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“Spirits Among Us”
What’s a Halloween party without a few friendly spirits?

So you want to throw a Halloween bash and you’re ready to move beyond beer? Good for you — the world of mixed drinks is sophisticated, fun and a great tasting, creative alternative to the same old cans of beer.

Parties are all the more festive when a few fun cocktails make the scene. Just picture your place fit for a bash: You’ve tidied the magazine stack, vaccumed up the cat hair, maybe emptied all the wastebaskets and your friends are there in their most stylin’ clothes. But their hands are empty. Do they look happy? No, my friend, they do not.

Now, picture the same scene, but this time in each hand there’s a glass of something wet and colorful — some red, some green, some my-gawd-is-that-blue? The designated drivers, expectant mothers and other members of the soberer set are holding non-alcoholic drinks, but even their hands are fully party-ready, loaded up with tasty treats. Now how do they look? Riiight. You’ve got it.

Reality check: if you’re throwing the party, YOU have to provide these libations. Never fear. It’s not hard. You only need a few things on hand to create some great cocktails. (To make all the wonderful drinks given here, you’d need to shop a lot. But these are just ideas to get you started. It’s easier to pick two or three that sound good to you and offer those. After all, unless you have a friend who’s a frustrated bartender at heart, or unless you are, you don’t want to get too stressed out.

First, make sure you have glasses to serve the drinks in. Count up the glass glasses you have on hand. If you can’t round up more than two or three of any one size, buy more glasses or, if you’d rather, go to a party store and lay in some disposable plastic glasses in various sizes. It’s good to have a variety of glasses on hand: tall ones for highballs, short, squatty old-fashioned glasses, beer steins, stemmed glasses for wine, etc. This is one reason it’s good to serve just two or three kinds of cocktails: to limit the variety of glasses you need.

If you’re going to mix drinks in a blender, you’ll need one that will stand up to whirling ice. A cocktail shaker with a strainer top is handy for quickly chilling cocktail ingredients as you mix them. A jigger, the little cup for measuring drink ingredients, is also a must. Some are two-sided, with each side offering different measurements. A few long-handled spoons for stirring, and a corkscrew, and your basics are covered.
Now, what to put in the blender, the glasses, the jigger?

You’ll need 750-ml bottles of basic spirits: vodka, gin, whiskey, rum and tequila. The bottles may seem huge but don’t worry that you’re supposed to drink them all up soon. The contents keep for years. You’ll also need sweet and dry vermouth, brandy or cognac, plus the more specialized liquors and liqueurs needed for special drinks. Decide on your cocktails and you know whether you should shop for Kahlua and kirsch or blue curacao and crème de cacao … or all of the above.

As a general rule, the fewer the ingredients in the cocktail, the better they should be. Taken to its extreme, this means save the really fine sipping stuff for its intended purpose, and buy good-but-not-outrageously-pricey brands for mixing. (Translation: Unless you want to be seized and held for ransom by a pack of enraged Highlanders, do not use a fine single-malt Scotch in a mixed drink!)

Pick a cabinet for storing your stash and make sure it’s well out of reach of children.

Speaking of children and other (presumed) non-drinkers, don’t forget the non-alcoholic necessities. Add some fruit juices to the list, based on what you want to offer guests, plus tomato or vegetable juice, bottled lime juice, sparkling water and grenadine. Add hot-pepper sauce and Worcestershire sauce if you’re going to attempt anything like a Bloody Mary.

You’ll also want to serve something to eat with these drinks – always give people something to eat with their drinks. If you’re going on to dinner, these can be simple: mixed nuts, good tortilla chips and guacamole or salsa or bean dip, that old standby onion-soup-mix-with-sour-cream and ridged potato chips, a healthy plate of fresh vegetables (baby carrots, celery sticks, and so on) — you get the idea. If this is dinner, go for more substantial but still bite-sized things such as purchased frozen mini-pizzas or bagels that you can heat up, or three or four easy hot appetizers plus a fresh-veggie tray.

The following recipes are for one serving each, except for the punch recipes, which serve about 20.

Fangs A Lot
A blender drink to sink your teeth into.

1 ounce light rum
1⁄2 ounce cranberry liqueur
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
Garnish: 3-5 fresh cranberries

Place everything but the cranberries in a blender. Add shaved ice until the liquids just barely cover. Blend at high speed until smooth. Pour into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with cranberries speared on a swizzle stick.

FRANKEN'S STEIN
When all you want is a bloody beer

1 bottle beer (lighter flavored beers work better than dark)
1 small can vegetable juice cocktail (such as V-8)
Splash of lime juice
Ground cumin to taste
Garnish: Lime slice

Combine all ingredients except garnish in a chilled beer stein. Float a slice of lime on top.

BRIDE OF FRANKEN'S STEIN
For when the monster gets lonely

1 bottle amber ale
1-1⁄2 ounces gold tequila
Squirt of lemon juice
Garnish: Lemon slice, pinch of cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients except garnish in a tall, chilled beer glass. Dust lemon slice with a little cayenne pepper, then float in glass.

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