{friday cocktail: the fog cutter}

Well temperatures hit less than 40 degrees on more than few days this week in Chicago and that just doesn't really work for me. At all.  So we tried to drink the weather away with a tropical tiki cocktail recipe complete with pink paper umbrella garnish.  The high temperature this weekend is going to be in the 50s so I think it worked...

Most tiki cocktails are pretty sweet, but this one is a big exception to that.  It still delivers on tiki flavor from the orgeat syrup (famously used in a Mai Tai) and the mixture of brandy/rum, but it doesn't give you a sugar headache after.  

Cheers!

{pumpkin ravioli with crispy sage & brussel sprouts}

I have owned up to it in the past, but Chris definitely handles waaaay more of the cooking around here than I do (but I do think I am valuable support staff!).  When I'm left on my own for dinner, I generally opt for some sort of ready made meal like Trader Joe's salads or sandwiches- which is fine, but let's be honest it just not that exciting.

I decided to try out elevating a some pre-made Trader Joes pumpkin ravioli and brussel sprouts with a few simple cooking steps (something even I could handle).  In addition to the pack of pumpkin ravioli and brussel sprouts, I picked up a pack of fresh sage and saved some of the pepitas from these arrangements.  Rather than boring ravioli and steamed veggies, I created pan-fried pumpkin ravioli topped with crispy sage and roasted pepitas alongside pan-fried brussel sprouts (full explanation at the bottom of the post).

This dish serves two, but could easily be doubled or tripled to use for a dinner party which means you have no excuse to not host a few friends over this holiday season!

what you need:

• 1 pack pumpkin ravioli
• 1 pack par-boiled and seasoned brussel sprouts
• fresh sage leaves
• roasted pepitas
• butter
• vegetable oil

1. Pull off about two to three sage leaves per person and quickly fry in oil following these directions. Set aside on paper towel to drain excess oil. 
2. Boil water in medium saucepan and cook ravioli for about 6 minutes. Strain and set aside. 
3. While ravioli water is boiling, place a healthy tablespoon of butter into a pan on medium-high heat. Toss in brussel sprouts until they get slightly browned on each side- about 8 minutes. Set aside. 
4. In a separate pan, place another tablespoon of butter of medium-high heat. Gently toss in pasta until slightly crispy on edges- about 2 minutes. 
5. Place pasta and brussel sprouts alongside each other on plate.  Garnish with crispy sage and roasted pepitas.
6. Never eat a boring salad for dinner again.  

{autumn color palette & tablescape}

To go along with the floral arrangement I posted about yesterday, I created this table-scape inspired by a deeper autumn color palette.  I started with a kraft paper runner (the same roll from our wedding is still going strong!) layered with another smaller wrapping paper printed with a modern black trellis design.  The table decor was simply the three floral arrangements which brought in the autumn color palette of oranges, oxbloods, and greens.

It is pretty rare that I don't use our gold chargers in place settings (I really need to invest in one more set of chargers, but I just love the gold ones so much that it's hard to break away).  I then layered each setting with a mix of our white dinner plates and black salad plates.  While my general policy is to buy everything in white so that it all works together no matter what, I found a set of these dark glossy black salad plates at a thrift store a while back and figured they wouldn't hurt to have around especially for Halloween!  I rounded everything out with gold flatware and a simple black/ white striped napkin plus a pop of color from the vintage green glass water cups.

And get the look for yourself (bonus points since almost all of these things are from Target!!):

kraft paper roll  |  gold candlesticks  |  floral arrangement DIY  |  gold votive set  |  graphic print napkins  |  gold prism charger  |  brass tray  |  green glass water tumbler  |  gold serving set  

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Target via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Target.