i took a few days off from EVERYTHING this week to go visit my brother in vancouver, bc. he has been living there for closing in on two years and wes and i were FINALLY able to take some time off to go see him. and man oh man, what a city. 

obviously, seeing my brother and his life there was the highlight of the trip, but vancouver has A LOT to offer. the city nestled up against the mountains and the water is physically stunning. but more than that, the people were so kind, friendly and helpful. and the FOOD. THE FOOD!!!!

we had some seriously beautiful meals in vancouver. top five meals of all time kind of meals. there were many great restaurants and dishes, but none more inspiring than our dinner the last night at kissa tanto. i am a sucker for a fusion restaurant because i'm greedy. but a place that combines my two favorites, japanese and italian? now that is just a set up for heaven. and heaven it was. 

i'm back, i'm inspired, and i'm cooking all weekend long. we are catering for my good friend lish this weekend and i'll be using that stockpile of food inspiration i accumulated over the trip. and today's cocktail is no exception. 

the best food, has the best ingredients. so for happy hour i'm using the freshest things i've got. some beautiful golden pears and thyme picked fresh from my garden make a clean, herbaceous drink that goes down dangerously easy. be prepared, you will likely want a second. 

pear + thyme fall classic
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 2 minutes
active time: 1 minute
total time: 3 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz gin (or vodka if you prefer). 1 oz triple sec. 2 tbs diced ripe pear. 5 oz lemon soda. 3 sprigs thyme. shaker. 2 cups ice. 

start by filling your shaker with ice. reserve one sprig of thyme and pull the leaves from the other two. smash the leaves between your hands to release the oils. 

place the thyme leaves, gin, triple sec and pears in the shaker. shake well to combine. 30 seconds.

fill your serving glass with ice and your remaining sprig of thyme. pour in the contents of your shaker. 

fill the glass with the lemon soda. 

give it a stir and serve.

xo,a

pear + thyme fall classic
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 2 minutes
active time: 1 minute
total time: 3 minutes
ngredients: 2 oz gin (or vodka if you prefer). 1 oz triple sec. 2 tbs diced ripe pear. 5 oz lemon soda. 3 sprigs thyme. shaker. 2 cups ice. start by filling your shaker with ice. reserve one sprig of thyme and pull the leaves from the other two. smash the leaves between your hands to release the oils. place the thyme leaves, gin, triple sec and pears in the shaker. shake well to combine. 30 seconds. fill your serving glass with ice and your remaining sprig of thyme. pour in the contents of your shaker. fill the glass with the lemon soda. give it a stir and serve. 

i am pouring my drink extra tall and extra stiff today my friends. what a crazy day. 

this week was pretty much planned downed to the second due to a full week of teaching at two different studios, three different pools and my new class at volcom. to cap it off, i had seven cakes on order for the weekend. starting off strong with three on friday. 

last night, i was up into the wee hours of the morning getting lemon, chocolate and carrot cakes baked off to fill todays orders. i woke up around seven-thirty this morning to get all my frosting, decor and chilling done before my cakes were off for a three pm pick up and a seven-thirty pm drop off. or so i thought. 

until i got THE call. i was enjoying my morning coffee, setting up my cake, station when an unknown number called. i had a gut feeling to answer even though i usually let unknown calls (they are way to commonly solicitors) go to voicemail. it was my seven-thirty client. calling to ask me where i was. because the delivery was actually for seven-thirty in the MORNING. as in, about forty minutes ago. 

luckily, she was amazingly understanding and we chuckled at the miscommunication. i was able to bust the cake out and get it to her by their lunchtime celebration, but it sent my whole day into a downward spiral of rushing, stress and flying frosting. 

but i made it to the finish line. and so did you. so let's celebrate with a drink that tastes good, requires little effort and will get you buzzed. we earned it. 

blackberry gin rickey
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 1 minute
active time: 2 minutes
total time: 3 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz gin. 6 oz club soda. 1 juicy lime, halved. 1 tsp sugar. 5 blackberries. strainer. 1 cup ice.

start by cutting one half of your lime into 4 wedges. with the remaining half, slice off a wheel for garnish and reserve. place your ice in a tall glass. pour in the gin and squeeze the limes into the glass. 

place your blackberries and sugar in the strainer and use your fingers, a spoon or a muddler to smash the blackberries. throw in two of the lime wedges. place your strainer over the glass.

press the blackberry juice through the strainer till all the liquid has stained through. 

top the drink off with club soda. 

garnish with the lime wheel and serve. 

xo, a

blackberry gin rickey
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 1 minute
active time: 2 minutes
total time: 3 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz gin. 6 oz club soda. 1 juicy lime, halved. 1 tsp sugar. 5 blackberries. strainer. 1 cup ice.
start by cutting one half of your lime into 4 wedges. with the remaining half, slice off a wheel for garnish and reserve. place your ice in a tall glass. pour in the gin and squeeze the limes into the glass. throw in two of the lime wedges. place your strainer over the glass. place your blackberries and sugar in the strainer and use your fingers, a spoon or a muddler to smash the blackberries. press the blackberry juice through the strainer till all the liquid has stained through. top the drink off with club soda. garnish with the lime wheel and serve.