(Image courtesy Flavours of Spain)

Tomorrow I leave for Spain and Morocco for vacation. I plan on eating a lot of ham. Unfortunately, I won’t be blogging while in Europe, which means that this is the last entry for October. Blogging will resume on November 1st.

Hope you have a great Halloween. Have a cocktail for me. (Deadly Nightshade and Blood Orange Margaritas are both good choices.)

Olé!

Drink of the Week and I came up with a new cocktail to celebrate my favorite season, autumn!

The Harvest Highball uses apple cider, ginger liqueur, rye whiskey, and just a touch of cinnamon. It is a crisp, dry cocktail with an apple-y overtone and a ginger kick. The cinnamon and apple mixed just enough to make me think of fresh baked apple pie.

We used our own homemade apple cider, but you can use can use the apple cider from the store if you prefer.

Harvest Highball

Ingredients:

1 1/2 oz rye whiskey
1 oz ginger liqueur
Apple cider
Cinnamon to garnish
Ice

Directions:

In a cocktail shaker, shake the rye and ginger liqueur together. Pour over ice into a glass. Fill the glass with apple cider and sprinkle fresh cinnamon on top. Voila!

The other day I was determined to make something from the refrigerator, even though I was low on food. I wanted something light and easy, and I didn’t want to go to the store.

I was just about to give up when it hit me: carrot salad. I had never tried making one before, so I decided to experiment. Using only ingredients on hand, I came up with this pretty awesome little salad. It surprised me in how satisfying and energizing it was. All and all, a pretty tasty lunch.

Here’s the recipe:

Carrot Salad

Ingredients:

1 large carrot
2 Tbs creme fraiche (you could also use sour cream)
2 Tbs chopped parsley
2 Tbs. pine nuts
1/3 c dried cranberries (or raisins)
1/2 tsp cumin
Pinch of salt

Directions:

Cut the end off the carrot. With a vegetable peeler, peel the carrot. (I set aside the end and skin for vegetable broth.) Then shave the carrot into thin bite-sized pieces.

Transfer the carrots to a bowl. Add the cranberries, pine nuts, and chopped parsley. Mix together with the creme fraiche, cumin, and a pinch of salt. Enjoy!

(Image courtesy BuzzFeed)

I should have put this up yesterday, but: October 11 was Savvy Housekeeping’s two year anniversary. Hurrah!

During that time, the blog has been featured in places like Sunset Magazine, Serious Eats, Lifehacker, Liqurious, and Craft. Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts in the comments.

I wish I could celebrate with a Pac Man cupcake…

(Image courtesy Java Queen)

I am into pumpkin spice lattes right now. I decided to try to make them at home, but I didn’t know how. The Internet comes to the rescue, yet again!

The below recipe comes from The Kitchn and looks pretty promising. The only changes I would make is to use nonfat milk and cut the sugar down to 1 tablespoon, since I don’t like coffee drinks to be too sweet. Also, I would top it with whip cream, of course.

Here’s the recipe from The Kitchn:

Pumpkin Spice Latte

Ingredients:

2 c milk
2 Tbs canned pumpkin OR 1 tsp of Pumpkin Spice Syrup
2 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1-2 shots espresso (about 1/4 cup of espresso or 1/2 cup of strong brewed coffee if you don’t have an espresso machine.)

Directions:

In a saucepan combine milk, pumpkin and sugar and cook on medium heat, stirring, until steaming. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and spice … [and] whisk the mixture really well with a wire whisk.

Pour into a large mug or two mugs. Add the espresso on top.

The other day I was telling someone that I thought making your own Halloween costumes brings out creativity. Here’s a perfect example from Filth Wizardry: a Star Wars Storm Trooper Helmet made from two milk jugs.

Here it is before the paint:

I know some Star Wars geeks who would love this. Too bad this will only work for kids. (Via Craft)

Check it out, a Suitcase Chair. South African designer Katie Thompson took an old suitcase and made it into a very nice looking chair.

Great idea. The resulting chair looks comfortable, too. (Via Notcot)

(Image courtesy Posie Gets Cozy)

I am not talking about rotten or inedible fruit. I’m talking about fruit that is past its prime or has a few bad spots. Fruit you wouldn’t want to pick up and eat, but still has some life in it.

Lots of people throw fruit out at this stage, but that’s a mistake (and a waste of money) because fruit is extremely useful. In fact, I have collected 10 things that you can do with overripe fruit. Ready? Here it goes:

10 Things To Do With Overripe Fruit:

1. Bake it. Most fruit works great in quick breads or muffins. One of the many things I do with my yearly abundance of strawberries is make strawberry muffins. Or you can always bake fruit in scones.

2. Make syrup. In my post about making your own Italian soda, I talk about how to reduce fruit into syrup. You can then use that syrup in a ton of ways, from the aforementioned sodas to cocktails to desserts. If you add a little vodka in the bottle, the syrup will last for months.

(A bottle of strawberry syrup)

3. Make Jam. Jam is a classic method of preserving fruit, and useful to have around.

4. Put it in sangria. In my post about Sangria I point out that it is a frugal cocktail precisely because it takes oldish fruit and puts it to good use.

5. Make Popsicles. With popsicles, you can get very fancy with elaborate molds and layering or you can get very simple by putting pureed fruit in ice cube trays and sticking in a toothpick for a handle. Either way, a great treat.

6. Turn it into juice. Another no-brainer. I haven’t had to buy lemonade for years since I started making my own from the lemons from my bushes.

7. Make smoothies. I haven’t tried this, but lots of people swear by making their own smoothies. All you need is fruit, yogurt, and a blender.

8. Put it in an entrée. Pears and pork chops. Fish with peach salsa. Duck with plum sauce. And so on.

9. Put it in breakfast. Make your own crepes and fill it with fruit. Or mash the fruit up and put it pancake batter. Or mix it with yogurt and granola.

10. Cobbler. An easy dessert to make, and you know what? I think cobbler works a little better with overripe fruit than just regularly ripe fruit.

I need to stop, but I bet I can think of 10 more. Maybe this list will have a sequel sometime soon.

Right on schedule, I am making fall food. In addition to real macaroni and cheese, yesterday I spent way too long making a butternut squash soup from a recipe by Thomas Keller, which turned out amazing.

You know, soup is a great thing. It’s one of those things that, once you start making it, you can end up wondering why people bother buying the canned stuff. Because homemade soup is easy, nutritious, delicious, and efficient. If you make a big batch of it, you can freeze it in batches and pulled out of the freezer whenever you want a quick lunch.

Here’s some soup to make:

Spicy Carrot Peanut Soup

Zucchini Garlic Soup by The Kitchn. I made this one, and it was very good.

Mushroom Cauliflower Soup

This Pureed Red Pepper and Potato Soup by the New York Times looks amazing.

And finally, Minestrone Soup from always reliable Martha Stewart.

Actually, Minestrone is my favorite soup (along with French onion), but I haven’t found the right recipe yet. Maybe I’ll give this one a whirl.

What’s your favorite soup?

Happy Monday! I have to say, this is very cute. A watering can shaped like a log. It holds 40 oz of water and is made of recycled plastic. $18 from Sprout Home.