Halloween El Diablo Cocktail

It’s Halloween week! Well, close enough, anyway. What party plans do you have for this weekend? Most importantly, what are your costume plans? Halloween has always been my favorite holiday just for the pure fun and creativity. I’d spend months as a kid planning out the perfect costume, which may or may not get thrown away for a new idea two days before the big night. Dressing up, running around after dark, eating too much candy – it just doesn’t get any better as a kid.

Except it totally gets even better as an adult when you can mix up delicious cocktails! This El Diablo cocktail twists together blackberries, lime, and ginger for a sweetly-spiced bubbly drink you’ll want to sip all night long. I love matching fruity liqueurs with sparkling ginger beer, the spicier the better!

Our family’s biggest Halloween activity growing up was carving pumpkins. This became more and more of a competition every year until the designs got way out of hand. One year I won a huge pumpkin from the grocery store, so big that I could easily curl up inside. Another year I designed my own Dark Mark pattern, which might have been my favorite pumpkin ever. (You better believe I was am a major Harry Potter nerd. I’m pretty sure every bookworm kid in the late 90s dreamed of going to Hogwarts.)

One of the very few things that makes me sad about our little homestead is that we won’t get any trick-or-treaters. It’s a small sacrifice, but I always wanted to be that house – you know, the one that’s almost too spooky, but gives out such good treats that the kids brave it anyway. Sharing tips on which houses had the best candy was a major part of the Halloween strategy. I remember one house in my childhood neighborhood that handed out beers to the parents, which definitely made them one of the best stops of the night – hint, hint.

The traditional El Diablo recipe calls for tequila. Despite my best efforts, I’m very fair-weather with my tequila: it’s perfect under the hot bright sun, but it just doesn’t appeal to me after the leaves turn. I swapped it for vodka in this version, but feel free to just switch it back if tequila is more your speed.

We’ll have fun walking downtown and handing out candy next week – are you getting ready for lots of trick-or-treaters at your house, or will you have a quiet night at home? Tell me how you’ll celebrate!

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