Come in! Make yourself… umm… comfortable. Heh heh heh! May I offer you a cocktail? How about a nice Black Martini with Devil’s Eyeballs? BWAAHAHAHAHA!

For the Black (Espresso) Martinis you’ll need:

2 cups prepared espresso
2 cups black vodka or espresso-flavored vodka
1 cup Kahlua (or other coffee liqueur)
1/4 cup sugar (or to taste)

Dissolve the sugar into the hot espresso and chill. Combine the espresso with the remaining ingredients. Chill well and serve in chilled martini glasses.

Alternatively, fill a cocktail shaker half-full with ice, add espresso mixture, shake well, and strain into chilled martini glasses.

Makes about 8 servings.

*Note: You can make the martinis a couple of days ahead, if you like. The advantage, other than time-savings, is that the flavors meld further and the drink concentrates a little, enabling the Devil’s Eyeballs to float menacingly in the cocktail!

For the Devil’s Eyeballs you’ll need:

1 can lychee fruit, drained
1 small bottle maraschino cherries, drained (not jumbo-sized)
chocolate chips (preferably semi-sweet)

Blot the lychees and cherries with paper towel to dry a bit.

For each eyeball, insert one cherry, stem-end up, into a lychee. Take a chocolate chip and press the point into the cherry stem dimple. For best effect, it should turn a little sideways for that creepy, evil, cat-like pupil.

Great way to get your Halloween party guests in the proper spirit – enjoy!