“Is there something special about these apples?”

It was the first time I’d seen honeycrisp apples in… I don’t even know. I eagerly paid too much, too early, for far too many apples. (I’ve never tried to keep my hoarding tendencies a secret.) So much so, that the cashier looked at me like there must have been some kind of a mistake.

But to answer her question: Yes. There is something special about Honeycrisp apples. They are my very, very favorite apples. Sweet, beautifully crispy, and they actually taste like an apple should. Eat them straight from the shopping bag, make chicken salad, applesauce, or bake them into a slab pie. They work everywhere.

Also? Sangria.

When my HEB “Ciao Italia” Primo Picks arrived this month celebrating Italian food, I zeroed in on the Clementine Italian Soda. Central Market’s line of Italian sodas are some of my very favorite things in the world to make sangria (and margaritas) with.

The Clementine Soda isn’t very sweet and it’s less carbonated (compared to “regular” soda) so it was perfect to knock the edge off of that bottle of budget, “too-sweet red” that I had stashed in the wine shelf for emergency sangria. And if the sudden need to make sangria for football Sunday with some spendy first-reappearance Honeycrisp Apples doesn’t qualify as an emergency, then I don’t know what does.

HEB has provided a selection of this month’s Ciao Italia Primo Picks to a lucky reader. To enter the giveaway, simply answer this question in the comments below: What is your favorite Italian dish or beverage?

The lucky winner is Eva! Eva, please check your inbox for instructions on how to claim your prize!

Besides Sangria? Carbonara, either traditional or in any of it’s many, many wonderful forms.

Print

Honeycrisp Apple and Clementine Sangria

A fall sangria with sweet honeycrisp apples and clementines.

Ingredients

• 750ml bottle of any sweet red wine
• 2 cans of Clementine Soda
• 1 Honeycrisp apple, cored and very thinly sliced
• 2 clementines
• Additional sugar or sweetener, as desired

Instructions

1. Add the red wine and apple slices to a pitcher.
2. Using a citrus zester, make a couple of passes over the clementine to pull off a few strands of zest and add to the pitcher.
3. Peel the clementines, roughly chop the segments, and add to the pitcher.
4. Just before serving, add the clementine soda and taste to see if you require further sweetening.

Notes

Yields: 6 servings

Source: Confections of a Foodie Bride

Estimated time: 10 minutes

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The fine print:
– Maximum of five (5) entries per person.
– Giveaway ends at midnight (Texas time, y’all) on Tuesday, October 28.
– Winner will be selected by one of those cold, soulless, unfeeling random number generator thingies and announced on this post.
– Winners will receive a selection of HEB Primo Picks from HEB.
– Prize must be claimed within 7 days or it will be forfeited.
– Winning “extra entry” comments subject to verification.
– Prize can only be shipped to a US address.
– Official giveaway rules can be found here.

This recipe was developed in conjunction with H-E-B and I was provided ingredients as well as compensated for my time. Messy fingers, stretchy-waisted pants, and baby-Elmo-clogged-toilets are all mine. You can find H-E-B on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. And if you’re as lucky as we are, 3 locations within a 5 mile radius.