This month, when the veil between living and dead grows thin, try a spirited pumpkin drink.
Nothing seems to scream fall like pumpkin, whether baked in a pie, adorning our doorsteps or used as a flavor enhancement in a variety of dishes. Pumpkin also dresses up a cocktail quite nicely, warming your soul on a crisp autumn night.
Pumpkin Spice Martini
From allrecipes.com
1 cup ice cubes
1 (1.5 fluid ounces) jigger vanilla flavored vodka (such as Stoli)
1 (1.5 fluid ounces) jigger Irish cream liqueur (such as Bailey's)
1 (1.5 fluid ounces) jigger pumpkin flavored liqueur (such as Hiram Walker)
1 pinch ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground nutmeg
Directions: Gather the ingredients. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour vanilla-flavored vodka, Irish cream liqueur and pumpkin-flavored liqueur over ice. Cover and shake until the outside of the shaker has frosted. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg.
My favorite bitters hails from my hometown of New Orleans. El Guapo creates great mixers, bitters and syrups from chicory pecan and Cuban to black lime margarita mix. Here's a recipe to get you in the Halloween mood—and it requires El Guapo's Holiday Pie Bitters which you can use in the following months.
Spiced 75
Created by Monica Carbonell, beverage director of Liquid Culture
.75 ounce gin
.75 ounce cinnamon simple syrup
.75 ounce pumpkin puree
2 dashes El Guapo® Holiday Pie Bitters
4 ounces sparkling white wine
Directions: In a shaker filled with ice, combine gin, simple syrup, pumpkin puree and bitters. Shake until well chilled & strain into a flute. Top with sparkling white wine or champagne. Serve immediately.
Do you Hodoo?
Don't want to go to all that trouble? Pour Cathead's Hoodoo Liqueur into a glass and enjoy. The dark and stormy spirit from Jackson, Miss., will get you in the spirit of Halloween.
Weird, Wacky & Wild South is written by travel writer Cheré Dastugue Coen, author of "Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana" and the Viola Valentine paranormal mystery series under the pen name of Cherie Claire.
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