Apple Cider Martini

What do you do when one of your favorite bloggers asks you to come to a cocktail party? Besides take a shower, change into a party dress and put some lip gloss on? You say, Hell to the YES I’ll come. But can I bring my Mom? Cause it’s her birthday and I don’t want her to feel left out.

Today is a special day for two reasons. First off, Barb from Creative Culinary is celebrating one year of weekly boozy recipes, aka, The Friday Cocktail. What’s not to love about that idea? And secondly, it’s my mama’s birthday. She’s 63 years young today. I can’t think of a more influential person in my life so a major shout out to my madre on her special day! Though I’ve never actually met Barb in person, we became fast friends via twitter as we bonded over happy hour recipes and home cured bacon. I just know we’d be great friends in real life. Or at the very least we’d make great drinking buddies who like to dine on swine.
Initially I thought I would make an appetizer to share today. One that would pair with this Mexican Coffee or perhaps this gin cocktail made with with lemon and rosemary. Both on the lengthy list of Barb’s tasty concoctions. But in the end, I decided on making my own cocktail. I just couldn’t get the idea of an apple cider martini out of my head. And when I have a really good idea, it usually plagues my noggin until I do something about it. So alas, I present you the apple cider martini.

The choice to make a cocktail was a good one because it gave me the excuse to have a drink in the afternoon. It’s not often that I do it and truth be told, I’m not even a big drinker anymore, but there’s something about having a cocktail in the afternoon that I just love. I suppose it’s because I feel like I’m doing something naughty and I’ve always loved doing what I”m not supposed to. PLUS, I thought I could invite my mom over for a pre birthday celebratory cocktail yesterday afternoon. But it was only noon so she politely declined. Whatever! It just meant more for me!!

This cocktail could easily be renamed “Fall in a Glass.” Apple cider, cinnamon simple syrup and just a touch of lemon are combined with Applejack, an apple brandy but still in the whiskey/bourbon family. It’s perfect for this time of year. The key to this cocktail is the cinnamon simple syrup. If not for any other reason than the way it will make your house smell like comfort. If you can find unfiltered apple cider, please use it. It has so much more depth than regular apple juice. I drank my martini(s) cold but I’m sure this would be awesome slightly warm. Perfect for curling up beside the fire. I had so much fun creating a drink recipe that I have a feeling you’ll be seeing more of them in the next few months. So cheers to Barb and the birthday of the Friday Cocktail. And lastly, a happy birthday to the original mountain mama. My daily confidant and sometimes drinking partner, I love you!

Hope you all have a great, GREAT weekend!!

Bottoms up!