An Alaskan Type of Mocktail: Sangria (Tailor To Fit Your Allergy Needs)

I once, about oh I'd say three years ago or so, I made Sangria.  I'd seen it on a cooking show and thought that all of the fruit floating around in a pitcher with the red colored wine was so darned awesome looking.  So, on a special occasion...I think it was my anniversary, I made a special dinner complete with the sangria I'd seen on TV straight from the recipe posted online of said Sangria.  I spent about 30.00 between the special Spanish wine, the citrus and the other fresh fruit.  I mixed the ingredients together in the right portions in the morning and waited with baited breath for dinner.  My husband and I sat down to our dinner and special drinks and even my husband made a mention that with all of that cool looking fruit in it this must be a drink worth having.

And it was probably one of the worst tasting concoctions I've ever tasted.

We ended up throwing a good portion of the pitcher of Sangria away, with me feeling terrible that I'd wasted so much money on all of that fruit and wine, only to find that it plain didn't mix with my and my husband's taste buds.

Yet, the image of that pitcher of red colored liquid with all of the cool fruit floating in it continued to poke at my mind, asking me to give it another try.  So, the last little bit, craving Spring, I decided to make my own mocktail that looks pretty, but that I KNEW would taste good.  And here's the recipe I came up with.

Why do I call this an "Alaskan" type of a mocktail?  Because, if you wish, you can just use canned fruit if you don't have any fresh fruit in the house, or you can use whatever fresh produce you have in the house.  And it is super yummy, suitable for kids to drink and is easily tailored to your own allergies (well...unless you have an allergy to cranberries...than I'd avoid this one).  So, here you go folks!  My version of a mock Sangria.  Enjoy!

Sangria Mocktail (tailor recipe to fit your allergy needs)

• 32 oz. cranberry juice (I use Knudsen Just Juice to avoid the corn)
• 1 cinnamon stick about 3 inches long
• 3 whole cloves
• 5 whole allspice
• A mix of Fresh Fruit.  For this recipe I used...

• 1 sweet red apple, cored and quartered
• 1 pear, cored and cut into slices
• 1 can peaches (be sure to get corn free if corn allergic) or 1 cup frozen sliced peaches
• 1/2 can sweet dark cherries (go for corn free.  You can use the other 1/2 of a can to make fiesta sundae ice cream) or 1/2 cup frozen cherries
• 1/2 of a navel orange, scrubbed well and sliced into pretty slices (be sure to get a seedless orange)

•  Sparkling Water (I used LaCroix Peach and Pear sparkling water for this)

1.  Take cranberry juice, cinnamon stick, cloves and allspice and place in a non-reactive saucepan.  Heat until just under a boil and then turn off heat.  Let sit until cool.  Strain juice to remove spices and set aside.

2.  Prepare fruit and place in the bottom of a pitcher (with the canned fruit, feel free to either drain or not drain the fruit.  Not draining will add a bit of extra sweetness, but won't hurt the finished drink too much).  Add juice to pitcher.  Chill until nice and chilly!

3.  To serve, take a slotted spoon and place a bit of fruit into glass you're going to serve Sangria in.  Pour cranberry juice mixture over the fruit in glass until glass is about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way full and pour sparkling water to fill the glass. 

And enjoy!  A lot :).