The Community Environmental Council held a benefit this fall entitled “Green Gala”. My good friend Merryl, of Merryl Brown Events www.merrylbrownevents.com and I collaborated in the styling of this event. My intention was to make a green-tini, but what I ended up with was a green fruit cocktail that lacked any green color. The cocktail had fall written all over it so we decided to forgo the necessity of the green color and left the dye in the box.

4 bartlet pears pealed, cored and sliced

½ cup sugar

5 cups water

2 star anise

2 cinnamon stick

Juice of 3 limes

Put pears, water, sugar, star anise, and cinnamon in a large pot and poach for 25 minutes or until the pears are very soft. Add lime juice, take out the anise and cinnamon. Process in a blender in batches until very smooth. Grab your favorite vodka, ice and shaker and enjoy! Garnish with floating star anise and lime circles.