Deal with a fall heatwave with these frozen cider slushees! They can be spiked, spiced, or enjoyed plain! #meandthemoose #cider #falldrinks #frozentreats

Move over pumpkin spice latte, apple cider slushee is coming for your “best fall drink” title! This easy bev can be spiced, spiked, or enjoyed straight up.

This may be a very Northeast specific rant, but why is it so hot at the beginning of fall? I feel like September, much like that other “changeover” month March, is a tease. Occasionally it’s chilly and crisp and then BAM — humid and gross. It rains and then the sun comes out immediately to really perfect those sweatbox conditions. It feels slightly chilly at 7 am, but by 9 it’s 80 and the air is heavy. How do you dress? What do you eat? I want to want all of the cozy things, but it’s too. damn. hot.

Anyway, that’s why you should freeze your apple cider. You get the coziness of fall, but the refreshment of an iced drink!

You can absolutely spice this cider by adding cinnamon sticks, crushed whole cardamom pods, anise pods, or some fresh ginger, bringing the cider to a boil, letting it simmer for 20-30 minutes, and then straining out the spices. I don’t love adding ground dried spices to my cider because I feel like it makes the cider slightly gritty, but it’s not a deal breaker. (Really, nothing is a deal breaker for me when it comes to cider.)

Apple cider slushee

Time: 6 hours, or overnight + 5 minutes active time
Yield: 2 slushees

2 cups apple cider
2 shots Calvados or other apple brandy, optional

Fill a standard ice cube tray with fresh cider. Let freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight.

Chill the cups you plan to use for the slushees in the freezer while you make the drinks.

Add the ice cubes to a blender (the higher powered, the better) and pulse 3-4 times or let run for about 3-4 seconds. Pulse again or run for 1 more second at a time until the cubes are crushed to your liking. In my experience, the cubes crush up very quickly and you don’t want them to re-liquify.

Spoon the crushed ice into the chilled cups and add 1/8-1/4 cup of fresh cider. Add 1 shot of calvados (optional).

Watermelon and cucumber juice | me & the moose | watermelon and cucumber combine with lime and any herbs that are overflowing in your garden (basil and mint are favorites) for a refreshing summer drink that’s equally delicious as a mocktail or a cocktail. #meandthemoose #drinks #summerdrinks #cucumber #watermelon #watermelondrinks #juice

I food shopped last weekend as if we aren't moving 2 weeks from today. And we're not moving a few blocks away where we can schlep our leftover mayo in a cooler and voila, have a restocked fridge. We have an overnight in between moving out and moving in and somehow, I don't think the Hampton Inn's mini fridge can accommodate our haul of condiments. Call me crazy.

So, operation clean-out-the-fridge has begun and I completely forgot that I tossed a mini watermelon and a cucumber into my farmer's market bags last week. Before they went bad, I whizzed them up in the blender, added some lime juice for zing, and ran the whole thing through a fine mesh sieve. M was begging to bring it to school in his water bottle, but luckily he drank it all before we left the house, so I didn't have to break his heart by saying no.

One note: If you want to skip the sieving, look for a seedless watermelon and a hothouse or English cucumber for this recipe. Depending on your family's tolerance for pulp, you may also want to peel the cucumber too.