The Full Kitchen

Culinary Adventures in a Tiny California Kitchen

Spiced Cider Syrup Cocktail Adventure

November 18, 2021 by Alyssa D in drinks

The generic apple cider made me angry. Not total Greek rage, but I was definitely frustrated. The cider was watery, tasted like nothing, and had simmered on the stove for hours without turning into anything better.

I also felt upset on behalf of all the people involved in producing the cider — all the suffering that led to such disgusting brown liquid. Maybe it was the pandemic. Supply chain bottlenecks. Labor shortages. Insultingly low pay. Illness. Burnout.

That cider tasted like failure. Pure, unmitigated failure. So I vowed to try again.

Apple Cider Doughnut Cake Adventure

October 28, 2021 by Alyssa D in dessert

Even after more than a decade in Colorado, fall still makes me yearn for Vermont: crisp, tart McIntosh apples, beautifully balanced local apple cider, and warm apple cider doughnuts.

I probably didn’t spell “doughnut” correctly on a consistent basis until high school. A pervasive New England coffee chain might have been partially to blame. Come autumn, I was too busy savoring freshly fried apple cider doughnuts to care much about spelling anyway.

With the pandemic continuing to hamper everything, including Vermont apple shipments to homesick East Coasters, we made do with what we had.