The Mr. Peanut costume my mother crafted from chicken wire when I was 12 was a true masterpiece--with monocal eyeglasses and a dandy walking cane, I looked the part and won first prize at the middle school parade. Halloween in our home was serious business with fabulous homemade costumes and hours of Trick or Treating. Later that night, bags of candy were sorted, traded and carefully hidden from siblings-if you were smart, the loot could last until Christmas.
Halloween is my favorite holiday, a day when you can be whoever you want to be all in the name of fun. And New York is a city made for the Halloween--with 40 floor apartment buildings and rows of townhouses decorated in ghoulish splendor, the city becomes a huge block party and everyone comes out to join the fun. I've been to some amazing parties over the years. My favorite was an over the top come as your favorite "science experiment gone awry". My husband made a very impressive Edward Scissor hands and I was his muse, a crazy topiary he tried to cut. It was great fun- the purple and green cocktails were served in beakers and test tubes and the canapes were creepy but delicious.
This year we will attend a friends festive pre-Trick or Treat party which is reminiscent of a tailgate party before the big game. The adults will have a chance to socialize while enjoying savory homemade chili and drinking a cocktail or two while the kids, adorable in their costumes, will run around like mad men in the kid's bedrooms. At seven o'clock we all gather en masse for some serious Trick or Treating.
If you haven't made plans yet, there still is time. Invite a few friends over for an after work Halloween themed cocktail and throw on your Elvira wig--it's Halloween!
Who can resist a
Vampire Kiss cocktail?
1 1/2 oz. vodka
1 1/2 oz champagne
3/4 oz. Chambord
red colored sugar
1. Rim martini glass with red colored sugar
2. Put vodka and half Chambord in glass
3. Add champagne
4. Use back of spoon to float the remaining Chambord into glass
