It seems like every year when autumn hits, I get a serious baking itch and I start baking like crazy. Anyone else do the same thing? I especially get into the quintessential fall baking ingredients - including pumpkin, apple, cinnamon and nutmeg. I feel like I can't get enough! I mean, is there anything that smells better than all of those delicious flavors baking in the kitchen? Playing around in the kitchen with my favorite sweet fall ingredients is precisely how this recipe was born. I'm not normally a juice drinker, but I bought apple cider a few times this season after trying some at a local orchard and remembering that apple cider is in fact delicious. This recipe puts a twist on pumpkin bread by including apple cider and diced apple in the batter. I also made ... [Read More]
apple cider
Apple Cinnamon Champagne Cocktails
Hi there! After an awesome weekend in the Pasadena area with my parents (more on that later this week) and working from my hotel there yesterday, then driving back up to the Bay Area (telecommuting is a sweet gig!), today I'm back in my home office working with my puppy sleeping on my feet. I'm taking a little break from my work to share with you a recipe I came up with on New Year's Eve: Since I kept it low-key on New Year's and was home with my hubby, I wanted to come up with a tasty celebratory cocktail with champagne as the star. I picked up some Prosecco at Trader Joe's -- which I know is technically Italian sparkling wine and not champagne, but it's good enough for me! -- and I also nabbed some of TJ's sparkling apple cider. The cocktail is made by first a.) making cinnamon simple ... [Read More]