Sparkling Satsuma Aperitif

As a food blogger, I sometimes feel it incumbent on me to paint an autumnally mellow picture of holiday cheer. Scents of apple and cinnamon wafting from the oven, mulled cider bubbling atop the hob, an artisanal bird plumping in its brine.

This isn’t that post.

Yesterday my right elbow began howling in what is either ulnar nerve entrapment or acute tendonitis. Folks, that’s the good arm. For comic relief, yesterday also marked John’s seventeenth year in a wheelchair.

Today is a fresh new day, one spent in a virtual waiting room.The sign above the door reads: “Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here: Awaiting Doctor’s Return Phone Call.”

Is a drink in order, or what?

The inspiration for Sparkling Satsuma Aperitif comes from Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray,  chef/owners of London’s beloved River Cafe.Their Cafe Cook Book offers a seasonally varied aperitif pairing fruit with sparkling wine, most often Prosecco. We like Dibon Cava Brut Reserve, a bone dry Spanish Cava that’s a friendly $8 per bottle.

Rogers and Gray use blood oranges, which must lend incredible color. Alas, blood oranges aren’t yet available in California. Satsuma mandarins make an admirable substitute.

This is so simple it’s scarcely a recipe, but it’s light and pretty without being overly alcoholic–perfect whether you’re feeling autumnally cheery or glumly morose.