Spooky brews

Devil's Hand Punch (Sun photo by Lloyd Fox / October 22, 2007)

Halloween drinks are all about frightful fun. And even if you've put off thoughts of entertaining until today, they're the perfect last-minute way to make a spooky splash when trick-or-treating starts tonight.

This isn't a time for your attractive, mouthwatering drink ideas. Beverages for this ghoulish celebration must be fantastic, atrocious and even somewhat grotesque - the more frightening, the better.

Think color when creating Halloween brews - green, red, blue, orange and black. To produce the necessary eerie hues, experiment with green, orange and black sodas (root beer or cola), red and orange juices or blue Curacao liqueur.

Hit the store for a few trinkets to top off your brews. Small plastic spiders, skulls, pumpkins and other Halloween items can be frozen in ice cubes or blocks of ice. Water, colored or plain, can be frozen in disposable gloves, plastic pumpkins or round molds to create floating hands, pumpkins or eyes.

For your adult guests, serve popular drink combinations such as a Bloody Mary or a Cosmopolitan as punch - with, of course, some bloody hands or olive eyes. Make Devil's Hand Punch with vodka, triple sec, lime juice and cranberry juice; rum and cola combine for a potent dark Midnight Brew with floating spiders. Any beverage recipe is easily halved or doubled to fit the size of your crowd.

Dry ice will make "smoke" if added to punch, but handle it with great caution. It is made from carbon dioxide and the temperature can be as low as minus 109 degrees. Be sure that the dry ice is food-grade quality. Do not add any other ice to the punch because dry ice will cool it sufficiently. The Web site dryiceinfo.com recommends using 2 to 4 pounds of dry ice for each gallon of room-temperature punch.

Use protective gloves when handling dry ice to prevent burning your skin. Most importantly, never eat or swallow dry ice - even food grade. Keep dry ice away from children and make sure that any unwrapped dry ice (which releases carbon dioxide) is in a well-ventilated area. Supermarkets may have dry ice for sale. (A list of retailers by area can be found at dryicedirectory.com.)

Containers can add to the spooky effect. Ceramic pumpkin bowls or black bowls are handy to have and can be used for other occasions. Party-supply stores often have inexpensive and scary-looking serving bowls that can be saved and used year after year. An ordinary punch bowl can be decorated with orange and black ribbons, and a big kettle makes a nice serving "caldron."

When it comes to serving drinks for kids, a hollowed-out pumpkin makes a great serving vehicle for spiced cider. Hot chocolate easily gets creepy with marshmallow ghosts, and with some Gummi worms swimming around in it, a lemon-lime punch becomes just gross enough.

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Zombie Punch

Makes about 20 servings

6 cups cold limeade (divided use)

1 liter cold lemon soda, such as 7-Up or Sprite

1 quart club soda

2 pints lime sherbet

20 or more Gummi worms

Fill ice trays with 2 cups of the limeade and freeze firm.

In a punch bowl or container that holds at least 5 quarts, put the frozen limeade cubes. Pour the remaining 4 cups of limeade, the lemon soda and the club soda over the ice cubes and stir gently to combine them. Place small scoops of sherbet in the punch and float Gummi worms on top of the sherbet. Ladle into cups or glasses.

Per serving: 308 calories, trace protein, 1 gram fat, trace saturated fat, 76 grams carbohydrate, 1 gram fiber, 0 milligrams cholesterol, 31 milligrams sodium

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Spiced Cider in a pumpkin

Serves about 12

6 cups apple juice or apple cider

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons

lemon juice (divided use)

4 cinnamon sticks, about 3 inches long

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1 large pumpkin

1 apple

In a large saucepan over medium heat, simmer the apple juice, 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice, cinnamon sticks, cloves and allspice until the apple juice has a spiced flavor, about 30 minutes.

While the apple juice is cooking, cut an opening in the top of the pumpkin that is large enough to clean out the inside. Use a large spoon to scoop out all of the seeds and membranes so the inside is clean and ready to hold the cider.

Cut the apple vertically into 6 slices about 1/4 inch thick. Discard the ends and bits of core. Brush the slices with the remaining lemon juice. Use a small pumpkin-shaped metal cutter to cut out 6 pumpkin shapes from the apple slices. Keep the pumpkin shapes and the cutouts.

Carefully pour the hot spiced cider into the hollowed-out pumpkin. If some cider does not fit in the pumpkin, keep it warm over low heat and refill as needed. Float the pumpkin-shaped apple slices and the cutout apple slices on the cider and serve.

Per serving: 60 calories, 0 grams protein, 0 grams fat, 0 grams saturated fat, 15 grams carbohydrate, 0 grams fiber, 0 milligrams cholesterol, 4 milligrams sodium

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Devil's Hand Punch

Makes about 12 servings

red food coloring (optional)

48 ounces (6 cups) cranberry juice

10 ounces vodka

1/4 cup lime juice

4 ounces triple sec

Fill a disposable glove with water. Add a few drops of red food coloring, if desired. Fasten the top tightly (a metal tie works well) and use the ends of the fastener to hang the filled glove from the rack in the freezer. This makes the best-shaped hand. Freeze at least overnight.

In a punch bowl or container with at least a 4-quart capacity, pour in the cranberry juice, vodka, lime juice and triple sec. Stir gently to combine them.

Remove the frozen hand from the freezer and run water over the outside.

Use scissors or a knife to cut the glove away from the ice. Remove it carefully so the fingers do not break off. If they do break, just add them to the punch. Put the hand in the punch. It will float. Ladle the punch into glasses.



Per serving: 158 calories, 0 grams protein, 0 grams fat, 0 grams saturated fat, 22 grams carbohydrate, 0 grams fiber, 0 milligrams cholesterol, 3 milligrams sodium

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Midnight Brew

Serves about 16

16 or more small plastic spiders

2 liters cold cola

12 ounces dark rum

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Fill two ice trays with water and place a plastic spider in 16 or more of the water-filled spaces.

Freeze firm.

In a punch bowl with at least a 5-quart capacity, pour in the cola, rum and vanilla. Stir gently to combine them. Remove the spider ice cubes from the trays and add them to the punch. They will float. Ladle the punch into cups or glasses.



Per serving: 104 calories, 0 grams protein, 0 grams fat, 0 grams saturated fat, 14 grams carbohydrate, 0 grams fiber, 0 milligrams cholesterol, 5 milligrams sodium

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Spooky Hot Chocolate

Makes about 12 servings

2 quarts milk

1 cup powdered hot cocoa mix

1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

12 ghost-shaped "peeps" marshmallows

In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk, cocoa mix and chocolate chips, stirring constantly until the cocoa dissolves and the chocolate chips melt.

Ladle the hot chocolate into mugs and place a ghost-shaped marshmallow on top of each serving.

Per serving: 288 calories, 8 grams protein, 7 grams fat, 4 grams saturated fat, 50 grams carbohydrate, 2 grams fiber, 13 milligrams cholesterol, 264 milligrams sodium

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Vampire's Brew

Makes about 12 servings

32 ounces cold tomato juice

12 ounces vodka

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco

12 pimento-stuffed olives

Into a punch bowl or pitcher with at least a 3-quart capacity, pour the tomato juice, vodka, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and hot pepper sauce. Stir gently to combine. Slice the olives in half horizontally and float them, cut pimento side up, on the drink. Serve in glasses.



Per serving: 85 calories, 1 gram protein, trace fat, 0 grams saturated fat, 4 grams carbohydrate, trace fiber, 0 milligrams cholesterol, 319 milligrams sodium

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Related topic galleries: Distilling and Brewing Industry, Beverage Industry, Food and Dining Culture, Metal and Mineral, Religious Festivals, Public Holidays, Arable Farming

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