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

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.