Pumpkin Ale Float

This delicious concoction transforms a classic dessert favorite into an adult style fall treat with a pumpkin twist!

Ingredients (makes 1 float)

• 3 scoops vanilla ice cream
• 1 cup pumpkin ale
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Scoop the ice cream into a tall glass. Pour the pumpkin ale over the ice cream and top with a dash of cinnamon.

Enjoy this sweet treat before pumpkin season ends!

Grab a spoon and dig in!

Candy Corn Fruit Skewers

In this simple, yet super fun recipe fresh pineapple, mandarin oranges and mini marshmallows are skewered to resemble the fun fall treat, Candy Corn!

Serve them with a delicious fruit dip at a Halloween party or fall get-together!

Ingredients

• 1 cup mini marshmallows
• 1/2 pineapple (cubed)
• 1 can (11 oz) mandarin oranges
• 1 cup vanilla yogurt
• 1 tbsp honey

Skewer the pineapple, oranges and marshmallows.  Mix the yogurt and honey together in a small bowl for dipping.

A healthy alternative to all the candy and cookies that the fall holidays bring!

♣ Vegetarian Option: This recipe is vegetarian.

♦ Gluten Free Option: This recipe is gluten-free.

♥ All pottery seen on the littleleopardbook can be purchased by visiting www.longaberger.com/muffetbond or e-mailing keepsakebl@sbcglobal.net.

Apple Cider Champagne Punch

We’re going to call this two-for-tuesday, two posts for the sake of two delicious fall cocktails!

In this new fall favorite rich apple cider is paired with sparkling champagne, vodka, maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg, I like to call it the Fall-Mimosa!

Ingredients

• ½ apple cider
• 1 shot vodka
• Dash cinnamon
• Dash nutmeg
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• ½ cup champagne

Combine the cider, vodka, cinnamon, nutmeg and maple syrup in a shaker with ice.  Shake well and pour into champagne glass.  Top with champagne and garnish with skewered apple pieces or cinnamon sticks.

Pumpkin Spice Latte Martini

If you’re like me, one of your favorite parts of Fall is all the pumpkin goodness that starts popping up around this time of year, including the ever-so-popular Pumpkin Spice Latte.

In this martini I combine Pumpkin Pie Vodka with Coffee Liquor for a martini that is sure to give you that boost you love from a latte with a little kick from the vodka!

Ingredients (makes 1 martini)

• 2 shots pumpkin pie vodka
• 2 shots coffee liqueur
• dash ground ginger
• dash cinnamon
• dash nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake well.

Strain into a martini glass rimmed with crushed graham crackers and serve with cinnamon stick to garnish.

This is the perfect after-dinner drink for a cool fall night or sipping cocktail at a Halloween party!

Pumpkin Hummus

This recipe came to me after eating some of the most amazing hummus of my life at the Little Italy farmers market last weekend. They had the most unusual flavors including my new favorite, Peanut Butter Hummus. It’s sweet and a little salty and makes the perfect snack with a little pita bread!

I was now inspired to make the next great hummus flavor. I decided on pumpkin.  It’s all the rage on Pinterest and with Fall upon us I thought it would be super fun to serve at all the different fall gatherings from Game days to Halloween parties!

If you like pumpkin, you will love this hummus!  The cinnamon gives it a slight sweetness, but the pumpkin shines through as the star!  This recipe only takes about 10 minutes to make and is something fun and different to take to a party or scoop into mason jars and give as gifts!

  Ingredients (makes 2 pints)

• 1 29 oz can garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
• 1 cup pumpkin
• 2 tbsp tahini
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 tsp cinnamon

You really need a food processor for this recipe, but if you only have a blender and/or mini-chop it can be done in small batches.

I started by placing all of the ingredients in the blender.

It was just too many ingredients for the good ‘ol Osterizer to handle, so I began scooping out batches into my mini food processor.

While this is not the ideal method of making this recipe (as it turns your 10 minute prep time into 20), it works if you are one of those sad souls without a “big girl food processor” (i.e. me!)

Either way you do it, you want to blend all of the ingredients together until a creamy texture forms.

Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or so, then serve with cinnamon sugar pita chips.

I made these by slicing 4 pieces of pita bread into triangles and tossing with 2 tbsp melted butter and 2 tbsp cinnamon/sugar mixture.

Place in the oven at 350° for 5-10 minutes, then serve with the hummus for a delicious treat!

I took this dish to a weekly “Game Night” my good friend PK hosts and everybody ate it up!

This is going to be a new fall staple at my house!

♣ Vegetarian Option: This recipe is vegetarian.

♦ Gluten Free Option: Substitute the Pita Bread with gluten-free pita bread (found in some specialty stores) or with this recipe  for homemade gluten-free pita bread.

♥ All pottery seen on the littleleopardbook can be purchased by visiting www.longaberger.com/muffetbond or e-mailing keepsakebl@sbcglobal.net.