As many of you know I am not much of a cook. Yet when the weather starts to cool and the pumpkins start making their way out of the garden and onto the front porch stoop, I get some waves of domesticity. This is especially true when I sit down and read a seasonal Southern Living magazine and find about twenty recipes that I would like to give a try at creating.

And that is where I got this idea of ‘Fall Into Cooking’. I am creating this weekly meme as a motivational tool for me to try new autumn inspired recipes and to become familiar with how a kitchen actually operates. Every Thursday I will post a ‘make your eyes water and your mouth drool’ recipe that I will try over the weekend. Then the following Thursday I will do a review of my culinary attempt and post a new ‘got to try’ recipe.

I will be including a Mister Linky in my post for those of you that would like to participate and join fellow bloggers in creating new fall delights from your kitchen.

This week’s ‘just have to give it a try’ recipe is one I found in the September issue of Southern Living magazine.

Spiced Pomegranate Sipper

Yield

Makes about 8 cups

Ingredients

• 1  (2 1/2-inch-long) cinnamon stick
• 5  whole cloves
• 5  thin fresh ginger slices
• 2  (16-oz.) bottles refrigerated 100% pomegranate juice
• 4  cups  white grape juice
• 1/2  cup  pineapple juice
• Garnishes: pineapple chunks, orange rind curls

Preparation

1. Cook cinnamon stick, cloves, and ginger in a Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring constantly, 2 to 3 minutes or until cinnamon is fragrant.

2. Gradually stir in juices. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 15 minutes. Pour mixture through a wire-mesh strainer into a heat-proof pitcher; discard solids. Serve warm. Garnish, if desired.

Note: For testing purposes only, we used POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice and Welch’s 100% White Grape Juice.

Tipsy Hot Spiced Pomegranate Sipper: Prepare recipe as directed. Stir in 1 1/4 cups almond liqueur just before serving. Makes 9 1/4 cups.

Cold Spiced Pomegranate Sipper: Prepare recipe as directed. Let stand 30 minutes. Cover and chill 2 hours. Store in refrigerator up to 2 days. Stir and serve over ice. Prep: 10 min., Cook: 25 min., Stand: 30 min., Chill: 2 hr.

Fizzy Spiced Pomegranate Sipper: Prepare Cold Spiced Pomegranate Sipper as directed. Stir in 1 (33.8-oz.) bottle ginger ale just before serving. Makes 16 cups.

Now all I need to do is buy a log cabin and light the logs in the fireplace. Oh, and let’s not forget the good book to go along with it.

What new recipe are you going to try this week?