cookbook club: September

I am in this interesting stage of life living back at my parents' house, after college, for the first time since high school. Another thing that is like high school is that my best friends are all living back in St. Louis for the first time in 4 years! Who knows how long this will last, but I am savoring it. As a way to continue to make time for each other through this busy season of first jobs and boyfriends, we have decided to create a Cookbook Club. Our rules are that we each have to make recipes from the same cookbook (or at least that Chef's online recipes). We were each randomly assigned one of the four categories of a meal: Drinks, Appetizer, Main Dish, and Dessert. I was assigned DRINKS, so I decided to make an Apple Ginger Spritz. This first episode of Cookbook Club will be called...

...Cozy Plates!

Before we get to the "party" of the night, I'll tell you about the rest of the courses! The appetizer was a warm Street Corn Dip, leading into Butternut Squash Ravioli, and ending with a warm Apple Cinnamon Cobbler. But... throughout the night we drank my concoction!

The Insides:

1/4 cup honey

1 inch fresh grated ginger

6 chopped sage leaves

8 oz vodka

4 oz triple sec

1 1/2 cup apple cider

1 large, squeezed lemon

1/2 gallon sparkling water

1 t orange zest

The prep of this is pretty simple - just mix everything together in a pitcher and serve in your fanciest glasses to get the most enjoyment! The spritz added the perfect lightness to this filling, cozy meal.