Current Fall Favorites
Hello everyone,
I hope everyone is staying safe, healthy, and distant as we continue to navigate these uncharted waters. Extra precautions and colder weather may cause us to feel restless and isolated. It’s important we continue to stay connected with one another in the safest way possible. Cooking and baking can help us do that. We may not be able to bring food to our loved ones or social gatherings. However, we can share pictures of our culinary creations on social media or talk on the phones with our loved ones about what we made. Here are a few items I’ve made recently that I hope you consider making to bring you joy.
If you are looking for a cocktail…
I made this Spiked Apple Cider cocktail featured on the Food Network website. It is perfect for fall. The dark rum and cinnamon schnapps are the driving forces of the drink with the apple cider lightly rounding out the flavor of the drink. Have as much fun as you’d like garnishing the drink by either leaving it plain, adding some diced apple, or coating the glass with a pumpkin spice sugar rim.
Another drink I created was this Smoky Harvest Apple Cider Margarita from Half Baked Harvest. This recipe takes a traditionally summer-y cocktail and moves it into perfect for fall territory. I made my margarita using half mezcal and half silver tequila. These flavors are bold. You get strong apple cider flavor, but so many other complementary flavors as well. The mezcal provides an atypical smokiness for a margarita. You get a bit of boozy from the silver tequila, acidity from lime, and floral flavor from orange liqueur. Margaritas can be the new fall/winter drink if I say so myself.
Smoky Harvest Apple Cider Margarita
If you are looking for a fun breakfast/brunch item to spark joy….
There are A LOT of cinnamon roll recipes out there and a lot of overnight cinnamon roll recipes at that. I’m sure they are great, but I’ve found one recipe I love and I’m sticking with it. I made these pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls recipe and they were divine (pumpkin spice version is posted at the bottom of the linked page). They have the PERFECTLY FLUFFY interior and the most amazing spice level that will help start your day off right. The dough gets made the day before. When morning comes, you let the shaped dough rise for a bit (about an hour), bake them off (23 minutes for me…I think the original recipe bakes them too long..), and slather with cream cheese frosting. The recipe is posted online, and was created by pastry extraordinaire Stella Parks. Many of her recipes celebrate classic American desserts. I’ve made many of her cakes and they are amazing. I highly recommend her cookbook titled BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts. Consider purchasing it from your local independent bookstore. One of my favorite independent bookstores is River Bend Book Shop (located in CT) which happens to have the book on hand :)
Aren’t they droolworthy?
Right now it’s important to find ways to bring joy into our lives. I hope you consider making one of these recipes. Connect with your loved ones (even if it’s by phone or social media) and let them know what you’ve cooked or baked recently.
Stay well.
Stay safe.
Until next time!
Mike
