Tag Archives: #friends

Cider + Liquor + Cajeta = Deliciously Evil

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I love having a signature cocktail when I throw a party. Last year at my honey-themed birthday party I had a station set up where guests could make a Honey Badger (St. Germain, honey syrup and sparkling wine). So when I hosted my harvest-themed dinner party, I decided to come up with something fun to drink besides wine.

Since I had just made my own home-pressed apple cider, I used that as a base. I heated it up with some mulling spices to give it more flavor, letting it simmer for about 10 minutes with a cinnamon stick, cloves, allspice and dried orange peel. Once the spices were strained out, I contemplated my liquor cabinet.

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Harvest Party: Winning at Wining & Dining in Autumn

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Acorn Doughnut Hole Party Favors

It’s a known fact I love nothing more than to throw a party. Give me any reason whatsoever and I will come up with a theme, research recipes and try my hardest to make my house as adorable as possible. So when some of the favorite ladies in my life and I decided to plan a little drinking dinner party, I quickly volunteered to host. We decided on the seasonally appropriate theme of “Autumn Harvest” and decided to do it as a pot-luck style sit-down dinner.

I got into the spirit by decorating my house:

An autumn-inspired wreath helps corral the wine glasses

Autumn potpurri and hors d’oeuvre plates

And as always, a touch of class

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The Cider Press Rules

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Apples, apples everywhere

Did you catch a hint of John Irving in that title? If you did, we must be kindred spirits. The Cider House Rules is one of my favorite books, and every time I started typing anything about cider, it kept popping into my head. I couldn’t shake it.

Anyways, if it were required of me to make rules for a cider press party, it would be a simple task.

  1. Buy apples (basically so many apples that it’s overwhelming)
  2. Invite friends (think like Tom Sawyer, more people=less work for you!)
  3. Make good food (this way your friends can’t blame you when they feel used)
  4. Spend the afternoon drinking beer and making delicious fresh-pressed cider

It’s that easy! And, when you see all of the glorious fresh cider come pouring out, it’s also pretty damn exciting.

Here’s some scenes from my first cider press party, which took place the weekend before Halloween.

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One Sweet Sandwich — Peanut Butter Creme Sandwich Cookies

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I was invited to an open house a few weeks ago by my friend DB. The first thing I did was ask if I could bring cookies. He agreed, asking if I’d make the same brown butters ones that I had given him a few weeks before. But, like the bad friend I am, I totally refused. Life is too short to not try new cookie recipes!

And I had just bought some marshmallow creme in hopes of finally making these peanut butter sandwich cookies  — pulled out of a very old (Nov. 2008!) Better Homes & Gardens magazine. Honestly I’m shocked that I’ve had this recipe so long without ever having made it, but I think I’m always one ingredient short of having everything I need. So it gets stuck back in the recipe binder while I bake another cookie in its place.

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