Michele's Hearth and Home: Wednesday's Post- Cocktail Hour

I've been trying to make more cocktails lately.

We tend to get into a rut and just have beer, or wine with dinner. Or, we have a shot and a beer after skiing...it does get routine and it's boring!

On Wednesday, I decided to make cocktails!

I found this great recipe for Bourbon Apple Cider.

We both like bourbon- we both like apple cider- how could this not be perfect?

I didn't have any oranges, but we have lots of clementines, or 'cuties'. We like that they are small, sweet and easy to peel, so I buy them as fruit for snacking quite often.

I cut one in half and juiced the heck out of it. I got quite a good puddle of juice! I also mixed 2 tablespoons of sugar with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon together to make the sugar rim for the drink. Next time, I'll add 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon to 2 tablespoons of sugar...the cinnamon was a little too much this time.

Also, just a note- when you dip the glass into the orange juice/clementine juice, make sure you let it all drip off of the glass before dipping in the sugar/cinnamon. Also, very carefully lower the glass into the sugar/cinnamon mixture- or you will get that fine crap all over everything! JUST like this...

Since I have lots of mason jars for canning hanging around the house, I decided to use them for these cocktails. Charming, no?

Anyhow, I also used a little more bourbon in the shaker than the recipe called for...3 ounces of bourbon to 4 ounces of Trader Joe's Spiced Cider. It's only at Trader Joe's in the fall and winter, so I usually buy a lot of it and keep it in the pantry. Yes, it's that good.

Shake, shake, shake, shake your booty...um, your cocktail shaker, and pour over ice. I didn't have any rosemary (and Kevin really hates rosemary) so I used lemon thyme as a garnish.