Holiday Party Punch

Cranberry tea

My mom likes to throw these big, informal, everyone-come-on-over get-togethers, especially around Christmas. She’ll set out a bunch of food, while Dad gets the firepit going.

Bonfire

One perennial favorite of her holiday buffets is a delicious hot punch with spiced cranberry and citrus flavors. It tastes like the holidays and makes the house smell amazing. It’s particularly excellent for sipping around the fire on a chilly night.

Spoon collection

The recipe makes enough for a crowd without requiring a lot of fuss, so you can focus on decking the halls and whatever else you need to do.

Holiday buffet tips: take a break and eat cake!

Mom makes it (by the gallon) and serves it in her crockpot to keep it hot all evening. She’ll put a ladle and a stack of festive mugs next to it, so guests can help themselves.

Although the title on her recipe card says “cranberry tea,” the tea part is actually optional. Most of the time, she leaves it out. Then you have an equally delicious hot cranberry punch.

Cranberry tea recipe

Hot Cranberry Tea (or Punch) Recipe

1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1/4 cup loose black tea (omit for punch)
3 cups sugar
2 cups orange juice
1/2 gallon cranberry juice
1 cup lemon juice (or substitute a 12-ounce can of frozen lemonade and reduce sugar to 2 cups)
10 cups + 6 cups of hot water

Optional: orange and/or lemon slices and cinnamon sticks (for garnish).

whole spices

  1. Wrap the spices and tea in a piece of cheesecloth or place into a tea infuser.
  2. Steep in 10 cups of hot water for 20 minutes.
  3. Add sugar, juices, and 6 more cups of hot water.
  4. If desired, garnish with orange or lemon slices and cinnamon sticks.
  5. Serve hot.

Makes about 7 quarts of punch. (Invite a lot of people over.)

Cheers!

 

Thanksgiving picnic with family
Phillip, me, Dad, Mom on Thanksgiving Day a few years ago.

Hong Kong’s Commuter Escalator

Central–Mid-Levels Escalators in Hong Kong.
CCL photo by Chris Yunker.

Escalators may not be what comes to mind when you think of mass transit. However, the Mid-Levels Escalator in Hong Kong moves over 70,000 pedestrians each day from one part of the city to another.

HK Central Cochrane Street Central-Mid-Levels escalators
CCL photo by WingLuk.

I first heard about the Mid-Levels Escalator while watching the film Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong and had to find out more.

Shelley Street Central-Mid-Levels escalators in Hong Kong
Shelley Street in Hong Kong. CCL photo by Maucaine.

Turns out, it’s the world’s longest covered escalator system. In fact, it’s so large and so widely used that shops, bars, and other businesses have sprung up alongside it to take advantage of the built-in foot traffic.

Sai Ying Pun Centre Street Escalators
CCL photo by Rome Picasso 2018 MDUHSYE.

The 800m- (1/2 mile-) series of outdoor escalators and moving walkways connects the Central District’s skyscrapers with the residential area up the hill, known as Mid-Levels.

 

LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics Asia Hong Kong 21 Lyndhurst Terrace Central-Mid-Levels escalators interior
Lyndhurst Terrace Central-Mid-Levels escalators interior. CCL photo by Tpechncoam.

Just like reversible lanes on a roadway, the direction changes to accommodate the daily commute – one-way escalators moving downhill for the morning rush hours and then uphill the rest of the day.

Central-Mid-Levels escalators.
Hong Kong – Central-Mid-Levels escalators. CCL photo by Deror avi.

It opened in 1993 and is currently undergoing renovations a section at a time.

Sai Ying Pun Centre Street August Escalators
Sai Ying Pun Centre Street. CCL photo by Rome Picasso 2018 MDUHSYE.

Like a funicular (without any sort of tram car), it’s another clever way to get up a hill!

Central-Mid-Levels escalators in Hong Kong.
CCL photo by K.C. Tang

– More Info –

Hong Kong Mid-Levels Escalator

 

Hong Kong street at night
Scene from the film Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong.

Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong film


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Shahrazad and the Power of Stories

I’ve been thinking about Shahrazad the storyteller.

In the frame story of The Thousand and One Nights, a sultan has been forcing a new person to marry him every night and killing her in the morning. To stop the deadly cycle, Shahrazad (also spelled “Scheherazade”) volunteers to be his next bride.

That night, she begins weaving a tale so compelling that the sultan decides to wait on killing her in order to hear the rest. Night after night, she keeps telling  stories. Wild, fantastic stories. Stories within stories. Stories with plot twists and cliffhanger endings. Stories that keep the sultan on the edge of his seat for so long that he never does get around to killing her.

She saved herself through her stories. With only her words and her wit, she also saved the rest of the kingdom in the process.

Of all the characters between the pages of The Thousand and One Nights, the actual hero is Shahrazad.


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January 2019 in Photos

I’m changing up My Photo of the Month series to be more of a recap of the last month, instead of focusing on just one Instagram photo.

Quijote in a blanket

1. Getting out of the Holiday Blanket

Getting back into a regular routine at the beginning of January feels like emerging from a holiday cocoon.  Or, as Quijote illustrated, peeking out from the snuggly blanket my mom made me (us?) for Christmas.

 

cauliflower tacos at the coronado pix

2. Museum Date Day

Phillip and I had a couples’ counseling appointment (we go periodically — I recommend it!) and decided to make an afternoon of it.

Feathered Serpent head sculpture from Teotihuacan

We dropped Quijote off at doggie daycare, went to therapy, got lunch at The Coronado, and then went to the Phoenix Art Museum, so we could see the Teotihuacan exhibition before it closed.

Scandinavian Pain by Ragnar Kjartansson

Taller de Gráfica Popular

Las Plumas del amor by Pedro Meyer

We also took at quick look at a few other exhibits while we were there, including Scandinavian Pain + Other Myths, José Guadalupe Posada and the Taller de Gráfica Popular, and Mexican Photographers, Mexican Views.

 

sculpture by Ugo Rondinone

Also, I did a double take on the way to the elevators when I spotted a particular neon color combination that I thought I recognized from the Seven Magic Mountains installation we saw in Nevada. I don’t even know what exhibit it was part of, but, yep, it was a single Ugo Rondinone sculpture — in travel size, I guess!

 

Quijote wants snacks!

3. Park Snacks

We’ve been trying to be more consistent in Quijote’s training, practicing things like coming when he’s called at the park. One day, I thought I’d give him a break since I didn’t have his usual reward treats with me, and he seemed (hilariously) annoyed.

The Coronado PHX

How is your 2019 starting out?


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November 2018 Photos: Vintage

Gallery of Maps in Vatican City

1980s Cassette Player

I saw the tape deck buttons on this vintage stereo, and it gave me one of those deja vu-y moments where you’re transported back in time for just a fraction of a second, like remembering a flash of a dream. They looked just like the buttons on the stereo my parents had when I was a kid, so I had to capture it.

It’s funny how objects from childhood leave such a strong imprint on your memory. I think it’s because kids tend to look at things more closely with fewer preconceived notions.

1580s Cartography

Speaking of capturing things that are strangely familiar, I’d seen reprints of this map of Italy long before knowing it came from the Gallery of Maps (Galleria delle carte geografiche) in the Vatican.

Seeing it in Italy felt a bit surreal, and I had to take a photo. And so did Phillip. Apparently, at the same moment. So he became part of my picture.


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