Bulgarian Hot Cranberry Cider (Food Memories of 2011, No. 16)
Every day in December, I'm writing a short post about some food memory from 2011, mostly to be more thankful for all the great food and drink I've been lucky enough to have this year.
Rather than look too far back at the year that's almost over, I wanted to share a very recent event today. On Wednesday, I met up with Boyfriend and one of our friends to see some of the beautiful holiday decorations in New York City, the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, the ice skating rink and holiday market at Bryant Park, the windows at Bergdorf Goodman (one of my favorites is shown here), and some of the other lights and displays outside other high-end store along Fifth Avenue.
The idea is we would walk around to see all these sights and get hot chocolate. But earlier in the day, I had eaten my fill of chocolate and was filling a little sugared out. I still wanted a hot drink, but I wanted something lighter. Even hot mulled apple cider sounded too sugary.
Then I found a vendor who had "Bulgarian hot cranberry cider" ($3 per cup at the temporary outdoor markets at Bryant Park). It smelled like mulled cider, full of cinnamon and other spices, but it tasted very tart, which I liked. The cranberry flavor was bolstered by a shock of lemon, adding to the sour tartness. Spices came through in smell, but were less apparent on the tongue.
I'm always amazed when people say, "When you live in a city, you never fully take advantage of it. Only the tourists and visitors do." I couldn't disagree more!
Having lived in three major cities (New York, San Francisco, and London), I can easily say I've taken full advantage of what they have to offer, from museums to festivals to learning a little about monuments and architecture.
To see more images of the Bergdorf Goodman 2011 holiday windows, see the blog Embarrassment of Riches (it's not a blog I read regularly, but I found it while searching for images). I especially like the giraffe!
Rather than look too far back at the year that's almost over, I wanted to share a very recent event today. On Wednesday, I met up with Boyfriend and one of our friends to see some of the beautiful holiday decorations in New York City, the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, the ice skating rink and holiday market at Bryant Park, the windows at Bergdorf Goodman (one of my favorites is shown here), and some of the other lights and displays outside other high-end store along Fifth Avenue.The idea is we would walk around to see all these sights and get hot chocolate. But earlier in the day, I had eaten my fill of chocolate and was filling a little sugared out. I still wanted a hot drink, but I wanted something lighter. Even hot mulled apple cider sounded too sugary.
Then I found a vendor who had "Bulgarian hot cranberry cider" ($3 per cup at the temporary outdoor markets at Bryant Park). It smelled like mulled cider, full of cinnamon and other spices, but it tasted very tart, which I liked. The cranberry flavor was bolstered by a shock of lemon, adding to the sour tartness. Spices came through in smell, but were less apparent on the tongue.
I'm always amazed when people say, "When you live in a city, you never fully take advantage of it. Only the tourists and visitors do." I couldn't disagree more!
Having lived in three major cities (New York, San Francisco, and London), I can easily say I've taken full advantage of what they have to offer, from museums to festivals to learning a little about monuments and architecture.
To see more images of the Bergdorf Goodman 2011 holiday windows, see the blog Embarrassment of Riches (it's not a blog I read regularly, but I found it while searching for images). I especially like the giraffe!