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.