Eat, sleep and drink music.
Arturo Sandoval
Fall music is my favourite. It is haunting and sad. It evokes memories, represents endings, and whispers regrets and could have beens.
Wow. When I put it like that, fall music sounds awful!
But it isn’t! I love putting in my earbuds and feeling the last of summer’s sun warm me up as the leaves crackle beneath my feet and the cool wind blows through my hair. I love listening to the sad lyrics wash over me as I raise my face up to those last rays of sunshine and smell the musk of damp leaves and overripe fruit. My fall playlist is all over the place! I have songs on there that were released the same year I was born and some that are brand new. I have upbeat, in your face songs and melancholy tunes reminding me of my losses and my strength of resolve. There is folk, rock, pop and jazz. There are Canadians, Australians and Scottish artists as well as female artists and men. Elderly singers, some of whom we have sadly lost and new artists at the beginning of their careers. It’s an eclectic list that gives me all the feels! It was hard to narrow my Fall Spotify Playlist down but here are my TOP 20 songs for Autumn 2023!
- Rivers and Roads * The Head and the Heart
- The Wild Hunt * The Tallest Man on Earth
- The Alcott * The National with Taylor Swift
- Used to be Young * Miley Cyrus
- Achilles Come Down * Gang of Youths
- Stick Season * Noah Kahan
- Wrecked * Imagine Dragons
- Start Again * Leila Neverland’s Mountain Sound
- Teenage Tears * Arkells & Tegan and Sara
- All American Bitch * Olivia Rodrego
- Haven’t Been Doing So Well * Frank Turner
- Let Me Go Around Again * Swamp Dogg, John Prine
- Falling * Florence + The Machine
- Magic Man * Heart
- Fire Away * Chris Stapleton
- Witchcraft * Frank Sinatra
- My Body Is a Zombie for You * Dead Man’s Bones
- The Sounds of Silence * Simon & Garfunkel
- Let it Breathe * Water Liars
- You Don’t Think You Like People Like Me * Alex Lahey
Check out How Was Your Week, Honey? Episode #350: Double Beep HERE! We get together after a date day out. Topics: stocking supplies, rivalries, Thanksgiving, firsts, upcoming infusion, Handicap parking, grocery shopping, hot songs, & UK album day.
Every week Ninja makes us cocktails for our date night AKA podcasting night! He was a bartender back in the day and still loves to make new cocktails. The things we like to do while making cocktails is,
1. Pick seasonal flavours
2. Make a few different flavoured simple syrups to use for multiple drinks (no waste)
We used 3 different simple syrups for these 9 drinks.
1. Sage Simple Syrup
3-4 fresh sage sprigs
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
In a small saucepan, combine sage, water and sugar. Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil. Frequently stir to help dissolve sugar. Once the mixture simmers and the sugar dissolves, turn off heat, allow the sage to steep for at least 30 minutes and strain. Chill and store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for several weeks.
2. Fig Simple Syrup
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
4 dried figs, cut in half
In a small saucepan, combine cut dried figs, water and sugar. Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil. Frequently stir to help dissolve sugar. Once the mixture simmers and the sugar dissolves, turn off heat, allow the figs to steep for at least 30 minutes and strain. Chill and store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for several weeks.
3. Pumpkin Pie Spice Simple Syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Heat the sugar, water, pumpkin puree and pie spice in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk constantly until the sugar dissolves and let the mixture come to a simmer. Remove it from the heat and let it cool slightly, then add the vanilla. Strain it through a fine mesh strainer so you’re left with a syrup consistency. Chill and store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for several weeks.
Each of these recipes was delicious and unique even though they all use similar ingredients. Ninja has spent years building up his collection of liqueurs to add to cocktails but we think that simple syrup is an inexpensive way to take a cocktail to the next level. Each of these recipes use seasonal flavours that we love like pumpkin spice, fig, hazelnut, orange, and sage. Each recipe is for 2 drinks. Enjoy!
Boozy Pumpkin Spiced Latte
4 oz vanilla vodka
6 oz hot brewed espresso or coffee
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 oz of milk
2 oz pumpkin pie simple syrup (above)
whipped cream
pumpkin pie spice
Add vodka, milk, pumpkin pie simple syrup, vanilla and the coffee to mugs. Mix well and top with whipped cream and pumpkin pie spice.
Spiced Fall Mule
4 oz bourbon
2 oz lime juice
2 oz pumpkin pie simple syrup (above)
10-12 oz ginger beer
rosemary sprig
Pour bourbon, lime juice, pumpkin pie simple syrup over ice in mule mugs. Top with ginger beer and garnish with rosemary sprig.
Boozy Pumpkin White Hot Chocolate
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
2 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 oz Kahlua
whipped cream and caramel
In a saucepan over low-medium heat, melt the chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of the milk, whisking often. Once melted, add the rest of the milk, the pumpkin and the pumpkin pie spice and stir vigorously to incorporate.
Pour a small amount of the hot chocolate into serving glasses, add Kahlua. Top off with rest of the hot chocolate, stir and then top with whipped cream, caramel sauce and more pumpkin pie spice.
Pumpkin Pie Smash Cocktail
crushed ice
2 oz pumpkin pie simple syrup (above)
4 dashes angostura cocktail bitters
4 oz bourbon
cinnamon stick for garnish
Fill glass with crushed ice and add the pumpkin pie simple syrup and bitters over top. Pour in the bourbon and garnish with a cinnamon stick.
Sage & Fig Cocktail
4 figs, halved
2 oz sage simple syrup
4 oz rum
2 oz Grand Marnier
1 oz lemon juice
ice
club soda, for topping
Muddle the figs in a cocktail shaker with the sage simple syrup until they mostly break down. Add rum, Grand Marnier, lemon juice and ice to the cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Strain into ice-filled glasses and top with club soda.
Fall Margarita
4 oz tequila
2 oz lime juice
1 oz Cointreau or triple sec
1 oz sage simple syrup (above)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 oz lime juice
Shake over ice and pour into glasses rimmed with 1 teaspoon of lime juice and a mixture of sugar and salt.
Chocolate Hazelnut Cream Martini
2 oz. Vodka
2 oz. Creme De Cocoa Liqueur
2 oz. Frangelico
1 oz. Rumchata
1.5 cup Crushed Ice
Chocolate shavings
Add crushed ice to a cocktail shaker. Add all ingredients into the shaker with ice. Shaker continuously for 1 minute. Serve topped with shaved chocolate.
Fig Dark and Stormy
1 oz fig simple syrup (above)
4 oz dark rum
juice of 1 lemon
6 oz ginger beer
figs and rosemary, for serving
In a cocktail shaker, combine the fig simple syrup, rum, and lemon juice. Shake to combine.
Strain into a glass filled with ice. Top off with ginger beer and garnish with dried figs and rosemary.
Spiced Orange Spritzer
1 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest, grated
1 pinch allspice
1 pinch nutmeg, grated
1 teaspoon honey
3 to 6 oz prosecco
4 oz orange seltzer
Orange wedges for garnish
Fill 2 glasses with ice. In a measuring cup or bowl, whisk together the orange juice, zest, allspice, nutmeg and honey.
Divide the mixture evenly over the ice in the glasses. Top each glass with the prosecco and then the seltzer. Garnish with an orange wedge.
This week I felt like I was sputtering to the gas station on E. I spent a lot of time in bed watching The Oilers lose and Bedard shine. I managed to make it out to The White Spot for my monthly coffee date with my MMBesty, got my Covid booster, my flu shot and went grocery shopping (barely). Ninja and I had purchased a tour of a West Kelowna winery, Grizzli Winery, months ago and it got postponed due to visitors, the fires and then the rock slide. This was the last week we could use the tickets so we went! It was a nice day tasting wine, then we went to Slackwater for lunch and a flight and ended the weekend at Tin Whistle painting albums covers for Beer Week!
