Witches’ Brew Cocktail

Happy Halloween!

As is my tradition, I love to make a fun Halloween or fall themed cocktail to enjoy while the trick or treaters visit.  Many of these types of cocktails use cider, which is hard to find in Florida, so this one intrigued me with both its simplicity and the readily available ingredients.  It can also be made non alcoholic for the kiddos by using sparkling water instead of wine.

In a clear glass, add 1 cup orange soda and 3/4 cup white wine (I used Sauvignon Blanc).  Add 1 scoop vanilla ice cream.  The carbonation in the soda will cause the addition of the ice cream to foam like a witches’ brew.

Simple, but delicious and perfectly themed for Halloween night.

Busy Days

Our sleepy, quiet summer is over and the Florida season of snow birds returning and visitors planning trips has begun.  It’s a fun time of the year, but there will be busy days ahead.  We are still waiting for the weather to cool off a bit, but my pool should be done shortly and there will be lots of swimming and sunning in my immediate future, so warmer temperatures are just fine for a bit longer.

My social, as well as volunteer calendar is filling up my weeks, but if I didn’t like it like that, I wouldn’t let it happen. That’s the beauty of retirement.

Just this past week, I went to happy hour on the beach (wine and sushi) one night and had some returning snowbirds (all neighbors) over for cosmos another night.  In between, I worked with my volunteer landscaping group one morning and also tried to keep on top of some HOA involvement I have signed up for.

Finally, I did something many of you fellow bloggers have done, but I have not.  I met one of my readers who was visiting Venice in hopes of building a home here.  Kathleen is from the Chicago area and noticed we had a lot in common with our Midwestern roots.  In a coincidence, she is looking at using the same builder.  I feel like more of this could happen in the future, since Florida is a travel destination for many.

Happy Monday!

Fall Reading List

It’s still fall, right?  Once again a little behind on things, but these book posts are my favorite to write and I think you like them too, so we will just pretend that it’s not approaching the end of October.

Currently, I am reading all of the Vera Stanhope mysteries by Ann Cleeves, also the author of the Shetland series.  I read the first one some time ago and didn’t really like it or the main character.  But, I decided to give the series another try and my mind was changed.  Should I give the television series a try as well and is Vera portrayed as written?

I’m also going to finally read Where The Crawdads Sing for my book club and am looking forward to seeing if it lives up to the hype.  I’ve heard it’s either the best book ever or unreadable, so I’ll report back.

My fall list has both new to me authors and some old favorites.  There is a legal thriller which is a genre that was popular for awhile, but you don’t come across as often these days.  The Nevada Barr and JoJo Moyes novels both seem to be a departure from their usual style and setting, so I hope they do not disappoint.  The Kristin Hannah novel is an older one, but I recently read a glowing review and realized I had not previously read it.

Happy Reading!