Cranberry Pomegranate Syrup and a Philly Food Swap

This week I had the privilege of attending the Winter Philly Food Swap. Held in the awesome Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Library, the swap was a chance for Philadelphia food writers, DIY-ers and eating enthusiasts to get together and exchange homemade goodies.
The premise of the swap was pretty simple: bring something you made, meet new people, sample their food and exchange your goodies for your favorites among the jams, jellies, baked goods, syrups, ice creams, marshmallows, pickles, foraged vegetables and relishes that were offered.

I came right from work and therefore was a little anxious about not eating dinner, but I needn't have worried. I was absolutely stuffed to the gills with delicious samples. It was so hard to pick favorites-- everyone's food tasted so delicious, and I was so impressed with the creativity that everyone exhibited!

There were a few familiar faces there, but I met a large number of new people, and everyone was so very nice. It was so flattering to see my dance card fill up with folks eager to try the Cranberry Pomegranate Syrup I brought!
As it was my first time attending the swap, I was nervous about bringing just one thing, so I made up two batches of granola to hand out as well. I made my PB & J granola and as I ran out of raisins for the second batch, I tweaked the recipe and made an Apple Ginger granola just for a little extra credit.
And boy, oh boy did I score some awesome loot! It was a bit of a frenzy, so I'm a little fuzzy on some people's names, but I wrote down everything I remembered as soon as I got home so I could give shout-outs to as many of my amazing fellow swappers as I could. My apologies if I missed your name-- please give me a shout-out in the comments and I'll fix the oversight!

My full booty:

• Apple Bourbon Butter, made by Georgia, one of the swap's organizers and who writes at Kitchen Success
• Carrot Cake Jam-- can't wait to crack into that one!
• Malted Hot Chocolate-- I made myself a mug of this last night and it was fabulous. I love the combination of chocolate and malt!
• Magic Mung Miso, which I am totally jazzed about, made by my very sweet table-mate Dawn
• Foraged Root Beer Syrup (!!) by Cecilie May
• Chocolate Coconut Macroons by Olivia from Graduated Measure
• a giant foraged oyster mushroom
• Tropical Habanero Jelly by Lee from Feed Me Lee
• Bread & Butter Pickles and Holmes Skillet Chicken Bites (for the pup, who LOVES them) by Jen Weeks
• Lemon Curd
• Candied Bacon Fudge (for my Texas gal who just discovered a deep love for the combination of bacon & chocolate) by Wendy from LaPhemmePhoodie
• Chai Tea Mix and Savory Granola (which is ADDICTING) by Kate Pelusi, who I met at this spring's potluck dinner
• Green Tomato Chutney, which I spread on a sandwich yesterday and was awesome!
• Peach Salsa
• Fig and Cranberry Jam, which I spread on toast this morning-- yum yum yum!
• Homemade marshmallows
• Mocha Mint Vegan Ice Cream, made with coconut milk by Mecca from Umm Food....

I had so much fun, and I'm really looking forward to the next swap!

And speaking of swapping, I encourage you to make this Cranberry Pomegranate Syrup and give it to your friends and family this Christmas. It's easy and fast to make, yet oh-so-delicious. Mixed with a little soda water it's a perfectly refreshing fizzy drink, added to vodka it makes a very festive holiday libation, drizzled over ice cream it's a lovely sweet-tart dessert.

If you're in the Philadelphia area and interested in participating in the next swap, check out the facebook page here. Hope to see you there!

Bain taitneamh as do bheil!

PREP TIME: about 10 minutes

COOKING TIME: 20 minutes

MAKES: about 12 1/2 cups

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 cups organic cane sugar
• 8 cups water
• 1 dry quart fresh cranberries, rinsed well
• 1 whole pomegranate, seeds removed (easy seed removal tutorial here)
• the juice & zest from 1 organic orange
• 3 large slices fresh ginger root

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place water and sugar in a large heavy-bottomed stock pot and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce heat to a simmer.
2. While the simple syrup is coming to a boil, place the rinsed cranberries in a food processor and pulse a few times until the berries are coarsely chopped.
3. Add chopped cranberries, pomegranate seeds, orange zest & juice and ginger root to simmering syrup.
4. Allow syrup to simmer for 20 minutes, skimming foam off the top as needed. The liquid should be a beautiful dark pink.
5. Place a large metal colander over a large bowl or stock pot. Line the colander with fine-meshed cheesecloth. Pour syrup through cheesecloth and colander, squeezing cheesecloth to extract all liquid. Discard cheesecloth and solids.
6. Pour syrup into your prettiest jars and use for festive gift-giving! This syrup will keep for a month in the fridge.