Now that the leaves have turned (and somehow all wound up in my yard), there are few things more appealing to me than having a warm drink and a meal with friends in a cozy pub or coffee shop with a fire place. Normally, I'd consider spending my weekends by the water or out in the fresh mountain air, but that's not really an option in November when you live in Canada -- unless you're the super outdoorsy type (I'm not).

So, for those of us who don't like cold weather, the outdoors is out this time of year, except in small doses. I'll take a fireplace any day. Let the wind howl away, we're warm and happy and having fun inside.

After a day of raking leaves or shopping or wandering around the autumn streets, a cup of steaming hot apple cider really hits the spot, don't you think? But surely apple cider is better for you than some of the other winter offerings, most of which are made primarily of cream and sugar. What do you think?

The answer is 300 calories, complete with 67 g of sugar. Ouch! Granted, that is for a Venti (the largest size at Starbucks. You'll save yourself a bunch of calorie by ordering a smaller size.

Prefer your cider of the alcoholic variety? Yeah, me too. Bad news, though. A pint of cider at a pub is not much better, according to Nutracheck. Typically, cider has between 200 and 240 calories, which isn't terrible ... unless you plan on having a few. Don't be a lush -- having, say, five pints will cost you about half a day's worth of calories. Stick with one and then either stop or switch to wine.