A Heady Glass Of Fall

 That nip in the air means a refreshing cocktail or mocktail to welcome in fall. It's time to use the flavors of the season in tasty sips that are great on their own or with hors d'ouevres. They're easy to make and perfect for those beginners throwing parties.Pears

Apples are the main fruit and flavor of this season.Of course there is cider both hard and soft.Both make the perfect base for a layered concoction, full of zest and spice. Get a few bottles of hard cider. A chilled bottle on its'  own is refreshing but add a splash of bourbon and ginger beer. Add some lemon juice for a refreshing zing. You can also create the classic Old Fashioned.It;s cider missed with bourbon and Angostura bitters. A dash of maple syrup sweetens it up. Cider mocktails are also refreshing and have a kick of their own. Mix up a sparkling one with blending in cranberry juice, ginger ale and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Everyone thinks that cocktails and mocktails should be served cold. Not true. They can be warmed, perfect for a chilly night around the fire pit. A hot cider mocktail should be served in a  mug to contain the heat.  It's making a simple ginger syrup using ginger and brown sugar. The cider and syrup are mixed and microwaved for a minute. A squeeze of fresh orange juice  gives it a citrus-y freshness.

Pears are another fall fruit that can be used I both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Try  a fresh pear cocktail for something delightful and different. The base is a citrus infused vodka (easily made by letting vodka sit with sliced lemons in a jar for two days). there is a tablespoon of agave syrup and three tablespoons hard apple cider. Lime juice gives it brightness and either sliced or shredded pear gives it that mild, sweetly woody taste. This can be made into a mocktail by using a mix of apple juice and plain seltzer.. You don;t want to use the flavor powerful apple cider for this  because it will smother the pear taste. A more sophisticated sip is a pear martini.Use pear flavored vodka, Le Poire along with four ounces of pear juice. (if you have a juicer then make the juice fresh). Add a splash of plain sparkling water and a splash of lemon. Serve in a sugar rimmed cocktail glass. A pumpkin martini is also a wonderful fall cocktail.It's mixing pumpkin puree,vanilla and vodka. Maple syrup or a simple one gives it sweetness while pumpkin pie spice provides color and flavor.

This is the time for fun and fancy drinks. Celebrate fall with these cocktails and mocktails. Enjoy them on a nippy night.

A Cup Of Homemade Cider

 This is the season for apple cider. You could easily buy ot at your local farm or store yet you can also make ypur own. Homemade cider is pretty easy to make. Best of all you can customize it to suit your tastes.

It all starts with apples. The flavor depends on what you use and what you like , Gala or Fuji apples have a very sweet flavor  so if you like a candy like drink  use them.MCIntosh and Pink Lady impart a tarter flavor , perfect for those who want a true apple taste. You can also vary them too, with using five apples of one kind and five of another. You should be using ten apples in total. As for sweetening , use three quarters  cup white sugar. There is also one tablespoon each of nutmeg and all spice to give it that autumnal spice flavor. Since this is a non- press cider it can be made in a stockpot or even a crockpot. If you use te last then figure a twelve hour simmering should do it. Remember that the cider will only last a week in the fridge. (although that probably won't happen). You can freeze it if you want. Just use a tightly covered pitcher or jar for this,Bad cider will have a froth or foam floating on top along with an acidy taste. If it's this it's on it's way to becoming vinegar,

One plus is that the apples don;tave to be peeled cored or sliced. They cna just be put in the pot as is. The skins will give the cider that rich reddish-amber color.Place the apples in a large stockpot and cover with water two inches above their tops. Add sugar and spices and boil unclovered for one hour. reduce heat to low after this  cover and then simmer for two more hours. Strain the apple mixture throw a fine mesh sieve (you can use the flesh skins and cores for the composting). Drain cider a secon time using a fine cheesecloth to get rid of any little impurities. You can serve warm with a cinnamon stick or chilled for a lovely cool drink. Homemade cider can also be used in a variety of fun cocktails. It pairs best with rum and bourbon but you can easily make a caramel apple martini with it. This is combining the cider with butterscotch schnappes and vodka for a sweet fall sip.

Homemade apple cider is a real treat. Try this one for a tasty fall sip.It's a refreshing drink using the best  fruit of the season.app

A Trippy Stripey Sip

 Nothing hits like a relaxing cocktail. Mostly everyone goes for the taste, whether for a punchy bright screw driver to a creamy White Russian. Yet there's a new layer to both cocktail and mocktail culture. That's layering. All of a sudden drinks are both eye catching and flavorful.

Regular contributor and cocktail expert Robert Simonson  wrote about this not so mew phenomenom in yesterday's new York Times Food section. Striped drinks are nothing new. They go back to the other turn of the century when the very popular Pousse Cafe or Coffee Pusher was invented. This is a ribboned drink of creme de menthe, grenadine , bourbon and triple sec layered with rum. Then there was the mid Twentieth Century New York Sour, basically a whiskey sour with a top layer or float of red wine.Now a whole new generation of both drinkers and even non drinkers are discovering them. Bartenders are calling them "the fajita effect."One catches the eye of drinkers or diners and then others order it. There is also the social media effect where people are taking picures of these colorful drinks and posting them on different platforms. "There is an aesthetic appeal. " claims Conrad Hayes, the beverage director at the trendy Brooklyn bar Ottava. The result is striking with bright or deeply rich floaters - the layers on top and sinkers - the bottom layers.

The drinks are deceptively easy to make so any home bartender could easily make them. The Brother Wolf, an aperitivo bar  in Nashville makes the jaunty Bicicletta. This is soda water layered with Pinot grigio and Italian red bitter liqueur. Another drink that can be served to guests is the Oaxacan Sunrise, which is Mezcal and orange juice blended . Grenadine is the sinker that provides the deep orange base.This  is  a popular drink at Dante;s in New York.At Paducah ,Kentuckey's Freight House they make the easy to replicate Oh Brother where Are Thou which has layers of bourbon, honey syrup and red wine.There are some bars that will let customers mix their own - which is good practice for those wanting to do this at home. There's Chez Zou in Manhattan,Their concoction  Haifa Vice  lets drinkers apply their floater themselves. The drink comes in a special glass vessel with two chambers. One is a milk punch, made of rum mango coconut and fruit juices. The other is a mix of Aperol and pomegranate. The orange punch is poured in first , followed by the red float.Lilistar also has a do it yourself drink in a hollowed out passion fruit. Then there are the mock tails at Brooklyns ElNico layered drinks made with yogurt green tea and grapefruit. The floater  is beet juice and when combined  produces a healthy alternative  to an alcoholic beverage.

Layered drinks are becoming popular again. These fun sips are easy to make. Try them at home or at any bar.

A Big Girl Barbie Birthday Party

 Every little girl has had a Barbie birthday party sometime in their young lives. Yet what about the big girls who are Barbie aficionados? They too can have a fun , frilly birthday do with pink themed  food and drinks. Just give it an adult spin for more sophistication.

What would you drink at a Barbie birthday bash? Try a grapefruit MImosa. This is a heady mix of grapefruit juice with splash of Asti Spumante . The juice's tartness is the perfect foil for the bubbly's sweetness , creating a sweet tart flavor. Aother crowd pleaser is a strawberry pina colada.Its the same recipe as for a regular pina colada, made with Coco Lopez, water pineapple jiuce and half and half The pureed berries are added to this for a fruitier taste and a light blush coloring. You could also serve pink lemonade with vodka. It's just mixing the two and serving over ice. Omit the vodka, sub in ginger ale and you have an equally fun mocktail. Of course there is the Cosmopolitan the ultimate pink alcoholic beverage. This is a blend of vodka, triple sec, lime juice and cranberry juice which gives it its' pink color. It's an easy shake in a cocktail shaker and then poured into a martini glass. What about dessert?A pink hued tea like Kashmiri pink chai tea would work.Its boiling Kashmiri tea with sugar water, cardamon and cinnamon. You can add baking soda if you want. Some recipes call for it The tea  turns red as it cooks and when milk is added a softy rose.

With the drinks comes food. Little girls may be happy with just a slice of pink cake but adults want something more. Think a shrimp pate to be served on crostini. The pate is made with shrimp first being roughly chopped and mixed with mayo, lemon juice parsley , scallions and mustatrd powder. THis mix is then added to tomato paste cooked with butter and shallots .Tomatoes are also put into this mix. The pate is refrigerated for three hours to set. Spoon over crostini - although you can also serve it with any kind of cracker like Saltimes or Ritz. You could also have devilled ham sliders too. The filling is a mix f the meat and mayo. if you're more ambitious you can make your own devilled ham.It taking sliced ham pureeing it wht mayo and then adding spicy brown mustard tabasco sauce, Worcester sauce and lemon. Ground black pepper gives it some bite.As for dessert. think a strawberry cake (you can use a Duncan HInes mix) with fresh whipped cream and sliced strawberries for added flavor. A cooler treat is strawberry granita, an refreshing blend of sugar, pureed strawberries lemon juice and water. It's a refreshing treat especially on a hot summer night.

Yes, big girls can have a Barbie  party too. Serve fun pink cocktails and mocktails with tasty bites of rosy hued food. It's a great way to celebrate a birthday

Treat Yourself To A Fun Dinner

By now we're all sick of all those lunches and suppers that feature beans. It's time to liven up meal time with fun and new recipes. That also includes dessert. we need to give ourselves a fun treat now and then.

Since it's getting close to Memorial Day, think hamburgers and hot dogs. Everyone love burgers with all the fixings. Go double and have two patties like your favorite fast food joints. Add sliced onions or better yet caramelized ones. Caramelizing is an easy process.It's just slowly cooking them in olive oil until the pieces turn a golden brown or tan. You could add butter and even balsamic vinegar for more flavor. Avocado slices or homemade guacamole can be layered on too. The bun should be buttered and then toasted on the grill for about three seconds. Hot dogs can also get the special treatment. Slices them and stuff with shredded cheddar. To make sure the dogs don't split either spear them with toothpicks or wrapped slices of bacon around them. You can do something similar with veggie burgers and dogs. There's vegan cheddar and also mozzarella. As for sides there's potato chips for a fun side or you can air fry them. Air fried chips starts with mandolining potatoes and then spritzing them with olive oil cooking spray. You can add some rosemary sprigs for more flavor.

Fruit is good for you but it can also be fun. Think banana  non dairy ice cream. Dr. Oz featured this on his show a few years back and it was a big hit. It's slicing banana slices and putting them in a freezer bag. It;'s then freezing them overnight and then blitzing them in a food chopper. The result is a creamy, low calorie dish that can be jazzed up with whipped cream and chocolate syrup. You can sub in non dairy whipped almond or coconut milk. Add M&M's or nuts if you want. Caramel apples are always fun. For a different take, air fry them with some cinnamon or plain and then dunk the crunchy slices  into caramel. Of course strawberries are big right now, There's nothing as decadent as strawberries dunked in any kind of chocolate, whether in syrup form or melted chips. You can do the same with blueberries and raspberries too. Of course you can also use fruit in tasty mocktails and cocktails.Think screwdrivers either using seltzers or vodka. Try Bellinis and mimosas with the addition of champagne , peach nectar or  fresh squeezed orange juice.

It's time for a fun treat. Liven up lunch, dinner or even dessert. You deserve it.

A Taste Of To Go

Most of us are fed up with home cooking. Let's face it two months of isolation , forage food shopping and cooking non stop is wearing. There's something about eating out - well the new eating out.

I know the lure of take out is strong. There's something about someone else cooking burgers and fries that's tempting. Yes, the restaurants are closed , at least in my state, New Jersey until June 1st. However take out and drive through are going strong. Even getting a soup at Panera, which I did yesterday for lunch was great. I'd forgotten about how good their tomato soup was, even a small cup of it. The accompanying mini loaf of French bread was much appreciated too.Of course the day was too nice and I was itching to go out in the late afternoon. That's when Popeyes called. Luckily one of the ones by me has opened their lobby which means that there's no waiting on the long line for take out. The food, especially their chicken sandwich is still super popular. People want it, quarantine or not. However there is a long wait once you're indoors. There was no choice of soda - only Coke - fine - and no extras like barbecue sauce or honey mustard for the chicken tenders. Still, it was one of the best tasting chicken dinners ever.

If you really have that itch for take out - then take out. There's something great about a freshly made pizza with homemade tomato sauce and tons of gooey cheese. Creating homemade sauce and pasta was probably fulfilling a month ago. Now it's a chore. Treat yourself and your family to your local pastaria's scratch made angel hair or ravioli. They usually include salad, bread  and sometimes soup and even dessert. It's still a filling  and delicious meal but without all the forage shopping and headache of making everything. As the weather gets warmer, there's a need for the beach. Take advantage of the seafood restaurants there. There's something about a fresh lobster or crab dinner with all the trimmings, like melted butter and a side of cole slaw. Take advantage of the freshly made clam chowder too which tastes soooo much better than the canned stuff. Also take advantage of the fish and chips. Again , the fresh made is so much better than the frozen stuff. Restaurant's like Bahr's in the New Jersey town of Atlantic Highlands can bring your dinner and a cocktail out to your car. What more can you ask for?

This quarantine is getting to all of us. If you're tired of cooking. go out. Eat in the parking lot, far from the other cars. You'll feel better and happier.

An Old Fashioned Cocktail Party

Summer is the time for parties, usually barbecues. Yet if you want to have a bit of Mad Men fun why not throw a warm weather cocktail party. These were big back in the day when it was exciting to have mixed drinks and nibble with a bit if gossip or flirtation thrown in. They can still be entertaining with the right drinks and hors oeuvres.

A cocktail party should have a wide variety of liquor along with different kinds of juices, sodas and seltzers. If you want something a bit more elegant then add champagne. You can make fruity mimosas (orange juice and champagne) or just have plain , chilled bubbly. For a more tropical treat add some pineapple and apricot juice. Mid Century cocktails such as the daiquiri - a fave of Ernie  Hemingway is made with lime juice, sugar and rum. Rum can be used in another 1950's classic rum and Coke. For true traditionalists whip up  the Old Fashioned which is whiskey, simple syrup and bitters. Of course the Cosmopolitan is hot thanks to Sex and The City fans. This are always a big crowd pleaser as are Margaritas and Bloody Mary's too.

Finger food is the perfect fare for a party of this type. Think little bites such as mini quiches or tiny crab cakes with different dipping sauces. Another easy but elegant hor d' oeuvre is crostini served with either tomatoes or roasted peppers. This is so easy to make. Take a loaf of either crusty French or Italian bread , slice wafer thin and top with the veggies. You can also layer carpaccio on them as well. Also have a variety of  olives, black , green and the tart Greek kalamata ones. Cups full of sea salted  almonds, peanuts and cashews along with walnuts are also fun nibbles that go well with a wide variety of drinks. Mini quiches and even mini baked macs with bacon are other cocktail party treats.Finish  off with a dessert of meringues, petit fours  or small fruit or nut tarts and a strong coffee for the ride home.

Summer means parties. Why not have a return to elegance with a cocktail party? It's a step up from the usual barbecue and a bit more fun for all.