Stone Fruit Smash Cocktails

By late August and into September, stone fruit reaches its sweet, juicy peak. Head to a farmer's market this time of year and you're bound to find crate after crate of tree ripened fruit, in sunset shades of every gradient from deep plum to vibrant orange and palest pink.

If you're looking for a way to include this seasonal bounty in a farm fresh cocktail, I highly suggest a smash. When I'm dealing with very delicate fruits or herbs, I prefer to use pure juice or a technique called blender muddling instead of the traditional kind. But stone fruit is actually quite hardy, and I love the way muddling by hand brings out jammy notes and the deeper colors of the peel -- plums, for example, may have orange flesh, but hit them with a hand muddler and you'll end up with pink juices, because the deeper purples of the skin will blend right in.

Even though I'm living with a very basic kitchen at the moment (we're undergoing some massive renovations in the Jeffers household), these were a breeze to throw together. And because we don't have the space for an under counter dishwasher at the moment, we've been rescued from hand washing Hades by the wonderfully convenient countertop dishwasher by Magic Chef. We were able to install it ourselves -- no professional needed -- and it's truly been a lifesaver for us in our previously dishwasher-less kitchen. Honestly, I wish I had one of these years ago -- it would have saved me tons of time and clean up stress in my first apartments.

I found perfectly ripe apricots at my farm market, but any stone fruit will work in this recipe -- plums, nectarines, peaches, pluots -- whatever looks good nearest you. Try to use organic fruit because you will be extracting bits of skin, and smell the produce instead of squeezing it to determine brightness -- you don't want to bruise the flesh before muddling. A ripe stone fruit will smell floral and juicy and fruity (in other words, the skin should smell like the fruit should taste).