Alcohol

A few years ago I created a menu of regional American dishes (both traditional and invented) for a special Fourth of July wine dinner. I wanted something particularly clever to represent Manhattan. I kept thinking of sophisticated New Yorkers drinking martinis and decided to try my hand at making a sauce with similar ingredients. I like the double dose of juniper with the deep, rich taste of wild salmon, and the olives add a distinctive briny note.

Old-fashioned mincemeat contained tiny bits of meat and/or beef suet, a type of fat. This modern, meatless version is a great mix of apples, dried fruits, and warming spices.

This hot coffee and rum cocktail gets its name from the Dutch word for coffee (koffie) and the street (Van Brunt) where it is served at St. John Frizell's Fort Defiance café-bar in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Two quintessential autumn ingredients—sage and cider—flavor this turkey-gravy combo.

Kick is the right word to describe this golden cocktail, which underscores the shot of ginger liqueur with ginger syrup and lemon.

Both ginger plants and tamarind trees grow in tropical spots around the world, including India, Asia, and Latin America, where the two seasonings are regularly used in marinades, sauces, and drinks. So it was only natural for Feniger to take some of the spicy ginger syrup she had developed for the Canton Ginger Kick and mix it with tart tamarind. The result is very fresh and very quaffable. Feniger says that when they make it at Street, they often save the tamarind pulp that's left in the sieve and add more water; that tamarind liquid will be thinner than the first batch, but it will still have enough of its signature fruity sharpness for another round.

Give a grown-up, garnet-hued twist to a Halloween classic by coating apples in a red wine–infused caramel sauce.

Total cost: $9.86

Bourbon:
Bourbon is a type of whiskey that is only made in America from at least 51% corn. In that regard, it differs from Scotch and Irish whiskeys, which are made from malted barley. Rye whiskey is made from—you guessed it—rye. There's a helluva lot more you could learn on the subject of whiskeys, but you're not gonna learn it here. All you need to know is that good bourbon is delicious.

The brisket tastes best if prepared ahead, so make it at least one day and up to two days before you plan to serve it. Chilling the brisket makes it easier to slice. Rewarm the meat in the sauce and serve with a full-flavored dark beer (see our suggestions below).

The hit of beer in this tangy mustard makes it the perfect dipping sauce for the sausages.

If you have a food processor, you can make sausage from scratch. Adding pork fat to the meat gives these bite-size sausage patties a tender texture. Call your butcher in advance to make sure he sets aside some extra pork fat for you. To help the mixture blend more easily, be sure to freeze the pork pieces before grinding them in the processor. Keep in mind that the sausage needs to chill overnight so that the flavors have time to develop.

Brush against a lemon verbena plant and its long, narrow leaves will release a transcendently clean, lemony scent. A little of the herb goes a long way, and it plays well with both ripe summer fruit and the light dryness of rosé. All the elements come together here in a suave gelée.

Effervescent and floral, this drink is ideal for afternoon sipping. Purée the fruit with the skin on to capture the color of September.

Coming right up: an elegant concoction designed for warm-weather happy hour. It's pale pink in color, floral but not too sweet, and completely refreshing.

Ted Reader likes to marinate the roast in a coffee porter (a dark beer that's flavored with coffee or with dark malts and highly roasted barley) or a similar beer with body, such as Guinness or a honey brown lager. What to drink: Wyndham Estate 2003 Shiraz, Bin 555, South Eastern Australia ($10).

These tender, potent little orbs make a splendid Bloody Mary—esque addition to a beach-blanket picnic or a fancy cocktail party, and they tend to disappear in no time flat. Blanching them makes quick work of slipping off their skins.

A semifreddo is an Italian soft-frozen custard mousse. Grappa, which is floral and just a little edgy, bumps the musky, intoxicating sweetness of the melon up a notch.