Refreshing Cranberry Moscow Mule

November 2, 2018 | Fall | Winter | Drinks

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This Moscow Mule recipe is a twist on the classic vodka cocktail, thanks to a splash of refreshing, tart-sweet cranberry juice. Enjoy this cranberry Moscow mule over the holidays, or any time you like!

Three frosted copper mugs filled with a refreshing cranberry Moscow mule cocktail surrounded by crushed ice and sugared cranberries. Greetings, friends!

It’s Friday. We’ve got cocktails! And yesterday, I turned in my manuscript for Dude Diet Dinnertime. Today is a good day.

Let’s start with the cocktails! I’m very pleased to introduce you to Holiday Moscow Mules! I know it’s a little early, but I like to celebrate the holiday season for a full two months, so please get on my level.

This refreshing c-tail is essentially the skinny Moscow Mule recipe I make on the reg but with a splash of cranberry juice for tart-sweet flair and some festive garnishes. I made sparkly cranberry swizzle sticks using sugared cranberries (I use this method for the cranberries) threaded onto bamboo skewers, but you certainly don’t have to go this route. Candied ginger or straight up lime rounds are also quite fetching (and much less time consuming). The recipe makes a single cocktail, but the proportions are easily multiplied should you wish to make this for a crowd at your upcoming holiday soirées.

In addition to mixing up the garnishes, there are a couple more you do you options to note. If you need a vodka recommendation for this mule (or others), I love Tito’s, and for the ginger beer, I’m partial to Bundaberg or Barritts. I don’t love super sweet cocktails, so I cut the sweetness and keep things light by adding a splash of club soda to my mule, but feel free to double the ginger beer and skip the soda for a sweeter, more gingery drink. You can also turn this into a Mexican Holiday Mule/Cranberry Ginger Margarita by subbing tequila for vodka. Raw sugar-rimmed glass optional but recommended.

On the manuscript front, I have a lot of feeeeeeelings to process (and some serious sleep to catch up on), but there are a few things I want to say right meow, and they’re mostly thank yous. I’m gonna do my best to keep this short, but I also think that when you’re feeling an extreme amount of gratitude, you gotta let that shit out.

Not gonna lie, making a cookbook is hard. Really hard. I’ve written about the process before, and while this book was a little easier than the last (according to my roommate, I “cried so much less this time!”), it was still a struggle. The thing about any long-term solo project is that it has a tendency to become all-consuming, especially when one is a mildly obsessive, anxious person like yours truly. As hard as I try not to make my life all cookbook all the time, I’m just not very good at it. Which is why turning it in feels so. damn. good.

DDD has a long way to go before making its way into your hands next October—starting with the photo shoot next month!!—but the hardest part is behind me, and excitement is rapidly replacing panic ;). I couldn’t have made it to this point without a whole lot of peeps, so without further ado, lemme say my thank yous so we can get to the booze. Literally.

First and foremost, to my muse, Logan (likely reading this on the subway in January). Thank you for supporting me like no one else can. Thank you for crushing the same recipes over and over without complaint. For putting up with my being tired, and itchy, and canceling plans, and working on the weekends for months on end. For being my Sour Patch and CBD dealer. For talking things through with me (multiple times), indulging my neuroses, cracking me up, and always making sure we have Sunday seats locked down at Rubirosa. You’re the greatest, and I love you a creeptastic amount.

Thank you to my friends, who I’m sure are bored to death with this book but continue to prop me up, eat my food, talk me off the ledge, and remind me that even if everyone hates DDD, I can always fall back on my side gig (making skincare recommendations on Instagram). I am the luckiest.

To my recipe testers. WHERE TO BEGIN? A lot of people think I’m batshit crazy for having 100+ Internet friends test my recipes, and I probably am. But I stand by this rogue testing method being the best way to produce foolproof recipes, not to mention the fact that I get to know so many amazing people in the process. Thank you for allowing me to be virtually in your kitchens, for spending your precious time and money to make my recipes, and for providing such thoughtful (and often hilarious) feedback. You guys are my people and such an integral part of this book.

Last but not least, thank you to my blog peeps. Thank you for continuing to read this blog, which I know I’ve been relatively quiet on the past few months. This site started as my favorite creative outlet 7 years ago (!!!), and it still is. I’ve really missed spending time here, and I promise that things are about to pick up in a big way. I appreciate you having stuck with this weird blog lady through the first part of the crazy book writing process and for providing endless enthusiasm and support. Fingies crossed the final product makes up for the lack of fresh recipes on the blog this year.

Okay, that’s it. I have a lot of other people to thank, but I’ll have to call them because we’ve got cocktails to make.

Cheers to me and you, party people! Have the most fabulous weekend. I’m very much looking forward to 48 hours of cocktails and sleep. Just gonna alternate between the two. Can’t wait.

p.s. My copper mugs are artfully “tarnished” because someone, who shall remain nameless, put them in the dishwasher…