Cozy Autumn Cocktails

Cardamom Hot Toddy

The smell of fallen leaves, a fire in the hearth, the scents of apples and pie crust, a slow cooked roast...These are the things that let us know that Autumn is edging ever closer to Winter. During these darkening months, comfort often comes in ways that are different than the ways we achieve comfort in, say, Spring or Summer.

One of the ways I feel soothed in the Autumn is by the occasional after work cocktail. My favorite drinks to get while I'm out at this time of year are The Whiskey Fig at the Pour House and The Drunken Butterfly at the Shady Lady Saloon. But in an effort to save money it's always fun and frugal to create our own adult beverages at home.

These are some goodies I have found!

The Jonathan Chapman Cocktail: I call it Spiked Cider. I really like Food Republic.

Nutella Melt with Frangelico from "Winter Cocktails": More a dessert than a beverage.

Boozy Pumpkin White Hot Chocolate

Pomegranate Vanilla Sangria

Pear and Ginger Sage Sipper

The Best of Mood Boards and Collage

Loretta at Creatively Driven: My inspiration for this post.

Regina says I should know some HTML (#17) to have a successful blog and be a serious blogger. I tend to agree with her; she is an uber expert. I think that because I have a lifestyle blog. In addition to knowing just a tiny bit of code, it would behoove me to also know Photoshop in order to create mood boards like the ones here. As in poetry, a mood board (or color board as some would call them) captures feelings, textures, ambiance and indeed feelings that cannot be expressed by words alone. Don't get me wrong; you know I fancy myself a poet and I love the written word, but I love a picture too; it is said, "A picture is worth a thousand words." Now if only I could muster the time and commitment to take a Photoshop class.

Here is a collection of some pretty boards I've recently found while scouring around this playground.

Brianna Rose: Her style is impeccable.

Colleen at Inspired to Share: Her spirit is captivating as you can see in her imagery here.

All of these items are sold on Etsy. This warm board was curated by Sofia Budman.. She is someone I follow on Pinterest and she hails from Tel Aviv, Isreal.

Sara at Salted Ink is amazing. Her style is fresh; her branding sensational.

This was arranged by Kayla Kits at HGTV's Blog: the concept of bubbles is refreshing. I love her addition of the illustrated Kitty.

And finally...

Something Calm at Swooned for the last selection. It was created by Lauren Kathryn. I like the diamond elements.

Fall: It's Decorative Gourd Season

By the way, it really is Decorative Gourd Season and we love McSweeney's!

On that note, ever made Roasted Pumpkin Seeds?

While it's not Halloween anymore, we are in the throws of the Autumn Season. That means pumpkin cookies, pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie. I still love to clean out the inerts of a pumpkin - not just for the puree that is needed for all the pumpkin goodies but for the roasted seeds especially.

The following recipe is very easy but you must keep an eye on these guys or they'll burn to crisp.


Ingredients:

The seeds of one large pumpkin (put under the faucet in a strainer to remove all the pumpkin pulp)
2 Tbs Butter, melted
1 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp. garlic salt
Fresh ground pepper to taste (I like to use Trader Joe's Flower Pepper for these).

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Pat dry the seeds between two clean dish cloths or paper towels.
In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients.
Stir well to coat all seeds with the seasonings and oils. (Fat is used in cooking because it carries flavor)!
Place the seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet.
Put in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
Check the seeds about 5 minutes in and shake the pan around.
Lower the temperature of the oven to 300 and roast for another 15 minutes. You may hear some popping. When you do, go and shake the pan...
When the seeds are the color of brown you like, remove them from the oven and let them cool.
Transfer to a pretty bowl and serve.