The greatest escape.

Play.  Usually I begin with what I'm eating, as it is what I'm thinking the most about.  But today, we'll start with some playing.

This past week the boy and I fled the horns and hustle of Brooklyn life by winding our way to my summer home in the Catskills.  This place is special to me, not only because it is absolutely stunning, but because I've spent many a youthful summer there, and my mother spent many a youthful summer there, and her father as well.  There is something to be said for sharing a place through generations.  It doesn't hurt that my house is lakeside and has an awesome porch.  At this time of year the view is especially beautiful - plucky pinks and shrill yellows dot the horizon, and the forest floor is a patchwork of fallen leaves.

How refreshing to duck out of the city for a few days!  To be able to take an afternoon walk and not see a soul.  To frolick and dance and deeply breathe in clean air.  And exhale.  Rejuvinating.

Tempus fugit!  So don't hesitate.

So I suggest to you all to get outside and see some autumnal foliage.  I'd invite you to my summer home, but the electricity, water and gas has all been shut down for winter.  Another season gone. 

Glass. While in the woods, cocktail hour happens whenever we're thirsty.  After some brisk afternoon adventuring, a classic cocktail is a welcome treat.  Something to get our insides heated and our palates perked up for the coming meal.

The martini was our summer drink of choice.  Clean, simple, and light it was particularly delicious in the heat of the season.  Now that the weather is changing, the boy has been playing around with variations on the traditional and landed on a delightful concoction using Gran Classico Bitter, an herbal apertif from Switzerland.  Although delicious simply straight up or on ice, Gran Classico makes for an exciting cocktail of its own. 

 


The Classique

2 oz gin (I prefer Hendrick's)
1/2 oz Dolin Vermouth Blanc
1/2 oz Gran Classico
dash of orange bitters
lemon twist


Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add the first four ingredients.  Stir until properly cold.  Strain and pour into your chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with the lemon twist.  Sip.  

Fork.  What better for dinner on a blustery October day than a hearty soup made of autumnal vegetables?  We threw together lots of garlic, onion, butternut squash, carrots and plenty of thyme, parsley and sage in a big cast iron pot.  Add chicken stock, farro, and whatever else you'd like (we threw in leftover roast chicken), and cook until tender.  Drizzled with homemade pesto and served with olive bread, it warmed our bellies and our hearts.  Awww.  A truly great escape.