US envoy shares recipe of her favorite holiday drink
By Raymund Antonio and Raymund Antonio
United States Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson seems to be enjoying the Christmas festivities in the Philippines, so what better way to celebrate the season of giving than to share her favorite holiday drink recipe?
US Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson and her favorite cranberry drink (US Embassy in the Philippines/Facebook)
The envoy, who also just welcomed her daughters in the country where they’ll all spend Christmas, said that Spiced Cranberry Drink is their family’s favorite holiday drink.
“It’s so wonderful to be here in the Philippines for the festive holiday season, where people gather almost non-stop for celebrations with family and friends,” she said in video posted by the US Embassy in the Philippines on Facebook.
The drink, she shared, was made with six cups of the cranberry juice drink, two cups of water, half a cup of sugar, three one-inch strips of lemon peel, one teaspoon of cloves, one fourth cup of lemon juice, one third cup of orance juice, and three inches of cinnamon stick.
There is a trick to making the recipe with the cloves to get more of the right flavor.
“Now, the important thing about the cloves, you can wrap this up in cheesecloth. What you don’t want are the cloves sort of floating around in the drink,” Carlson said.
“And then, you put it on the stove top to bring to a boil. So, you bring it to a boil and then turn it down, let it simmer for about five minutes. It will steep in all those great flavors,” she added.
The ambassador then asked what Filipino dishes the drink would go well with.
In the same video, a Filipino said the Spiced Cranberry Drink would go well with steamed rice cakes bibingka and puto bumbong, both of which are popular in the Philippines during the Christmas season.
Another Filipino also said the drink will also pair well with her mother’s spaghetti.