So Josh (a.k.a. @cocktailspirit) did a much more thorough write-up -- you should go over and take a look -- but I wanted to share the recipe for a cocktail we developed last night at The Cocktail Lab class at Astor Center, led by Jonathan Pogash.  It was mighty tasty.

Pumpkin Pie
1/8 oz. Averna
1 1/2 oz. (ri)1 Rye Whiskey
1/4 oz fresh orange juice
1 barspoon pumpkin puree
1 barspoon maple syrup
1 dash pumpkin pie spice
2 dashes angostura bitters
1 egg white
Dry shake all ingredients first (shake w/ out ice) in a boston shaker.  Then add ice and shake again very well.  Strain into a cocktail coupe. Garnish with a flamed orange peel.

This was actually my second original cocktail.  The first was basically an Aviation Cocktail with the inclusion of muddled concord grapes.

Concord Aviator
6-8 concord grapes
1 barspoon simple syrup
2 ounces London dry gin
½ ounce Maraschino liqueur
½ ounce lemon juice

Muddle the concord grapes and simple syrup in a mixing glass.  Add the remaining ingredients, shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a concord grape.

Photo courtesy of Spirited Cocktails

This has been a bit of a rough month for me.  First, I was running around like a crazy person, which led me to get run down.  Next, I got sick with what was most likely a variation of the flu.  Stubborn (and/or stupid) as I am, I didn't take enough time off and as a result, I was sick for probably twice as long as I might have been if I had taken good care of myself.  During all of this time, my workout schedule was utterly destroyed.  As recently as this past Saturday, in an attempt to exercise again, I nearly coughed up a lung -- not pretty. 

I'm slowly returning to my normal workout schedule -- roughly 5 days a week -- and I couldn't be happier.  It helps me sleep better, focus more, and it calms me down and keeps me sane.  My apologies to any who have dealt with me over the past few weeks if I've seemed, well, slightly off. 

Sunny Brooklyn Bridge

On an otherwise dreary day. Enjoy!

After staying in Friday night in preparation for the potential 10K on Saturday morning, we made a last-minute call to bail on the run.  A wise choice, in retrospect, as my trip to the gym Saturday morning make me cough something fierce.  Seems to be winding down, though.  The rest of Saturday involved noodles with Matt B., grocery shopping (I seem to have run out of every type of rice at the same time), and relaxing until heading out to Brooklyn for Ethan's birthday shindig. 

Even though I didn't get home dreadfully late, I somehow slept until 12:45 on Sunday -- I haven't done that in MONTHS, if not longer!!  I guess my body was trying to tell me something.  When I finally rolled out of bed, I headed down to the New Amsterdam Market and started my day with the gorgeous oysters you see here.  I ran into a million people I knew, including @zacharycohen, @meredithmo, Kara of the Ted & Amy Supper Club, and a few fellow writers from Serious Eats.  The vendors were a sampling of my past food writing:  Rick's Picks, Hudson Valley Fresh, Dickson's, Tom Mylan's the Meat Hook, and of course, the market's organizer.  In addition to the oysters, I ended up with some lamb, milk, ground beef, Smokra, a lobster roll, and some beer/pretzel caramels.  I walked home in an attempt to get some exercise before heading to Henry Public for a cocktail and some marrow bones with Viv and Emilia, then home for Mad Men.  A good weekend, indeed.

- I can't believe they're putting up the holiday lights on the trees in front of my office.

- Odds of my running the Nike Human Race 10K tomorrow morning are about 50/50 since I'm still hacking up a lung and haven't had a decent night's sleep in ages.

- Looking forward to some tasty treats at the New Amsterdam Market on Sunday.

- If you are 63 years old you are way too old to be dating someone in their 30's, at least in my world.

- Dreaming of spending a day at home, reading the paper, listening to music, napping on the couch, and simmering something delicious on the stove and/or baking.

- The NYU folks are still leaving the lights on; time for another visit.

Do you ever get the sense that you are re-living the same pieces of your life over and over?  Sometimes I do.  Time to shake it up a bit.

 
No thanks to the constantly malfunctioning Facebook photo uploader, here are a slew of pictures!  Day 1 and Day 2 of the Manhattan Cocktail Classic preview and from the Amalgamates 25th Anniversary.  Enjoy!

NYU has been renovating a building on Washington Square North for quite some time now.  It has been a fairly major overhaul, including inserting windows into concrete walls where there previously were none.  Why do I know this?  Because the construction wakes me up.  All the time.  I can't really complain, because it's around the time I should be getting up anyway (except for Saturdays -- why are they working on Saturdays?!?).  That said, they leave all the lights on in the building every single night and the light shines right through the brand new windows directly into mine, which is rather irritating.  I walked over this morning to see if there was actually some sort of practical reason that they left the lights on -- as far as I'm concerned, by shutting them off, they're probably saving NYU money and improving their relationship with their neighbors, namely me.  The dude I spoke to said he'd pass along my message to the right person. We shall see -- hoping for a no-lights-in-my-window kind of night tonight.

*Name that tune, anyone?

As I mentioned a while back, our next Tweetup is slightly more upscale -- it's being held at Astor Center, sponsored by Chartreuse, and drinks will be created and served by the lovely ladies of LUPEC NYC.  Tickets (yes, you'll need tickets) are on sale now -- hope you can join us on 11/2!  Here are the details from Astor:

This fly-by-night bar is a triple threat: a tasting of Chartreuse and Chartreuse-inspired cocktails, a fundraiser for LUPEC NYC, and an opportunity to meet some of the fixtures of the NYC cocktail twitterati!

You MUST purchase tix in advance.  Your $35 ticket entitles you to two of the drinks created for the event. Additional tickets will be available on site ($10 a cocktail) should you want to taste the whole list (you probably will). Snacks will be served. $5 goes to support the newly formed NYC chapter of LUPEC.

If you're on Twitter, feel free to RSVP here too: http://www.twtvite.com/nuz9ua

Had a good weekend and am finally kicking the plague, although I have a lingering cough.  Dinner at Kanoyama on Friday night, a trip to the schvitz on Saturday, cocktails and karaoke Saturday night, brunch at Prime Meats on Sunday, followed by Where the Wild Things are.  I also finally pulled out the sweaters and scarves, which were definitely needed.

Still on the hunt for this in poster form.  Let me know if you find it!  It first crossed my path at Hearth several years ago.  Speaking of which, I'm looking forward to checking out Marco Canora's Salt to Taste, which is now available.  Also thinking this is the perfect weekend to simmer up some stew, potentially Marcella's lamb and white bean.  Yum.