Enchantment Learning & Living Blog

Welcome to Enchantment Learning & Living, the inspirational space where I write about the simple pleasures, radical self-care, and everyday magic that make life delicious.

Pumpkin Pie Body Scrub

November 13, 2014

Remember that wonderful pumpkin face mask I wrote about in October? Well, meet its mate, my pumpkin pie body scrub! It's made with actual pumpkin--in this case, powdered pumpkin I purchased from amazon.com--which means it has the same complexion nourishing ingredients like magnesium, iron, and a host of vitamins that bring back your natural glow during these colder months. The touch of pumpkin pie spices bring anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial qualities of your scrub.

It's also a great easy-to-make holiday gift for your loved ones in need of a little extra self-care this upcoming holiday season. What better way to indulge in a little TLC than to enjoy the exfoliating effects of this scrub that perfumes your bathroom with the smell of pumpkin pie?

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar (or Epsom salts)

1/2 cup powdered pumpkin

3/4 cup coconut oil or olive oil

1/4 cup pumpkin spice (or cinnamon)

Mix all dry ingredients together first and then slowly add in oil until fully combined. Store in a mason jar. Enjoy!

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!

On Being the Heroine of Your Own Life

November 12, 2014

We are all like Catherine Morland in our own way, wanting to be the heroines of our own story--not necessarily the lead of a Gothic Romance nor the Damsel in Distress of another story, but a Heroine nonetheless. But what does it mean to be a heroine? To pluck her from the novel pages you devour and find her in your waking life?

She is a woman who is at once both graceful yet flawed; otherworldly in her strength but utterly human, full of heart and full of might. She takes charge of her life, learns to negotiate the pitfalls and relish the pleasures, as any good heroine must. She is most certainly is not the sidekick that lives in the corners of her experiences, silently looking on as others make mistakes, dream big, learn lessons. No, a woman must always be the key player in her own story. That other role is too safe, too tame for the life you want to live, for the life you look for between the covers of a book.

Being a heroine is about hope: the hope for change, the hope to stay the same, and yes, the hope for a little romance. You must greet each day as if you are always on the brink of a marvelous adventure, the promise of something new to dazzle your senses and inform your mind. It is about greeting the world with curiosity and refusing to be cowed by the villains that cross your path; about making friends and leaving enemies in the dust; about recognizing that we have the unique ability to craft our own story.

And what a story it is.

Sweet Potato & Kale Medley

November 11, 2014

Lately, I have been in need of a light but hearty satisfying dinner that is easy to fix during a busy workweek. This recipe came about as I tried to figure out what to do with some extra roasted sweet potatoes and a large handful of kale. My empty tummy decided it would be the makings of a perfect quick dinner--and it was SO right!

The trick to elevating the flavors of this dish (and removing some of the bitterness of the kale) is in browning the slices of roasted sweet potato in ghee and then sautéing the rest of the ingredients in more ghee and spices. After trying some variations on this recipe, I still prefer roasting the potatoes first before sautéing because it ensures they are fully cooked through and lends a richness to their flavor. I think this dish is perfect on its own, but if you feel like you need a little more substance to it, it tastes equally great as a side to sausage or a good pork chop.

Ingredients:

1 medium roasted sweet potato

1 cup shredded kale

1/2 sweet onion, sliced into half-moons

1 glove garlic, minced

1 tsp ground cumin

About 4 tbsp ghee

Salt to taste

Preheat saucepan on medium, adding 2 tbsp ghee to melt. Slice roasted sweet potato in half longways and then slice each half into half-moons. Place half-moons in saucepan and let cook until brown on one side, about 2-3 minutes; flip the half-moons and let cook on the other side another 2-3 minutes. When the potato is browned, add onion slices, garlic, and cumin and sauté for 2 minutes, until onions begin to soften. Then add more ghee and kale. Reduce heat and let simmer on medium-low until kale begins to wilt, about 5-7 minutes more. Add salt taste. Serves one (so double the recipe for you and your loved one!). Enjoy!

On 'Waking Up in the Land of Glitter'

November 10, 2014

Thank you for bringing glitter back into my life.

I was beginning to forget that every day could sparkle like the German glass dust in your books, be full of as much color and excitement as your next DIY session. You lured me in with your warmth and heart--and, let's be honest, crafting projects. I didn't have to be good at them, just enthusiastic--a welcome relief from over-work and the desire to live a life beyond my dissertation.

You were how I first found chica lit, the genre of mestizas and our quest for a vibrant, passionate life. You gave me permission to get cheesy and corny and all around touchy feely about who I wanted to be. Above all, you were about hope, a reminder that life was more than just A to B; between your pages, I found the courage to break myself out of that linear path with zest and style.

You were my road map back to my native Southwest, a lifeline between me and my sister as we found our way back to glitter.

Oatstraw Tea

November 9, 2014

We are all familiar with the delights of a good morning oatmeal--personally, my weekdays aren't the same without it! Lately, I've brought the joys of oatmeal into my tea blending with oatstaw which gives me the same satisfying nourishment a good bowl of oatmeal does and that comforting taste of earthy grains.

Oatstraw is the leftover part of the oat plant that gets harvested and dried after the grain has been removed. It's great for the skin and works well as the base for a soothing bath or as a tincture to soothe irritated skin. Of course, it also makes an excellent tea! You can find oatstraw at your local health foods store, herb store, or online at Rose Mountain Herbs.

I love drinking this at work because it keeps me fueled and energized through the day more naturally than sugars or caffeine do. It regulates blood sugar, reduces cholesterol, and is chock full of vitamins A, D, and E; zinc; and magnesium. Its flavor is slightly sweet in a grassy way.

Ingredients:

1 heaping tablespoon oatstraw

To brew, pour 8 oz hot water over oatstraw (in strainer or tea bag) and let steep for 3-5 minutes. Remove strainer and enjoy! Makes one serving.

A Conversation with Wollstonecraft & Austen

November 8, 2014

Last night I dreamed that I was at the table with Jane Austen and Mary Wollstonecraft. Perhaps it was over dinner, perhaps tea. To my left sat Wollstonecraft, canonical mother of feminism and Mary Shelley, a woman consumed by human darkness and her own fears. To my right, sat Austen, this enigmatic figure whose history is shrouded in wit and speculation, mother of nothing other than chic lit has and the breezy style synonymous with the novel heroines we model ourselves after. With the former, we know too much, the latter, too little.

They are two sides of me, these women. One is devoured by her passions and her fury. She can burn too hot, crushed by social censure and her own shadows; she was buried alive under the tomb of her memoir, laying bare the heart of a revolutionary woman in a world not yet ready for her. And yet, despite all this, despite the fact that her public words were tainted by her private life exposed, she retained the hope of a more empowered way of living, a more compassionate one equal parts heart and mind.

Austen is the soothing balm to the frayed woman's soul Wollstonecraft laid bare. There is hope, she tells us, there is hope. We do not need to sink under the weight of social pressures nor commit ourselves to a less authentic version of ourselves. No, we must simply be patient, live softly and deeply, crafting a new world through our intimate bonds. We do not need to dwell on the darkness in order to see the light. She pushes these matters off stage; they serve only as the background to the immediate story of home and intimacy and the happiness built on the day in, day out.

I consider these two women as I sit at their table (or perhaps they sit at mine, as it was my mother's mica teapot we poured from, as I now recall, and my own table spread with a fresh cloth and my own adobe home). At one point, I can't help noticing how dark my hands are compared to theirs. Strange, since we are all made up of the stories, the hopes, the fears of women readers who want at once to live in this world and create our own, to feel passionately but sensibly, to find our truth and live it out with unabashed pleasure.

What would I tell them, I wonder? What did I tell them? That is for another dream, another story.

On the Witchcraft Mysteries

November 7, 2014

You brought fashion back into my life and more than a little magic.

I found you one rainy day when I took refuge in my favorite Seattle Mystery Bookshop; the drizzle and damp were getting to me as much as my studies were, making me long for my dry desert home and more warmth in my life. There you were, the perfect respite from the world: your soft blue cover featuring a woman who is now one of my favorite heroines, locking up what I now know is her vintage clothing store. The pink glitter--wisps of magic?--didn't hurt things, either.

I returned home, wanting nothing more than a bubble bath, a glass of wine, and this book. I devoured this story and the next and the next, feeding my soul with the trials and triumphs of Lily Ivory, the powerful witch in search of a normal life. I looked to her to find my balance, my normal in the midst of graduate school, and still do now, as I learn what it means to teach, write, and conjure up the type of life I choose to live...

...and even as I discover normal is overrated--magic is always at the heart of the best things.

From Lily, I remembered the magic of fashion--the power of a dress to lift your spirits and make you a little more daring. I discovered the enjoyment of a potted herb garden and the gentle art of making yourself a part of your chosen home even when your knees tremble and your heart skips a beat, for there will always be a Bronwyn or an Oscar ready to welcome you. And I learned that though you might find yourself in the midst of old ghosts or freshly raised demons, you know you are strong enough to banish them. I also realized the practical pleasures of wearing keds with my vintage inspired dresses (all the better to look fashionable while on your feet all day) and how to properly deflect hexes--and brew a spell or a good gumbo. I have even been known to crave a toasted bagel with cream cheese, jalapenos, and avocados--a Lily Ivory go-to breakfast.

But perhaps most of all, I've found that Lily's greatest power lies not in her ability to vanquish demons or cast out mischievous spirits, or even in her knack for reading the vibes of old clothes. Her power is in her resilient vulnerability, her indefatigable openness to the good in life and her relentless pursuit of everyday enjoyment.

Chocolate Dipped Seckel Pears

November 6, 2014

I've been on a quest lately to develop healthy dessert recipes that satisfy my sweet tooth without loading me down with sugars and bad fats. I don't need a big piece of cake or a large bowl of ice cream; instead, I like diminutive nibbles that allow me to enjoy the pleasures of a dessert to close a nice meal on the weekend. I also don't want cookies and brownies hanging around during the week, so my goal in crafting my sweet treats has been to develop easy, healthy, and bite-sized desserts for a nice dinner.

The Seckel pear, a tiny little fruit no bigger than a golf ball, became the perfect canvas for chocolate and nuts for this treat. Although I love my pumpkin and peanut butter fudges (and my chia seed pudding for that matter), I find that some of the best desserts are the ones that highlight the gorgeousness of in-season fruit. You can adapt this recipe to suit your tastes or what you already have on hand, swapping white chocolate for caramel, for example, or pecans for peanuts. Look for pears that still have their top; it makes dipping easier. If they don't have one, stick a toothpick in them.

Ingredients:

5 Seckel pears

1/2 cup white chocolate

1/2 cup dark chocolate

1/2 chopped pecans

Melt white chocolate in 20-second increments in microwave until melted (about one minute), making sure to stir the chocolate between heating. Dip pears into white chocolate until completely coated and let dry on wax paper in fridge for about 10 minutes. In the meantime, melt dark chocolate just as you did the white chocolate and pour pecans into a shallow bowl for dipping. When white chocolate has hardened, remove pears from fridge and dip them halfway in dark chocolate and then immediately roll them a fourth of the way in the nuts to coat their bottoms. Return to fridge and let set for about 10 minutes. Enjoy!

On Finding Happiness in Your Own Way

November 5, 2014

It was hard at first, understanding what Happiness meant for you, that mercurial combination of feeling both grounded and ready to take flight. Sometimes it still is.

You had read books and heard stories and watched others as they found their way to Happiness. And you spent many years in search of their version of that elusive creature. You went out and did the things that seemed to brighten other lives, but they did not quite do so for you. You found no satisfaction in giving yourself over to a life of solitude and studies, nor much fun in late night carousing--that was loneliness of a different sort. Neither gave you the roots and the wings you wanted.

So you stayed in and did the things that brought you past enjoyment, but they did not fill your heart with the deep gladness you were searching for. They began to feel like an old film reel that you kept looping through, out of habit, any sense of love worn away when you began to feel trapped in this spent spool. No, the Happiness you were looking for was something altogether new, something you hadn't dared yet to live.

You wanted a new way of experiencing your life: adventures, harmless frivolity to carry away the heaviness that had filled your shoes like rocks weighing you to this earth. And yes, something that pulled you away from your books, your thoughts (although this last part is written furtively so as not to offend your words or your library that hovers over you as you scribble this). You love them dearly; they are often more real to you than the world you live in. But that's just it: your happiness must also come from the here and now as well as the dreams and what-may-comes.

Slowly, you set about courting your Happiness, gently calling it toward you each day as you took one step and then another towards a new way of being, allowing your roots to cradle you as you flexed your wings, so long unused. You are ready to taste the world, savor its sweetness as you would a thick spool of honey, what now replaced your old worn real. There, in that small promise of fuller living, you found it: Happiness in your own way. It was books and words, but life and living too.

Pumpkin Spice Blend

November 4, 2014

Ahhhhh, pumpkin spice! That heady mixture of cinnamon and other spices is the perfect embodiment of autumn goodness. Happily for non-pumpkin lovers, it contains none of that squash. I love using it not just for Thanksgiving pies, put in my coffee for a festive kick (a trick I learned from my mom!) or on pancakes to make them just a little yummier.

This spice blend is surprisingly easy to make and less expensive if you mix it on your own. A small 2-ounce jar will run you anywhere from two to four dollars whereas if you buy the spices in bulk, you can get the same spice mix for half the cost and you are guaranteed fresher ingredients. I like to make mine in small batches, but the beauty of this recipe is that it is easy to double or triple depending on your pumpkin spice needs.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp ground ginger

3/4 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp ground clove

Mix ingredients together and store in a small spice jar. Makes about 1/4 cup. Enjoy!

November is Dedicated to Stories & Hero(in)es that Inspire!

November 3, 2014

I once told someone--in the flagrant cockiness that is youth--that fictional characters are far more interesting than actual people. I said this mostly to shock the person, a droll fellow who had a set way of looking at the world which certainly didn't include the zest and magic I look for in my everyday life.

To him, fiction was fiction and the people who occupied it were flights of fancy; but Real Life and Real People were more interesting because they had Real Problems and Real Issues that didn't always get resolved with a Happy Ending. No, to him, Real People were Complicated, simply because they chose to go through the cycles of their day in, day out life silently struggling with their Issues.

To which I say: BOR-ING!!!

And thus I told him that Fictional Characters are more interesting than Real People. They go on adventures. They take risks. They fall in love. They fall out of love. They don't settle for the daily grind or the bleakness of unresolved conflicts. They operate under an abundance of Hope. They allow their lives to get a little messy and, as a result, learn and grow. Stories and the heroes and heroines that occupy them will always be to me daily inspiration for a more epic way of living. The aim of our lives, after all, should be to become the hero or heroine of our own story.

I've been mulling this over the past week or so as I've realized that, in the midst of grading papers and taking care of my day-to-day obligations, I'd forgotten how to be the heroine of my own Life, or as I like to think of it, My Swashbuckling-Spontaneous-Shenanigans-Having-Magic-Conjuring-Epic-Adventure. Forgetting to be a Heroine of your own Life, now that is a scary thought, particularly because if you can't think of yourself as a Heroine in your daily adventures, it means you've lost your sense of imagination and playfulness that is absolutely required to feel as exciting and wonderful as a fictional character capable of anything.

So to honor this necessary levity in our lives (a healthy balance to my October everyday gothic series!), I am dedicating the month of November to the wonder and magic of stories in all forms, highbrow and lowbrow, that inspire us to live epically.

Vegan Peanut Butter Fudge

November 2, 2014

Peanut butter and chocolate are one of the best pairings of all time, like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. I developed this recipe as a riff on my Pumpkin Fudge, complete with the little layer of chocolate on top. It is the perfect little dessert--sweet but not too sweet--and packed with good-for-you ingredients.

Ingredients:

1 cup coconut butter

3/4 cup organic creamy peanut butter

1/3 cup maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

4 tbsp whole milk

Warm coconut butter in saucepan on low heat until melted. Then transfer to a bowl and combine with other ingredients, except the chocolate and milk. Transfer to a shallow 8x8 dish and spread evenly. In the meantime, melt the dark chocolate and milk in a saucepan on low. Layer melted chocolate across top of fudge. Let sit in fridge for 2-3 hours. Cut into one-inch squares and store in fridge until ready to eat. Enjoy!

On Dia de Los Muertos

November 1, 2014

The boundaries between worlds have thinned at this halfway point between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. It is as if a small door has opened and allowed spirits and old ghosts and mischief makers full access to our neighborhood.

You leave out offerings, a welcome treat to your ancestors, whose guidance you are grateful for; and gifts to pacify the demons and fairies so that you won't bear the brunt of their trouble making. You leave out candles to welcome old souls searching for their home--family maybe, or lost pieces of yourself you seek to reclaim and call to you once again.

You celebrate this connection to the spirit world with sugar skulls and marigolds, unafraid of the night and the creatures it hides; they are a part of us, a part of you. You honor the Aztec goddess of the underworld, paying homage to her strength that allows her to watch over the bones and souls of the dead.

You offer up your flowers, your food, your drink, to thank her for gathering up the pieces of yourself that you no longer need, taking them with her back to the underworld; you thank her too for restoring the parts of you that still live on, though you hadn't known it until this day. You celebrate the dead to honor the power of life.

Old Fashioned Devil Cocktail

November 1, 2014

This is option three in my round of Halloween-inspired cocktails, sans sugary neon additives that have no business in a real cocktail. I'm a sucker for a good old fashioned; my recipe adds a playful twist to this drink by adding activated charcoal to give it a devilishly smoky flair. Activated charcoal is a common natural health aid used to improve skin tone, whiten teeth, detox the body, and even reduce bloating. It has even become a favorite new ingredient in for cocktail makers.

I've also omitted the traditional sugar cube that goes in this drink because I feel this drink is already sweeter than sin without it, thanks to the rich Silver Coyote Whiskey I use. The trick to making a good old-fashioned is to pay attention to the details, which make sense, because, as they say, that's where the devil always finds himself.

Ingredients:

4 dashes angostura bitters

2 oz silver coyote whiskey

1 splash club soda

small pinch of activated charcoal (no more than half of 1/8 teaspoon)

1 slice of organic orange skin, minus the pith

1 orange slice (for garnish)

1 black cherry (for garnish)

ice

In a shaker, muddle orange skin, bitters and activated charcoal together until the oils have released. Add ice and whiskey and shake until mixed. Pour into a glass and top with a splash of club soda. Garnish with orange slice and black cherry. Serves one--so double the recipe and share with your favorite devil.

On Halloween

October 31, 2014

It is carving pumpkins and then roasting the seeds, watching old scary movies and eagerly anticipating nightfall, when you can light the jack-o-lanterns and ready yourself for ghostly visitors, lovely princesses, and a whole host of other child-sized creatures. Yes, you can even fondly recall when you would spend a whole month planning your costume for this big night, when you traveled the streets with candy bag in tow, one eye on the haunted house across the street and another and your next stop, instead of offering sweets from the cozy warmth of your own home.

It is a magical time, when you are both who you are and you aren't; a glimmer of the creature you rarely let out in the daylight or the flash of inspiration you hope to carry into your daily life. You are playful and wild and more than a little devilish. You celebrate the here and now, the what might be, and the what was in a swirling confluence of energies, invoking the powers of the spirits among us.

And yet perhaps the most exciting part of Halloween, after the candles burn out in their hallowed out pumpkin shells, and the bowls of candy are empty, the last child having knocked at your door an hour ago, is that quiet hush broken only by the chill breeze and the rustle of leaves outside. You hear only the faint echo of the children's cheerful babble and the melodramatic music from your horror movies. You relish the whispers in the dark, the promise of deep dreams influenced by the festivities and thinning boundaries between worlds, the pregnant silence full of otherworldly possibility. This, this is Halloween.

On Summoning the Dead

October 30, 2014

Necromancy.

The dark art of summoning the dead. Why not use those hollowed-out shells of life to divine the future? Why not use them to piece together mysteries long-since passed? Those ephemeral corpses would serve her best if they earned each slammed door and floorboard creak or their right to their shallow home beneath the earth with the information only the dead could give. After all, necromancy is a craft that is strangely akin to the ancient practice of calling on your ancestors for strength.

...but there the similarities end, though she was too proud to admit it (the ghosts, however, knew the truth of it all too well). Your ancestors are of you, blood of your blood, with you always in your bones and dreams. They offer guidance and reassurance in times of need, hover over you in peace--on their own terms. Always on their own terms.

But the necromancer? She calls upon energies not her own, summons up demons to twist fate for her own purposes; conjuring ghosts to glean secrets she was not meant to know. She is a perversion of magic.

Balance must be restored. Slowly, one ghost at a time, this necromancer begins to give herself over to the world of the dead, to feed the souls she preys upon. Soon the world she once hoped to bend to her will is no longer hers, and the realm she exploits will devour her whole.

And so she might feel powerful now. She might win her small battles drawing on the shadows and forcing stories from freshly-awakened souls. She might even reach a parody of contentment in her life, happy under her illusion of control. But the dead are listening. The dead are always watching. And they will exact their price.

On Paranoia

October 29, 2014

People make people crazy. Or so someone once told you. Experience told you it was true.

Humans are fickle creatures--first, they want you then they don't--then they want you again. But not you, just the spark inside your chest. So tasty, that life. They can do all sorts of things with it, too, once they hold it in their hands.

They can fuel self-righteousness, for one (though that's an easy flame to keep going, hardly worth the added spark). They can twist what was once your joy and use it for something wicked, spiteful for the sheer pleasure of putting another in her place. They can conquer small kingdoms (even if that kingdom is just your heart)--and give you nothing in return, only the memory of something you once had. Something you took for granted.

It is so tempting to ignore the wolf in sheep's clothing standing next to you in the grocery store checkout line so that you can maintain the illusion of peace and security. Yet you are always willing to look for the shadow behind the man. That is how you keep yourself safe. At the end of the day, you have nothing to fear of bogey monsters and things from under your bed: it is humans you must watch out for. Tricky, tricky humans.

Witching Balls

October 27, 2014

I hang you above my doorstep and in the light of my windows, a perfect little orb of blown glass, glittering in the sun, reflecting bad energy back on itself. You chase away evil, your history suggests, luring in witches with your beauty and sucking them inside your smooth shell; they are trapped, like a bug come too close to a flame. They can harm no one.

That's one version of the story. The other is from the witches themselves--harmless enough, they insist, no more prone to darkness than any human, as if that would reassure us. Humans, after all, are culpable enough. This is the witches' story:

I keep you on my writing desk, ready to peer into your opaque gaze, searching for a glimpse of my future, a peek at another world. Divination, the true purpose of the witching ball.

But I wonder if the truth isn't somewhere in the middle, depending on the story, depending on the witch. Perhaps these glass orbs do deflect darkness; perhaps they trap it within them, containing the powerful magic of a wayward soul--and it is this soul, this magic, that reveals the images you so desperately search for on the surface of the misty glass ball. Perhaps a witch uses it on humans, to ward away their fear and superstition, to protect her home from those afraid of the unseen forces that guide our lives. Perhaps it is just a glass ball, like any other trinket or ornament--though I doubt it.

All I can say for sure is that when I see them stacked haphazardly in a dusty box or hanging on display windows in antique stores, now nothing more than used up superstitions, I can't help but wonder as I watch the dust float and drift over their surfaces, forming vague shapes. I can't help but think be careful: don't mishandle them, don't break the glass. Who knows what might come out of it.

I Put A Spell On You Cocktail

October 26, 2014

This cocktail is sister to my Green Fairy, another concoction whipped up to celebrate Halloween without the sugary additives and fake colorants used in most drink mixers. This drink has a lovely pale green color, much like its absinthe-infused sister. This title comes from the idea that all cocktails or liquors act as proverbial potions in one way or another: inspiring courage, brewing up love or acting as unconventional oracles of a sort. Thus, this drink was born.

I used apples this drink because they are long considered an integral part of Samhain, Halloween's pagan ancestor. Apples symbolize immortality and so, on the night where spirits can walk the earth, are a perfect offering to the powers that be. I also added ginger, a heating root, purported to ensure success when spell working; lime is added for its healing properties.

So what is this spell then? Let's think of it as a longevity-inducing-healing-good-vibe-making potion spiced up with whatever (benevolent) intentions you add as you blend the ingredients. At the very least you'll have a refreshing drink to enjoy with friends!

Ingredients:

1/2 green apple, juiced*

1/2 oz ginger, juiced*

1/2 lime, juiced

2 oz gin or vodka

ice

Muddle ginger and lime juice in a shaker, then add apple juice, vodka or gin, and ice. Shake thoroughly. Pour into chilled martini glass. Enjoy!

* I juice the apple by grating it and then putting the grated pieces in a cheesecloth and squeezing out the juice, much like I do to remove excess moisture from my shredded zucchini for my zucchini fritters. You can purchase ginger juice at your gourmet grocery store or simply shredded about 1/2 inch fo ginger and strain it through the cheesecloth like you do the apple.

Green Fairy Cocktail

October 25, 2014

Halloween is a great excuse to whip up a fun seasonal cocktail. Unfortunately, most of those drinks are saturated with super sugary neon hued gunk in the form of cheap schnapps and other liquors that have less to do with a quality cocktail and more to do with getting the right Halloween-y looking drink drowning in artificial syrups. Horrifying!

And yet this dilemma presented me with a perfect challenge: making festive cocktails that are made from quality ingredients. Personally, my tastes in cocktails run towards the classics--martinis, gimlets, old fashioneds--simple drinks with a few superb ingredients. Now all I needed was appropriately spooky or mercurial twists on these standards. So, my challenge began.

The result? This absinthe-based cocktail, for starters. Absinthe, once banned in America for the purported insanity-causing properties of wormwood (one of its chief ingredients), struck me as the perfect base for a Halloween-inspired cocktail. An insanity causing liquor with a shady history? The sipper of choice among artists and writers ever in search of that elusive muse? The green fairy that is said to emerge when this high-proof liquor is diluted with water and turns a cloudy green color? Sounds to me like the perfect foundation for an inspiration inducing potion that mimics the seductive playfulness of the Green Fairy herself.

I used Mephisto Absinthe, rich with not only anise but herbs like sage and cinnamon. These other herbs round out the licorices flavor so that it is not overly cloying. The use of gin contributes to the herbaceous note of this cocktail, and the lime juice adds a pop brightness. What you end up with is a faintly green glass of goodness--and maybe a little creative inspiration for that next project of yours.

Ingredients:

1/4 oz absinthe

2 oz gin

3/4 oz fresh lime juice

2-3 dashes grapefruit bitters (optional)

ice

In a shaker, combine ingredients and shake vigorously. Let sit for half a minute, long enough for the ice to melt and dilute potency of the absinthe. Pour into your cocktail glass and enjoy! Serves one, so double the recipe and see if you and your friend have any other green fairy sightings!