Full moon tomorrow – Beaver Moon - so called because, in years past, November is the time to set traps to ensure  plenty of cozy beaver pelts for the coming winter. 

I’ve enjoyed being a tourist in my own back yard whilst staying at Mum’s summer house. Even though I’ve been visiting Tiverton throughout my entire life, I’ve not explored some of the area for so long I have no recollection of ever being there. Case in point, Sandy Cove.

​We stopped on the way to the ferry to fill time since we were ten minutes late for the 1:30 ferry and fifty minutes early for the 2:30 ferry. Oh, the joys of living on an island. We spent about 20 minutes walking the beach. Hubby took photos, and I searched for and found sea glass. 

After driving down to the cove, wandering around, and retracing our steps to the highway, I had to drive somewhat - ah -  briskly to make the ferry, hehe. Oh, the joys of island living.

Have you played tourist in your hometown?
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Cheers!

​We finally have autumn weather, even a few frost warnings in the area. I say finally because this is my favourite season. I love the cooler temperatures during the day and the down right chilly temperatures at night, necessitating an extra blanket on the bed. We always sleep with a window open regardless of the weather. I sleep better in a cool room.
 
I wish I had a photo of the autumn colours to share but the weather has been so weird, not enough cold nights, that the leaves have barely begun to turn.
 
Yesterday was National Homemade Cookie Day! I love baking cookies. Taking all the disparate ingredients and melding them into a bowl of goop…

​that will become individual three-bite (or in Hubby’s case two-bite) rounds of delicious fun.

​       The combination of ingredients is limited only by your imagination – and common sense. I don’t think anchovies would work in a cookie. But I have no doubt an experimental pastry chef somewhere in the world has tried. Perhaps in a savoury cookie, i.e. a cracker.
 
We’re quickly approaching major cookie season with all the holidays and celebrations coming up. I’ll be making pumpkin cookies for both Thanksgiving (October 9th here in Canada) and Hallowe’en. And a veritable mountain of buttery sweet cookies dusted in red and green sugar for Christmas. I can’t wait to start baking!
 
What’s your favourite cookie to bake and/or eat?
 
Cheers!

As I mentioned last week, I’m in full-on pumpkin spice flavoured foods mode. I baked these pumpkin cookies and took them to our friend’s house for our weekend stay. They were a definite hit. And boy, were they a nice treat during our deconstruction/demolition project.

The recipe calls for only one cup of canned pumpkin puree so, hm…What to do with the remaining pumpkin? Well, I’m giving this recipe a try.

Pumpkin Roll Bars

Janet made them and passed along the recipe so I know they’ll be tasty. I’ll let you know what Hubby and I think.

                                                                 ​The mainland as seen from the lighthouse at Boar’s Head.

Do you have a favourite pumpkin recipe, either sweet or savoury?

​Cheers!

Lest you think I limit my alcohol consumption to wine, I’m hear to talk about two of my most favourite simple cocktails. And by simple I mean a shot of booze and a splash of mixer. No garnish, no ice. That’s how I roll.

My summer cocktail of choice is good old gin & tonic. If I happen to have a lime in the fridge, one that hasn’t withered and died, I’ll pop a wedge in my glass. But I don’t consider it necessary. A good quality tonic water (I use Schweppes) has just enough flavour to complement the gin. My gin of choice these days is made by a local distillery (no, not the one behind the wood shed!).

                                                                                                                                    IronWorks

Can you see how much I’ve been enjoying it?

When the days get colder I switch to rye & ginger. My preferred ginger ale is Canada Dry, of course. I don’t have a preferred rye whisky – yet. I’ll be doing extensive research in the coming months.

Oh, and I’ll be giving this cocktail a try – Apple Butter Old Fashioned. It screams autumn! I can picture me sitting next to a campfire, bundled in a wooly sweater, sipping on this warming cocktail.
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Do you have a favourite drink, alcoholic or non-, of the season?