Here’s a sparkling send off to 2025. Many milestones have occurred in our family – leaving old jobs, starting new ones, graduations, moving across the country and across the valley, in a word change. And while many of these changes are good, I am not someone who naturally embraces change. If things stay the same it is comfortable (more or less). Until of course it isn’t.
For example the flood of 2025. I was under the misapprehension that living in a house near the top of a hill would mean never experiencing any flooding. Wrong. When water torrentially falls from the sky you absolutely can experience flooding – even at the top of the hill. Which sucks if your basement is overfull, possibly bordering on some level of hoarding. Hours of running the wet/dry shop vacuum, hauling endless buckets of dirty water out of the basement (hey but the floor got cleaned), running multiple fans 24/7, then moving, shuffling, rehousing much of what was down there. The silver lining was that earlier in the year I’d started some Swedish Death Cleaning. We doubled down on the idea and committed ourselves to getting rid of stuff from the basement. Miraculously a significant portion of our things have been donated, sold, gifted, or thrown out. We still have a storage unit to house the things which are never coming back into our house. Hopefully in 2026 we’ll say goodbye to it as well. The house definitely feels lighter as we declutter bit by bit.
Two personal changes I adopted in 2025 were eating less sugar and drinking fewer adult beverages*. Ironic, as both are feature frequently on this blog. What hit home for me was when my nutritionist stated that if I continued indulging in sugary treats and regular cocktails I might as well throw all the supplements I was taking in the garbage, as they just weren’t going to be effective with those poisons in my body. So I backed off both sugar and booze significantly. It’s not that I never indulge, but when I do it is more intentional and usually to a much lesser degree. A conscious choice to have a treat rather than a regular occurrence – again bit by bit. The winter holidays are stacked full of sugar, so this time of year is hard. Plus my most favorite gift around the holidays (to give and receive) is something baked, so pot meet kettle… but I’m trying.
Thinking about New Years eve, and noticing a peeled & cored pineapple in the back of the fridge which needed to be used up, I noodled around in the kitchen and came up with a delightful bright, non-alcoholic beverage for anyone who might be choosing less. It does have added sugar as part of the ginger syrup so it is not free of processed sweetness, but as with the other parts of my life we’re taking it bit by bit.
Pineapple Ginger Bubblies
This recipe is very flexible so feel free to play around with the ingredients~
what really sells it, in my opinion, is the fresh pineapple.
Ginger Simple Syrup
1/2 – 1 cup (60-120 grams) fresh ginger root, sliced into discs
1 cup (215 grams) water
1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar
Put everything in a small pot and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring once or twice. Cover, cool, then strain into a jar. You can push on the cooked ginger to squeeze out more flavor as you’re straining it.
Pineapple Puree
1 fresh pineapple (about 2 cups) cored and peeled, with juices
Roughly chop the pineapple and blitz in a high speed blender or food processor until smooth. If your pineapple is dry add a few tablespoons of water.
Pineapple – Ginger Bubblies
1-2 shots (45-90 grams) fresh pineapple puree
2-4 Tablespoons (15-30 grams)ginger syrup
1-2 Tablespoons (8-16 grams) fresh lemon juice
Fresh lemon or lime wedges or circles for garnish (optional)
Seltzer
Ice
Stir together pineapple, ginger syrup and lemon or lime juice together. Adjust for how spicy/sweet/tart you like your beverage. Add ice cubes and top off with seltzer. If you like to garnish add a lemon or lime circle or wedge. Enjoy!
If you do want to make this into a cocktail it can go in a number of directions – gin or rum would both be delightful, you could also substitute Prosecco for the seltzer.
*If you’re on Substack there is a thoughtful essay by Kim Foster details her journey with (and without) cocktails.
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