A Note From Gwenda.

HI there, how are you? I hope life has brought you nothing but wonderful adventures!  Here are my libations for September.
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FALL CRISP

2 oz apple vodka
14 oz apple cider

Shake ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into glass.
FALL FAIRIES FESTIVAL DEW

1 oz gin
1 oz Blue Curacao liqueur
1 oz grapefruit juice
1 oz sweet and sour mix

Shake ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into glass.
FALL FAIRIES KISS

2 oz absinthe herbal liqueur
10 oz cola

Combine absinthe with cola in a glass filled with ice, easily the best way to drink absinthe.
SEPTEMBER MORN

2 oz white rum
1 dash grenadine syrup
1 tsp powdered sugar
1 egg white
1/2 oz lime juice

Shake well over ice cubes in a shaker, and strain into a cocktail glass.
SWEET SEPTEMBER MORNING

1 1/2 oz light rum
1 tsp cherry brandy
1/2 oz lime juice
1/2 tsp grenadine syrup
1 egg white

In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine all of the ingredients. Shake well. Strain into a cocktail glass.

NON ALCOHOLIC DRINKS

AUTUMN APPLE PUNCH
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1 1/2 quart apple juice
1 1/3 cups pineapple juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 pieces orange juice		 28 oz ginger ale
2 cinnamon sticks
8 whole cloves

Place apple juice in a NON-aluminum kettle; tie spices in cheesecloth, add to kettle, and simmer uncovered 15 minutes; discard spice bag. Mix spiced juice with remaining fruit juices. To serve, place a large block of ice in a large punch bowl, add fruit juice and ginger ale.
AUTUMN GOLD PUNCH

24 oz canned apricot nectar
1 1/2 cups orange juice
3/4 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 quart sweet cider
20 maraschino cherries

Combine nectar, orange and lemon juices, and cider. Refrigerate until well chilled - at least 2 hours. Garnish with cherries.

THE COLORS OF AUTUMN LEAVES
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We all enjoy the colors of autumn leaves. Did you ever wonder how and why a fall leaf changes color? Why a maple leaf turns bright red? Where do the yellows and oranges come from? To answer those questions, we first have to understand what leaves are and what they do. Leaves are nature's food factories. Plants take water from the ground through their roots. They take a gas called carbon dioxide from the air. Plants use sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into glucose. Glucose is a kind of sugar. Plants use glucose as food for energy and as a building block for growing. The way plants turn water and carbon dioxide into sugar is called photosynthesis. That means "putting together with light." A chemical called chlorophyll helps make photosynthesis happen. Chlorophyll is what gives plants their green color. 

As summer ends and autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter. This is how the trees "know" to begin getting ready for winter. 

During winter, there is not enough light or water for photosynthesis. The trees will rest, and live off the food they stored during the summer. They begin to shut down their food-making factories. The green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves. As the bright green fades away, we begin to see yellow and orange colors. Small amounts of these colors have been in the leaves all along. We just can't see them in the summer, because they are covered up by the green chlorophyll.
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The bright reds and purples we see in leaves are made mostly in the fall. In some trees, like maples, glucose is trapped in the leaves after photosynthesis stops. Sunlight and the cool nights of autumn cause the leaves turn this glucose into a red color. The brown color of trees like oaks is made from wastes left in the leaves. 

It is the combination of all these things that make the beautiful colors we enjoy in the fall.

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