Autumn Apple Cider Gin Cocktail

Seasonal and fabulous! Buy the freshest apple cider possible at your local apple orchard!

1 part Beefeater or Hendricks Gin
3 parts Fresh apple cider
1 dash Angostura bitters per glass
Slices of Apples for garnish
Ice

Fill a rocks glass with ice. Stir in all ingredients and add an apple slice for garnish!

posted from Bloggeroid

Apple Cider Sangria

well...I can't forget to post this :)

APPLE CIDER SANGRIA

1 bottle Pinot Grigio
2 1/2 cups Fresh Apple Cider
1 cup Club Soda or plain water
1/2 cup of Cinnamon Simply Syrup (recipe below) OR 1/2 cup Cointreau, Triple Sec or Grand Marnier
2 apples, cored and chopped~other fruit would be tasty as well

Stir all to combine and allow to mellow in fridge for an hour before serving.

CINNAMON SIMPLE SYRUP
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cinnamon stick 3 inches long
6 or so whole allspice
2 inch piece of fresh ginger
a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

In a small saucepan bring all ingredients to a boil, reduce heat and keep at a rolling boil for 5 minutes. I only used 1/2 of the quantity for the sangria, but feel free to add to taste. I put the cinnamon stick and allspice into the sangria as well.

Easy Crepes

Last week brought our girl, Gina, home to us.  It also brought the (NON-event) Hurricane Irene which allowed Gina to stay an extra day, which was fantastic.  Our family was quite busy all week, but carved out some time to spend together and that always involves food!  John was craving crepes then Lewis (Gina's friend) jumped on board and proceeded to make us his English version of crepes.

Simple and barely sweet, fresh summery flavor that leaves you satisfied without leaving the table too full.  Perfection on Sunday morning!

CREPES

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup flour
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
pinch of salt

Blend all together in a mixing bowl with a whisk.  Allow to rest about 20 minutes to remove air bubbles.  Heat a crepe pan to hot and butter lightly.  Pour in just enough to coat bottom of pan, allow to brown slightly and flip.  Viola!

While hot, squeeze a good bit of fresh lemon juice over the crepe and sprinkle with plain white sugar.  Fold into thirds and top with a bit more lemon juice and teaspoon of sugar.

It's interesting that the lemon juice absorbs into the crepe and the sugar melts almost instantly to give a lovely tart/sweetness to the crepe, but keeps it light and airy.  

The crepes gave us enough sustanence to make a trip to a local apple cider mill to eat doughnuts and drink cider on the Huron River later in the afternoon and to cook a lovely supper full of fresh vegetables from the garden and farm. 

It was a beautiful day in Michigan and a lovely send off for Gina and Lewis.  Now we are backing to missing them.