Cranberry Bourbon Martini

I saved this post for a festive Cranberry Bourbon Martini I recently made for Christmas day.  Not just because it’s Thursday, either.

Because it’s probably one of the best Christmas presents ever.

I started working as a food blogger with Our State Magazine early in the year creating monthly cocktails and recipes using locally (North Carolina) sourced ingredients.  Since I started photographing food, it has been a dream of mine to have a food photograph published in a magazine.  The awesome people I work with there (I hope to meet them one day in person!) contacted me in October and asked me could I create a holiday inspired cocktail for a full page feature in the December issue.

What?  Me?

When I read the email I about lost it.  Well, I did lose it and thanked my God for giving me the perseverance I needed to make such a dream come true.

I was a little excited (to say the least!).  I happened to be out of town at a hunting club when the magazine was due to arrive in my mailbox.  Luckily one of the members of the hunting club was a subscriber and brought me his copy of the magazine when he came down to hunt!

Needless to say I thanked him immensely, as I probably would have driven the 1-½ hours home to get it (lol).

Someone had it framed for me since it was such a personal achievement for me, I loved the frame, also!

So, this was a Christmas present that I will always cherish.  Cooking, creating cocktails and food photography are part of my soul.  As a child, I’d always come home and tell my mom what I ate for lunch at school every single day and go into great detail about it (I thought that was normal!).  When cell phones with cameras came out, I was always taking pictures of food.  I never started really trying to get better photographs of food until I started this food blog 3 years ago.  It has been a work in progress and a fulfilling learning experience.

Want the recipe for this festive martini?  Head on over to OurState.com to get it by clicking here.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year from my family to yours.  Thanks for being a reader! ♥

Have you ever had a dream to come true during the Christmas season?  I wanna know!