celebrate this memory. This is my adult version of Canada Dry Cranberry Gingerale but a lot less sweet than pop. If you are serving children this drink just omit the vodka.

The night before: Make ice (if you are looking to win the Martha Stewart award, add some cranberries to your ice cubes, if not regular ice is just fine)

Ginger-Lime Simple Syrup

•  1 cup water
• ½ cup organic cane sugar (I found agave had a weird taste but then I don’t really like agave)
• 3 inch knob of ginger, skin peeled and chopped in small cubes
• Zest and juice of 1 lime
• Pinch of salt

In a small saucepot, bring all ingredients to simmer over medium high heat, turn down heat to medium and allow it to simmer for 30 minutes until glossy and syrupy. Over a fine mesh strainer, strain out zest and ginger and discard. Allow to syrup to cool slightly and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Cocktail

I used a 16-ounce pint glass for this but you can certainly put it in a wine glass to feel extra fancy.

•  5 -6 ice cubes
• 1 ounce shot of vodka
• 1 tablespoon ginger-lime syrup (or to taste)
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cranberry juice (this is the real deal stuff and is bitter compared to cranberry cocktail)
• Squirt of fresh lime juice (see picture below on how to cut a lime)
• 1 cup soda water

Fill the glass with ice cubes, add vodka, syrup, cranberry juice and lime juice and give it a little stir with a straw or handle of a wooden spoon. Top with soda water and garnish with a lime wheel. Serve and celebrate the upcoming New Year!

Best way to cut a lime for juice unless you have a handheld lime juicer:

This method makes it way easier to get more lime juice out

Do you have any NYE traditions that you remember celebrating as a kid? Happy 2014!