Countess Kester floating through the halls of in the Mix Magazine…
“Look into my eyessss…now step into my offissss and view the most creative and otherworldly Halloween cocktailssss.”
– Countess Kester (Creative Director, in the Mix Magazine)
Cocktails and photos courtesy of Martha Stewart – marthastewart.com
Bleeding Heart Martini
Keep up the fear factor with a Bleeding Heart martini, a drink with a pickled beet that “bleeds” from a would caused by a cocktail spear.
Yield Serves 4
Ingredients
2 ounces dry vermouth
8 ounces premium gin
Ice cubes
4 Pickled Baby Beets, each placed on a cocktail skewer
Directions
Chill 4 martini glasses in the freezer or fill with ice water and let sit until frosty, about 5 minutes (pour out water). Add the vermouth, dividing evenly; swirl to coat the glasses, then pour out. Add gin to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously until chilled; divide among chilled glasses. Garnish each with a skewered pickled baby beet, and serve immediately.
Shrunken Heads Cider
This one-of-a-kind Halloween recipe is courtesy of viewer Allison DiNatale.
The Martha Stewart Show, October Holiday 2008
Yield Serves about 30
Ingredients
2 cups lemon juice
2 tablespoons coarse salt
8 large Granny Smith apples
32 whole cloves
2 gallons apple cider
2 (12-ounce) cans frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
2 cups spiced rum (optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a medium bowl, mix together lemon juice and salt; set aside.
Peel apples and cut each in half through the stem; remove seeds and core. Using a sharp paring knife, carve a face, as desired, on the rounded side of each apple half. Place apples in lemon mixture for one minute; transfer to paper towels to drain.
Place apples, face-side up on prepared baking sheet and transfer to oven. Let bake until apples are dry and begin to brown around the edges, about 90 minutes. Remove apples from baking sheets and press cloves into the “eye” sockets.
Combine cider, lemonade, and rum (if using) in a large punchbowl; float shrunken heads on top.
Lychee Eyeball Martini
Turn lychees into eerie eyeballs for Halloween by stuffing them with berries.
Also try: Grape Eyeballs, Radish Eyeballs
The Martha Stewart Show, October 2009
Yield Makes about 20
Ingredients
1 (15- to 20-ounce) can peeled lychees (about 20)
20 large blueberries or cranberries
Directions
Drain lychees. Place a blueberry or cranberry into the hole of each lychee. Serve on their own or as a cocktail garnish.
Black Lagoon Cocktail
A bone-chilling celebration calls for cocktails of an equally eerie sort. The Black Lagoon, a lemony vodka libation garnished with black ice cubes and a licorice stick, fits the bill.
Ingredients
4 ounces vodka
2 ounces Rosemary-Lemon Syrup
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Licorice Ice Cubes
Directions
Combine vodka, syrup, and juice in a cocktail shaker, stir to combine. Add seltzer, and divide between two glasses filled with licorice ice cubes. Serve immediately.
Cook’s Note
This drink is clear when first poured, but starts to darken as the black ice cubes melt. To make serving multiple cocktails easier, multiply and mix the vodka, syrup, and lemon juice in a pitcher. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve up to 3 hours. Pour mixture into glasses over licorice ice cubes, then top with seltzer.
Pina Ghoulada
A frothy drink is tempting enough, but one served in a red-rimmed glass is particularly enticing to monsters who drink blood. Corn syrup with food coloring tinges the classic pina colada with a devilish sweetness. Dip the rim of each glass into the red mixture, spinning slowly to coat. Turn glasses upright; the red liquid will drip slightly, then set. Pour drinks, and serve. Drinkers’ lips may be stained pink — much like those of a sated vampire.
Martha Stewart Living Special Issues, 2000
Yield Serves 10 to 12
Ingredients
FOR THE “BLOOD”
3 tablespoons corn syrup
1/4 teaspoons red food coloring
FOR THE DRINK
20 ounces pineapple juice
1 can (15 ounces) cream of coconut
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup orange juice
10 ounces good-quality rum
Directions
Pour the corn syrup in a shallow bowl. Dip a toothpick into the food coloring, and stir a very small amount into the syrup to combine. Hold a glass by the stem, dip rim into the syrup mixture, and turn glass, coating entire rim. Turn the glass upright, allowing mixture to drip down sides. Dip the remaining glasses. Set aside.
Whisk together drink ingredients. Place 2 1/2 cups ice in a blender, and add 1 cup drink mixture. Blend until smooth; add more pineapple juice if mixture is too thick. Repeat with remaining ice and mixture. Carefully pour into prepared glasses; serve.
Eyeball Highball
Look for radishes that are fairly uniform in size, so they will fit nicely into your ice-cube tray.
Ingredients
14 medium radishes
7 pimiento-stuffed olives, halved crosswise
16 ounces gin or vodka
1 ounce vermouth
Directions
Trim stem and root ends of radish. Use a paring knife to scrape red skin from radish, leaving just enough to give a veiny appearance. With a small melon baller, cut a hole in radish, about 1/2 inch in diameter. Fit an olive half, cut-side facing out, into hole. Place radish in ice-cube tray. Repeat with remaining radishes. Fill tray with water; freeze.
Mix vodka or gin with vermouth; stir with ice. Divide eyeball ice cubes among four glasses. Strain martini; pour into glasses, and serve.