Holiday Pomegranate Mule Cocktail

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Safeway. All opinions are 100% mine.

This holiday pomegranate mule cocktail (or mocktail if you prefer) is the most festive way to ring in the holidays! It's super-simple to make and full of spicy refreshing holiday cheer. (Note: you must be legal drinking age to enjoy this beverage with alcohol). Please drink responsibly, and never drink alcohol and drive.

Happy holidays! Can you believe it's that time already? This holiday season sure has a different feel, doesn't it?

We canceled Thanksgiving (I just made a huge vat of stuffing for myself, a very small turkey breast, and my favorite Brussels sprouts slaw) and this will be the first year in my life I won't have my kids with me for Christmas. They both live on the east coast and always come for a week during Christmas. But it doesn't feel safe this year.

Still, it's nice to do something special to mark the holidays, even if the celebrations will be small and intimate.

This holiday pomegranate mule will definitely be making an appearance - how fun and festive is it?

There is a bit of an upside to this unusual holiday season. If you're not having your usual crowd for the holidays this year, there's no need to spend hours in the kitchen. Instead, how about a special cocktail and a colorful sweet and savory snack platter?

It's so easy, and still feels like a special treat.

Have you ever had a mule cocktail - AKA Moscow mule? The main ingredients are ginger beer and vodka. I personally don't like beer, so I never thought to try a Moscow mule. Then one day, I found out ginger beer is not, in fact, related to beer at all. It's a spicy, ginger ale-like beverage, but SO much better.

Since pomegranates are in season, I decided to give this mule drink a pomegranate twist. A splash of juice tastes delicious here, and those little jewel-like seeds (called arils) are the prettiest holiday garnish ever.

I grabbed all of the ingredients for these pomegranate mule cocktails and my snack platter at my local Safeway. The cocktails feature their own brand of award-winning vodka - Round Rock, and their (also award-winning) Signature SELECT™ ginger beer. The nice thing about a mule cocktail is that it's easy to turn them into a mocktail - just skip the vodka and add extra ginger beer (it's non-alcoholic).

Did you know Safeway and Albertsons Companies family of stores recently won Best New Product awards for 20 of their OWN Brands store products? Their brands include Signature SELECT, Open Nature®, and O Organics®. They offer great quality at a real value, and they're available exclusively in-store or online. And to make things even easier, Safeway also offers Grocery Delivery and DriveUp & Go™ for convenient ways to shop.

If you're not near a Safeway in the Phoenix area, you can also find these products at these Albertsons Companies family of stores:

• Albertsons
• ACME
• Jewel-Osco
• Randalls
• Safeway
• Shaw's
• Star Market
• Tom Thumb
• Vons

It's so fun to garnish these with pomegranate arils and a sprig of fresh rosemary. You can find pomegranate arils in the produce department - they often come in little cups. They're often sold frozen as well. Or, pick up a few whole pomegranates and remove the arils yourself. Just cut it in half, hold the cut side over a bowl, and pound it with a heavy spoon. Here's how:

Recipe

Will your holidays be quieter than usual this year? I hope they're still wonderful!

Eat well!