Fall Favorites: Pumpkick Beer

In honor of my favorite season, I'm starting a new series to document all of my favorite fall recipes, products, and such.  First up - New Belgium Pumpkick Beer.  This was an impulse buy at the grocery store, and boy am I glad!  This beer tastes like fall…for real!  Or to quote the website, "an unexpected kick of cranberry juice brightens this spiced season ale…plenty of pumpkin juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, a touch of lemongrass that send your taste buds sailing."  Enough said.

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Kalimotxo

Have you ever had a Kalimotxo?  I had never even heard of this beverage until I spied it on pinterest.  At first glance it sounds a little...well...unusual, red wine + coke, I mean I never would've thought to put those two together.  But the more I think about it, I'm intrigued...  My logic: Coca cola seems to do wonders in recipes, so why not pair it with another beverage.

Have you ever made/had a kalimotxo before?

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Holiday Tea

My new favorite before-bedtime beverage - Candy Cane Green Tea a la Trader Joe's. I just picked this up for the first time this week and I can't get enough! It's the perfect hint of mint and a welcome warm up to our recent blast of chilly weather.

Something about this time of year; the dark skies, crackling leaves, and whipping wind - all it makes me want to do is curl up on a cozy couch, toasty under a thick fleecy blanket, sip some holiday tea, and watch my favorite movies. Sounds way better than work, right?

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Pumpkin Spice Alternative

I'm happy to report I've found an affordable alternative to the pricy $4.00+ pumpkin spice latte, Trader Joe's Pumpkin spice coffee. While it's not quite the barista, it does have a aromatic, spicy fall flavor and it's only $8 for 14 ounces. Sweet!

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I Could Go For a Beer...

For some reason, this sounds delicious to me right about now, a Guinness Cream Soda. Maybe it's my almost two-week-long cocktail of cough syrup, Vitamin C, fruit juice that's driven me to crave vanilla-y beer, but either way, sounds pretty good. While an ordinary cream soda usually contains club soda, cream, and vanilla syrup, the "boozy version uses vanilla and ginger liqueurs instead of syrup. The creamy froth of the Guinness stout instead of cream to take this drink from soda fountain to bar top."

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Coffee Perks

Are you a coffee drinker? While I'm not a caffeine junkie, I do rely on my morning coffee to perk me up on the drive to school. I don't have a "usual" drink, I try and mix it up to keep things interesting.

And now, I have even more reason to continue drinking my morning coffee...according to a recent study, coffee cuts the depression rate in women. I knew I always felt a little better after that first sip of my morning brew! Pass the pumpkin spice latte please!

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Happy Friday

It's Friday! Happy hour anyone? It's been one, long, draining week, and I'm thinking this little grapefruit margarita sounds mighty fine right about now to ring in the weekend! It's 5 o'clock somewhere, right?

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Green Monster

I did it, I jumped on the Green Monster bandwagon. Who would've though a green smoothie would taste good? But it sure does! The Green Monster if you're unaware is a concoction of this:

Ingredients:
2 Cups Raw Baby Spinach
1 Cup Almond Milk
1 Banana

Optional: 1 Tbsp Ground Flax Seed
Ice

And the best part, you can't taste the spinach AT ALL! Aside from the green color, you'd never know it was a part of the drink. Making this smoothie packed with vitamins and nutrients. Ever since I bought my cute little Bella Cucina rocket blender, I've been a smoothie making machine!

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Mexican Hot Chocolate

Anyone ever made Mexican hot chocolate before? I've never made it myself, but am eager to try. There's something so comforting about the sipping a mug of rich, warm hot chocolate. And if you ask me, the extra pinch of spice in the Mexican variety adds an extra oomph. I saw a recipe in Real Simple I'm hoping to try soon.

Hot cocoa +

- 2 pinches ground chipotle pepper

- 2 pinches ground cinnamon

- 2 tablespoons whipped cream

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Hot Coffee?

I know it doesn't look like much, but this coffee tumbler is AMAZING! Seriously! And I've gone through my fair share of mugs, tumblers, and the like... This new little guy from Starbucks is double walled - translation: it seals in the heat and keeps your beverage warm while the exterior remains cool to the touch. AMAZING, right?

I might just have to get one in every color...

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Jalapeno

Anyone ever tried jalapeno tequila? Apparently it's the "it" thing in Santa Monica/Venice Beach, California, because my sister keeps raving about these amazing jalapeno margaritas. I'm intrigued... I'm sort of a wimp when it comes to spicy things but this spicy margarita has me thirtsy! Anyone else tried this?

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Rain, Rain Go Away

It's been dreary, rainy, and utterly blah in Seattle lately. Contrary to popular belief, this time of year is usually quite lovely and pleasant. A typical year would render sunny, breezy, and mid-70's temperatures. (Sigh). Thus, I'm waiting for one of those sweet sunny days to return again so I can make this - watermelon lemonade. All the best flavors of summer!

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Fave New Brew

I just made a fantastic discovery at the grocery store and I must share. Initially what caught my eye was the bargain price tag ($6.99 on sale), and of course the eye-catching waterfall label. This fave new brew of mine is Kona Brewing Company Limited Edition: Wailea Wheat. I was intrigued by the subtitle on the label "brewed with passion fruit," that's promising enough, right?

YES it is as taste tests later revealed...It's still a wheat beer but the fruity infusion lends it a light aromatic flavor that tastes delightful! I popped one open last night with dinner and was surely satisfied. I'd never even heard of Kona Brewing Co. before but I highly recommend you try one yourself!

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Tea Time

These days, I find myself a tea enthusiast. When I bought my house in October, I went on a bit of a tea binge, stocking my cupboard full of a plethora of tea varieties, not really so much for the flavors themselves, but just to have the satisfaction of living in a house with filled shelves.

Perhaps my fave tea is Market Spice - it's a local Seattle tea, spicy-orangy-cinnamon goodness in every sip! But lately I've been dabbling with Celestial Seasons Bengal Spice and Mandarin Orange Spice. Anyone else see a pattern here? Can you tell I like spicy tea? Of course I try and balance these out with Bigelow's Green Tea with Pomegranate and Yogi's Honey Lemon for those scratchy throat kind of days.

But now...after all that purchasing, alas I'm kind of bored with my tea shelf. Don't get me wrong, I won't deny my Seattle roots because I'm first and foremost a coffee-in-the-morning kind of girl, but I usually retire in the evenings with tea and a good book (wow that comment just aged me 20 years...).

Are any of you out there tea drinkers as well? What's your fave?

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Tea Submarine

I've recently become a tea enthusiast, my current fave is Seattle's own Cinnamon-Orange Market Spice. Isn't this little tea sub the cutest? It submerges tea leaves to the bottom of your cup, creating the perfect infusion of your favorite brew.

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Cozy Cocoa

I'll have a cocoa with a side of gingerbread house, please.
Oh the magic of Christmas...

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The Verdict

So I did go ahead and sample that Caramel Brulee latte I blogged about a while back...and I'm pretty convinced Starbucks just remarked the former Toffee Nut latte under the guise of "Caramel Brulee." Seriously, immediately upon sampling I thought, "I've tried this before..."

Regardless, it's pretty good, I'd recommend going with 2 pumps of syrup to make it a little less sweet in case you're in the mood for a flavored cup of jo.

Red Cups

While I typically would rather support the java underdog, I find Starbucks' red cups irresistible. Gingerbread, peppermint, and egg nog lattes - oh my! Well actually, nonfat gingerbread lattes and peppermint mochas are my drinks du jour, and since the season of red cups is short lived, 'tis the season to indulge!

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Creepy Jello

Love the idea of adding spook to the party favorite - jello shots. Thanks to Sarah's Fab Day for passing along the clever idea. Add eye ball, brain, or creepy gummy candies to your fave jello flavor and voila! - the greatest Halloween party beverage ever!

Recipe below via Hostess with the Mostess

Creepy Jello Shots

1.5 cups boiling water
1 cups vodka
2 (8-oz) pkg. JELL-O Gelatin, any flavor

STIR boiling water into dry gelatin mix in large bowl at least 3 min. until completely dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool for a 3-5 minutes, then add vodka. Pour into 13×9-inch pan. Let mixture cool to room temperature, then add gummy candies. (Use a spoon to help guide gummies into the spot you want them, if desired.) Pour into 13×9-inch pan.

REFRIGERATE at least 3 hours or until firm.

DIP bottom of pan in warm water 15 sec. Cut jigglers into squares, making sure to cut all the way through gelatin to bottom of pan. Lift JIGGLERS® from pan. Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

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Autumn Drink

In the spirit of recognizing the upcoming untimely end of Gourmet magazine, I took a cruise around their website and stumbled upon an article detailing popular 1990's cocktails. I passed by the martinis, gimlets, and pink champagne and landed on a drink that sounded quite perfect for autumn - mulled cider with calvados. Initially I thought, that sounds good...but what is calvados?

One google search later and I've discovered that calvados is a French form of cider distilled from speciality selected apples - sounds delicious huh? I just might have to track me down some calvados and try this one at home on a cold fall night.

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