these days, time for my good friends who don't live down the street is pretty much limited to occasional facetimes and phone calls. and while those important times connecting verbally are great, there is no substitute for girl time. i love my husband, but he is just no substitute for my besties. 

but, i'm about to fill up girl time tank. i'm headed out of town this weekend to ojai with some of my best gals for some much needed recharging. so i'm going to keep this friyay happy hour short and sweet. and spicy. 

spicy citrus slinger
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 3 minutes
active time: 1 minute
total time: 4 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz vodka. 2 oz orange juice. 1 oz lime juice. 1 oz st. germain. .5 oz simple syrup. 6 jalapeno slices with minimal seeds. shaker. 1 cup ice. 

fill the shaker with all the liquid and add 4 of the jalapeno slices. shake well to combine. 

fill your serving glass with the remaining ice. pour the shaker contents over ice. 

garnish with the remaining jalapeno slices and serve. 

xo, a

spicy citrus slinger
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 3 minutes
active time: 1 minute
total time: 4 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz vodka. 2 oz orange juice. 1 oz lime juice. 1 oz st. germain. .5 oz simple syrup. 6 jalapeno slices with minimal seeds. shaker. 1 cup ice.
tart by filling your shaker with half the ice. fill the shaker with all the liquid and add 4 of the jalapeno slices. shake well to combine. fill your serving glass with the remaining ice. pour the shaker contents over ice. garnish with the remaining jalapeno slices and serve. 

today is the first day of autumn and it blows my mind how quickly the seasons change. just two weeks ago it was too hot in my apartment to turn on my oven and yesterday we had our first southern california rain. basically our socal equivalent to the first snow in cooler places. but the softer light and cooling temps (i actually had to put a sweatshirt on this week, gasp) have me embracing fall and all its flavors. and boots of course. 

i've had some sparkling apple cider in the fridge left over from a catering job that i've been dying to bust open. and no flavors say fall to me more than apples and cinnamon. and whiskey.

when i whipped up this easy to make cocktail, wes was very skeptical. and then he had me make another. so you know it is a winner. 

spiced whiskey cider
prep time: 1 minute
active time: 1 minute
total time: 2 minutes
ingredients: 5 oz sparkling apple cider. 2 oz irish whiskey (i used jameson). 1 oz lemon juice. 1 pinch cinnamon (about 1/8th tsp for those not comfortable with their pinch size). two sprigs rosemary. large ice cube or cup of ice. 

in a small glass, combine the cinnamon, jameson and lemon juice. 

stir well to combine. 

smash one of the rosemary sprigs between your palms to release the oils and place it in the bottom of your glass. fill the glass with your ice. 

pour the whiskey mixture over the ice and rosemary. 

pour in the apple cider to top off the glass. 

garnish with the second rosemary sprig and enjoy. 

xo, a 

spiced whiskey cider
prep time: 1 minute
active time: 1 minute
total time: 2 minutes
ingredients: 5 oz sparkling apple cider. 2 oz irish whiskey (i used jameson). 1 oz lemon juice. 1 pinch cinnamon (about 1/8th tsp for those not comfortable with their pinch size). two sprigs rosemary. large ice cube or cup of ice.
in a small glass, combine the cinnamon, jameson and lemon juice. stir well to combine. smash one of the rosemary sprigs between your palms to release the oils and place it in the bottom of your glass. fill the glass with your ice. pour the whiskey mixture over the ice and rosemary. pour in the apple cider to top off the glass. garnish with the second rosemary sprig and enjoy.