BEER!

I'm forever wanting to find a Pumpkin Ale/Beer during the Fall season that meets my expectations of what a Pumpkin Ale/Beer should taste like. I like my beers thick like a milkshake, so I usually go for something like Guinness or Boddingtons, so in my mind the perfect Pumpkin Beer is a thick orangy sweet drink with hints of clove and other dark spices. I've never found it. Mostly because it's almost Christmas when I get on my Pumpkin beer kick.

Here's a neat article on a few beers on the market that boast the word PUMPKIN. I'm going to make an effort to try as many Pumpkin Beer varieties as possible this season and post them on this blog. Cheers.

The Best and Worst of Pumpkin Beers

Hot Spiced Halloween Wine

A fun tradition - serving Halloween wine on the best night of the year. Mugs of the stuff are served to friends and family that visit on All Hallow's Eve. Here's the super easy recipe:

• One bottle of Alpine Spice wine


• One 64 oz. bottle of cranberry apple juice


• Four cinnamon sticks

Combine in a crock pot and cook on low for the entire dang day. I usually end up going through three bottles of the wine and two of the cranapple juice...so somewhere along the line the proportions get distorted in a very favorable manner. But the key is the temperature - make sure it's very hot at all times.

It's been described by a friend as tasting like a candy apple.

Friday (Revisited)

Halloween Cocktail
Ingredients:
- 2 oz bourbon
- 3 oz orange juice
- Juice of half lemon
- Ginger ale
- Garnish: Halloween olive
Mix bourbon, orange juice and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour into a tall glass. Top with ginger ale and garnish with Halloween-faced olives. (To make the Halloween olives, choose large unpitted green olives)

"Halloween-faced olives" - this recipe is a gas.

Swizzle Sticks