Fall Pear Cordial

i wish i could say that fall has hit the west coast. occasionally we get a chilly, cloud filled day - my favorite -  and i break out my knitting, a giant cup of milky earl gray (heavily sugared, naturally) and make sure there's something cozy for dinner. but then the next day dawns clear and hot and i find myself putting away my favorite sweater and dreaming of things like deep dish casseroles, creamy soups, hot fruit crisps and warm bread dripping in butter. temps in the 80's aren't conducive to homey comfort food though so i recently found myself  looking for something cool to drink that tasted like fall. what better than a pear cordial?

this past summer, our favorite cold drink was a bombay saphire and tonic with lots and lots of limes. i make a good one. strong but easy to drink. ummm...maybe that's not so good. anyway, now that it's fall i was wanting something different and a bit unusual. i love pears and i love vanilla and i found a recipe on pinterest (note: what do you think about a pinterest bucket list? cool, right?), went out and bought the ingredients and gave it a go.

here's what i used:

1 vanilla bean, split length-wise
1 strip lemon peel
vodka
4 bosc pears
sugar
water

once again, i'm a walking advertisement for traders. what can i say? i went there for the vanilla beans and the vodka. you can buy the good stuff if you want but it really isn't necessary; with the flavor and sweetness of the cordial, i doubt anyone would notice. i bought the least expensive bottle which was $5.99.

bosc pears. yum. i love their sanding sugar texture and deep flavor. so perfect for this. wash them well, peel and core them and slice them up.

get into your mason jar stash. fill a clean jar with a vanilla bean, a fat slice of lemon peel and enough pears to reach the top. fill with vodka (you could also use brandy), screw on the lid and give it a good shake. store in a dark place for 1 week to 3 months, shaking periodically.  i lasted two weeks . if you make this near halloween, like me, buy some gorgeous pumpkins (got mine from traders. where else?) and use them as photo props for the caterpillar that your child brings home from school while you're waiting for your cordial to develop.

  

when you can't wait any longer, make a simple syrup from 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water. add a sliced pear to the mixture. it will add even more pear flavor to your cordial. let it cool. 

pour the vodka mixture into a large bowl and use a potato masher to smash up the pears. remove the lemon peel and vanilla bean and strain the mixture into a clean container. i used a nut milk bag to strain but you could use cheesecloth or a coffee filter. 

add as much or as little of the simple syrup as you like. mix well and pour into a pretty little bottle or back into mason jars.

this is really delicious and a perfect fall aperitif served over ice on a warm evening. or neat on a chilly night. tastes even more delicious served in sweet little glasses or go rustic and serve it out of small mason jars. a sprig of fresh rosemary or sage with a curl of lemon peel would be a great garnish. aaaannnnndddd...i'm envisioning a pear tiramisu with the lady fingers soaked in this liquid gold.

right?!?




 

Lemony Yogurt Caper Dressing

nothing against the various and sundry "what i wore wednesday" posts i see floating around on a weekly basis, it's just that i can't really relate; a fashionista i am not. love love love all the cute outfits these clever ladies put together but i'd rather be surrounded by grocery bags than shopping bags and i usually am. i'm a foodie through and through. i love talking food, buying food, eating food, sharing food, cooking food, reading about food ad infinitum so, it seemed only fitting for me to incorporate this into my blog.

introducing Made by Me Monday! a weekly place to share and write about one of my deepest loves.

i'm kick starting this new endeavor with a little something to wake up your palette. it's quick, easy to put together and wonderfully versatile ~ lemony yogurt and caper dressing. plus, everyone you share it with will want to know where you got it and when you coyly mention that you made it they'll think you're a genius, which, of course, you are and they'll immediately want the recipe and if you give them the recipe, they'll feel warm and fuzzy inside (think...if you give a moose a muffin).

ok. i didn't actually mean for this picture to look like a shameless plug for trader joe's but wow it totally does, right? what can i say? it's one of the stores i shop at on a regular basis. clearly.

so here's what you'll need:

6 tbsp greek yogurt (i used full fat)
6 tbsp capers (no need to rinse)
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
zest of one lemon
juice of one lemon
1 clove garlic (1/2 if it's a large clove)
salt and pepper to taste

throw everything into your blender and whirl away. you can adjust the consistency by adding more yogurt to thicken or more lemon juice to thin down. just give a thought to how you want to use it.

and don't throw away those lemon halves. toss them into your garbage disposal and grind away, lovey.

mmmmm.......can't begin to tell you how yummy this is. don't just put it on your salad either. it's great on chicken, burgers, fish tacos, as a dip for bread or crackers.

you get the idea. just make it already. you can thank me later.

Salted Chocolate Cinnamon Shortbread

if i had to name my favorite cookie it would have to be ~ hands down ~ shortbread. it's easy to make, is the perfect texture, can be flavored with anything and is loaded down with butter; i mean....hellllohhhh!!! and lately, i've been wanting to sink my teeth in to one of these gorgeous little morsels and i was really wanting the flavors of chocolate and cinnamon on my tongue, so.... i prowled around on pinterest for recipes and came up with a basic recipe that worked out well. one thing to note, flour to butter ratio for shortbread is 1:1. too much butter and your cookies will spread like crazy which isn't necessarily a bad thing, just not a shortbread thing. so if, like me, you decide to experiment with adding more butter than needed, don't be disappointed - the resulting crispy, buttery wafers are perfect for ice cream sandwiches and everyone who eats them will think you're a genius! it's true.

Salted Chocolate Cinnamon Shortbread
loosely adapted from ovenhaven of epicurean escapism

2 cups unbleached flour (plus more for your work surface)
1⁄2 cup raw cocoa powder
3/4 cup raw cane sugar
2 sticks salted butter, at room temperature
1⁄2 tsp coarse ground pink salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
zest from one medium-sized orange
raw turbinado sugar and coarse ground pink salt for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 300°
2. Cream together butter, sugar, salt, cinnamon and orange zest.
3. Add the flour and cocoa powder on low speed until combined and the dough holds together.
4. Put the dough onto a lightly floured work surface, form it into a ball, and slightly flatten.
5. Coat both sides of the dough with flour and roll it out to about 1⁄2-inch thickness. Cut the dough into desired shapes. Generously sprinkle the surface with raw sugar and coarse salt.
6. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. 

and, oh my goodness, eat a couple of these babies before everyone else gets to them. salty, sweet and just the right amount of chocolatey deliciousness. plus...your house will smell amazing when they're baking!

Burlap Wall Art

it's so cool when you score something for free and with just a few flicks of the wrist, or.....ummmm....your handy dandy staple gun and a coupon for Joanne's ~ you're able to transform it into something new. covering a canvas with fabric isn't anything new and most of us have seen some variation of this on line over the last year, but this is the first time i've tried it and i'm completely loving it!

a good friend of my recently moved and kindly gifted me with a giant canvas that she had prettied up but was no longer going to be using.

i took it home and looked at it for a few days and finally decided on covering it with some kind of fabric so i headed over to joanne's thinking that some sort of upholstery fabric would work and there were several that i liked but none that i loved. so, just before i settled, i wandered the isles and found some burlap that i knew would be perfect! plus ~ it was on sale! got 1 1/2 yards for $11.99!

isn't it cool?!? they also had some that was printed with black skeleton keys that almost came home with me and while i've tried my hand at printing on burlap before, there was no way i was going to tackle this bad boy on my own ~ baby's got BACK! 

if you ever do cover something with burlap, be sure to fold your raw edge(s) under before you attach it otherwise, you may get some fraying. 

i'm really happy with the way it turned out. AND....it covers up the electrical box on our wall!!! Yeah!!!