Pumpkin Spice Vodka
Follow procedure for Five-Berry Vodka, but with the following ingredients:
About 2 cups peeled, seeded pumpkin flesh (or try butternut squash)
5 cinnamon sticks
6 allspice berries
2 or 3 cloves
1 nutmeg

Nutcracker Cocktail
2 oz. Pumpkin Spice Vodka
1/2 oz. crème de cacao
1/2 oz. amaretto
splash of cream

Shake all ingredients over ice in a cocktail shaker. Pour into a martini glass. You could go mad and rim the glass beforehand with graham cracker crumbs.

Makes 1 cocktail.

Many thanks to Teryl, Lois, Ellen, Beverly, and Lauri for drinking about six of these while I worked out the proportions. The ladies also graciously suggested many pumpkin-y names for this drink, which I ungraciously discarded in favor of the Nutcracker. It seemed appropriate. And after a few of these I was inclined to demonstrate passages of the Nutcracker Ballet for my companions.