Because it is Halloween, my ‘drink’ category is growing. Holidays are my excuse to play with new recipes, new menus and fun, new drinks. My friends and family have come to expect new funky concoctions from my kitchen, and I love the excuse to put on my mixologist hat.

I will say you have to drink this one quicker or the ‘ghost’ really does start to look gross (cream behaving badly). But in the nature of the holiday, we welcome gross looking ghosts! Gross invited, this ghost will tickle you to your toes. Not only does it look like a ghost-been-puddled—it actually tastes like muddled ice cream!

Liquefied Ghost
Vodka
Vanilla Simple Syrup (recipe below)
Cream
Soda

Per drink: 1 oz each vanilla simple syrup and cream, 2 oz vodka, 2 oz soda; or use 2/3 vanilla vodka, 1/3 soda and a hearty splash of cream. Mix and serve in a martini glass.

Note: I am a sucker for mixing my own simple syrups, but you can use store-bought vanilla simple syrup or vanilla vodka instead. My sons love to use Vanilla Simple Syrup for making vanilla milk and vanilla Italian sodas, so we use this syrup beyond the ghostlike cocktail.

Halloween is my excuse to try new recipes, gussy up the house and serve multi-colored, nasty looking drinks. Every year I throw a big Halloween bash, and make it an all-family event. Adults and children dress in costumes, then play spooky tricks and eat Halloween treats.

One of my goals for this year’s party is to out the lights: using only string lights, candles, light-up skeletons, pumpkins and glowing cauldrons to give visibility to wondering guests. I bought a lot of eyeball lights this year to adorn the basement, where all the kids cut loose and have uninterrupted fun. My favorite decorated room is the dining room, where purple strands of lights come from each corner of the ceiling and wrap around a central chandelier. It looks like a huge spiderweb, and offers plenty of eerie ambience for guests.

House decor aside, meet my latest drink: the Purple People Eater. Naming the drinks is almost as fun as testing them! This started as a blue drink until my neighbor mentioned how cool would it be if you turned it purple? And since I was already in love with all the purple lighting, I was easily swayed to concoct a purple drink. Thus came both the splash of cranberry and the fun new name. At first I had named it ‘Eerie Blue Tini’ until we changed the color to purple and it evolved—in Halloween style—to the Purple People Eater.

Purple People Eater
Vodka
Cranberry raspberry juice (or just cranberry)
Blue Curacao (Essentially Orange flavored liquor colored blue)
Raspberry simple syrup (optional but yummy)

Per drink: 3/4 parts vodka, 1/4 part cranberry juice, and splash of blue curacao.

Raspberry Simple Syrup: bring 1 cup sugar and 1 1/2 cups water to simmer over stove, as soon as sugar is dissolved, add 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries. Simmer one more minute, then off heat and let cool to room temperature. Strain berries and pour syrup into container. Store at room temperature in closed container. Makes good Italian Sodas too!

Tombstone: Al B. Waiting

Tombstone: Redd E. Wenuare

Tombstone: E. B. Gone

My husband and boys spent most of Saturday cutting out, sanding, spray painting and writing crafty sayings on the front of tombstones. Our front yard is flocked with tombstones; each year we make our home just a bit spookier. So much so, that now I write warnings to [party coming] friends whose little children might easily take fright.

This years Halloween party has been on the docket for over a week. No matter, my sons already have their Halloween costumes and are quite prone to the Trick side of Treat. Even though Al B. Waiting, there is much to do.

As you may know, parties are my excuse for a new cocktail and I am learning that my friends are coming to expect a new concoction (last time I served only Sangria at a dinner party my friends balked at my stroke of default; by the way, it is GREAT Sangria and by the end of the night they were hopelessly bemused by the concoction). So my first task was to create new cocktails; my experimentation with all kinds of simple syrups made this venture a Treat.

Cocktails
Liquefied Ghost
Purple People Eater
Bootini (Recipe Below)
Sea Monster (Recipe Below)

[Other] Adult Beverages
Twisted Zin (vino)
Pirates Ale (beer)

Bootini
Vodka
Lemons
Blueberry Simple Syrup
Soda

Per drink: 1/2 filled with vodka, 1/4 filled with soda, the rest: splash Blueberry simple syrup, juice from half lemon. I cheated and poured equal parts vodka and limoncata (Italian lemon soda) with a big glugg of blueberry syrup—my friend said it tasted like an upscale cosmopolitan.

Sea Monster
Vodka
Blue Curacao
Cranberry
Orange Juice

Per drink: 1/2 (plus) vodka, 1/4 (minus) curacao, 1/4 cran and oj.

Note: one thing I learned last year was to make the cocktails as much in advance as possible, especially if it involves squeezing all forms of citrus. It takes a magician to keep up with the unquenchable thirst of witches, goblins and ghosts.

My husband and I stole our way to a new restaurant when our kids went camping with their grandparents. Purple had just opened in Seattle, already garnering a landable reputation at their other restaurants in nearby Kirkland and Woodinville. At the downtown Seattle venue there is a choice between all-out dining or a tasting bar, the latter of which you can enjoy on the fly—no reservation required.

My husband and I ventured down 2 routes, him picking the multi-course meal and myself the tapas selection. Here is what I would suggest: hit the tapas as a shared appetizer prior to a meal (you have to order a minimum of 3, but they are smallish and inexpensive). The tapas are high-end snacking, enough to whet your appetite or just string it along of you aren’t terribly hungry; they are an ideal compliment to a flight of wines. The dinner round was a 3 part substantial display of food, including a salad/appetizer, entree (try the halibut!) and dessert. Though not taken to gastronomic heaven via the tapas, I was still feeling my zen because I added a Purple Tapa (literally) to my kitchen repertoire: Figgy Toasts.

This succulent though painfully easy-to-make appetizer consists of ham, jam and cheese:

Figgy Toasts
Baguette
Prosciutto or ham
Fig spread or fig jam
Manchego, Fontina or Asiago cheese
Olive oil

Sure to impress your guests, serve this on the front end of a pasta or Italian inspired dinner or as a center-stage, substantial hors d’oeuvres for your next cocktail party.

Slice baguette, brush one side with olive oil and broil for 1 minute. Flip toasts, spread on fig jam (the one I bought was thick so I mixed in equal parts olive oil to fig jam and then spread on toast), a slice of prosciutto or thin ham and a slice of cheese. Broil another 1-2 minutes and serve. Warning: it might be hard to save your appetite for dinner…

I forced myself to attempt canning this year. I am intrigued by all the canning, preserving, drying and curing that were so critical to survival not too long ago. People figured out ways to make their food last, to use methods to keep food not only safe but sweet and/or savory. It impresses me that the chemistry and artistry of food culminates so inherently in the act of canning. I am fortunate to capture the essence of just farmed foods as a privilege, rather than a necessity. I like the idea of keeping this skill alive, if just in my own life, to honor the many women who preceded me, to appreciate their labors of love, and the time they spent preserving food. Of course my efforts pale in comparison but it was a treat and remains a privilege to make preserves of my own.

For me, preserving is an opportunity to enjoy bites of summer in the dead of winter. Opening a jar of chutney provides a moment of kitchen zen when ‘dinner is served’ out of a homemade jar and saves me loads of time when I am trying to put dinner on the table in a hurry. I love canned chutneys and jams, butters and relishes because they make the most amazing hostess gifts. Just last week I was enjoying dinner with my extended family and brought 2 jars of blueberry chutney to serve with pork chops. It was so easy to transport, and all of the loving prep had occurred months in advance!

Pork Chops & Blueberry Chutney
(I use 1/2 inch pork chops, but 1 inch pork chops from the BBQ or a pork loin would work well too).

4 pork chops (more or less depending on how many mouths you are feeding)
garlic cloves, minced
Kosher salt & coarse pepper (KS&CP)
Olive oil & butter (OO&B)
Blueberry Chutney (recipe follows)

Pat dry and rub both sides of pork chops with 1 tsp garlic and small pinch of KS&CP. Warm 1 T each of OO&B over medium high heat. Brown both sides of chops 1 minute. Place chops in oven for 10 minutes just to cook through or until instant thermometer reads 140. Serve with blueberry chutney on side.

Blueberry Chutney
(Hats off to Christina’s for this just-altered recipe, a famous chef who satisfies palates daily on Orcas Island (part of the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington State). She is an icon in our corner of the country):

1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup honey
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup sweet white wine
2 cups chopped red onion
1 T minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried red chilis
1 cinnamon stick
3 tsp peeled, grated ginger (I use a microplaner—love it!)
1 T whole coriander seeds
5 cups blueberries
1 cup golden raisins

Bring all ingredients—except berries and raisins—to a boil. Reduce and simmer 30 minutes. Add berries and raisins and cook gently for 10 minutes. Can, freeze or refrigerate. Makes 6 pints, serves as many meals with no hassle.

Note: try with roasted or grilled turkey breast as well, maybe pass around the table on Thanksgiving as an alternative to cranberry sauce. Great on day-after turkey sandwiches! Christina serves it with fish; it keeps well in the refrigerator for 3 weeks, but feel free to freeze it in jars for longer! I used standard canning procedures; a proud lineup of blueberry chutney adorns my pantry shelves.