Pumpkin Old Fashioned

Now that I have totally embraced fall and we are heading into Halloween week I had to feature a Pumpkin Cocktail. Since I am a bourbon lover and often bourbon has the characteristic spice aromas and flavors that will make this flavor shine, I decided that bourbon would be this weeks spirit of choice. I tried this with Four Roses small batch and Maker’s Mark and both of those bourbons lend themselves well to this cocktail.

2 of the integral ingredients for this cocktail contain pumpkin and spice flavors. The first is Pumpkin Butter which I was lucky enough to find at a farm stand in Massachusetts. If you don’t have a farm stand close by you can buy it on-line from Stonewall Kitchen or Amazon or you can make your own. Half Baked Harvest has a great version.

The other ingredient is a Pumpkin Spice Simple Syrup from Meadowland in Bend Oregon. Check out all of the flavors that they have: Meadowland Simple Syrup. Although I love making my own simple syrups I love the variety and flavors that this company craft and their labels are adorable. If you’d prefer to not have to wait for your simple syrup to arrive before you can make this cocktail, here is a link to a 4 ingredient recipe, that is a creation of the blog, It doesn’t taste like chicken. While you are there, check out the other fantastic recipes on the blog.

Ingredients:

2 oz bourbon

1 heaping tsp pumpkin butter

1/2 tsp Pumpkin spice simple syrup

1 oz fresh squeezed orange juice

A few dashes of Angostura Bitters or Orange Bitters

Orange twist and a cinnamon stick or ground cinnamon for garnish

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and mix until the pumpkin butter is incorporated. Strain into a rocks glass with a large cube and garnish with a orange twist and a cinnamon stick or a few shakes of cinnamon. If you like pumpkin as much as I do this cocktail will become your new favorite sipping cocktail for the fall!

Cranberry Pear Fizz

Ingredients:

1 1/2 oz Pear Vodka

1 oz cranberry juice

1/2 oz Domaine de Canton Ginger Liquor

1/2 oz fresh lemon juice

4 oz Prosecco or sparkling water

This cocktail is a fall twist on a Bellini or a Mimosa. It is so tasty but be careful because it goes down way too easy. I was out of town and pinch hitting with ingredients and garnishes so the photo is not as festive as I would have liked. But, what the photo is lacking the cocktail more than makes up for in flavor!

Add the first four ingredients to a shaker. Strain into a tumbler or a wine glass and top with the Prosecco. Garnish with a lemon or a pear. Or, for a really festive version for the holidays float frozen cranberries!

Embracing autumn in the moment

It's October 13th and I guess it is time to come to terms with the fact that summer is over. I have been mourning that fact since Labor Day, which is a little ridiculous. I try so hard to live in the moment. There are many who say that when you spend too much time looking back into the past or wondering what is ahead that you are missing the present. Yet, this time of year I find it hard not to wish it was June and the summer was just starting.

Last week I had to drive 2 hours north for a walk through at a house that I had sold. I wasn't really looking forward to the long drive but as I headed north on 93 through the Notch I was struck by the incredible display of vibrant colors all around me. In the 16 years that I have lived in NH I don't think I have seen leaves of such a striking red color. Have you ever driven down the street in the spring and realized that there are leaves on the trees and you didn't even see the buds? My Mom always used to remind me to not be too busy to notice the little things in life and the conversation usually started with the change of seasons. I have been so buys wishing that it was still summer that I could have missed the beauty of autumn. Luckily, my travels for work took me through the mountains where I was awed by a tapestry of yellows, reds and gold.

I wanted to pull the car over and take a photo every time I turned another corner. And just like that, I wasn't mourning summer anymore; I was living in the moment on a beautiful autumn day. I will try to carry this feeling and practice with me as the leaves fall and we head into winter. And when that comes, I will try to find the beauty that the winter brings. For now I will just enjoy the colors, scents and foods that autumn brings.