Yesterday was our first full day back in Portland after being at my parents’ house in Kansas for a week. We came back on Saturday, got our things in order and somewhat unpacked, and promptly took naps. We spent some time with our friends, ordered takeout for dinner and slept, hard, at the end of the day.

But Sunday was back to our normal habits, and had a great and relaxing day. We went to yoga – that makes two weeks in a row! I’m great at doing cardio, and nothing else. We cruised the Target Christmas clearance and bought next year’s wrapping paper. We made breakfast. Not in that order.

In the afternoon, while the snow was falling but not sticking, I went to the store and bought all the citrus. No, really. Lemons, limes, grapefruit, satsumas and my favorite of all, blood oranges. I spent the afternoon cooking away. I made quince paste/membrillo and blood orange curd (insert prayer hands emoji here).

Plus I made this tasty blood orange cocktail, which was great last night and I think will be utterly perfect for New Year’s Eve.

I am a big proponent of champagne cocktails for parties and special occasions (or a good boozy punch, of course). Not only are they fun and festive, but they are EASY.

The only step you need here is to juice a bunch of blood oranges ahead of time – and how many will always depend on the size of the oranges and the number of people, so I’m just going to give you the requirements in ounces instead of oranges.

The The Cocktail Diaries: Blood Orange Champagne Cocktail

Ingredients

• 1 oz. gin
• 1 oz. blood orange juice
• 2 dashes Portland Bitters Woodland Bitters (or another pine-flavored bitters)
• 2 dashes orange bitters
• 2-3 oz. dry sparkling wine or champagne
• Fat piece of orange peel for garnish

Instructions

1. Stir the gin, orange juice and bitters in a mixing glass with ice until cold. Top with sparkling wine. Garnish with a piece of orange peel.