This potato-pumpkin side dish is easy to make because it uses instant potatoes: There’s no peeling or slicing. Thanks to the Idaho Potato Commission for the recipe.

You can plop these tasty patties atop a salad or serve them as a side with a main course.

> The history of pumpkins.

> The history of potatoes.

> The different types of potatoes: a glossary.
 
 
WHAT ARE PEPITAS

Since this recipe contains pepitas, it’s a Food 101 learning moment.

The word pepita is often used interchangeably for pumpkin seed, but there is a significant difference.

A pepita is the edible seed of a specific variety of pumpkin, the Styrian pumpkin. This is also the seed used to make pumpkin oil.

Pepitas are dark green and have no hulls.

Pumpkin seeds, on the other hand, refer to the larger, white seeds with hulls found inside the jack o’lantern pumpkins for Halloween.

The variety, bred to be uniformly tall and wide, is known as Howden Field pumpkin.
 
 
RECIPE: MASHED POTATO, PUMPKIN & PEPITA PATTIES
 
Ingredients For 8 Patties

 
Preparation

1. WHISK 2 cups of the potato flakes in a medium bowl, with the milk, pumpkin, 2 eggs, the pepitas, and the seasonings. Mix until well blended; set aside.

2. WHISK the remaining 2 eggs in a small bowl. Place the remaining 1 cup of potato flakes into a pie plate.

3. HEAT a 10″ skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly spray with cooking spray.

4. SCOOP the reserved potato pumpkin batter with a ¼ cup measuring cup into your clean hands and form into 2½˝ wide patties.

5. DIP each patty into the beaten eggs, then into the potato flakes, coating both sides. Repeat until you have enough to fill the skillet.

6. FRY the patties in the hot skillet, cooking until golden brown on each side. Coat the skillet with more cooking spray if the patties begin to stick.

7. TRANSFER the cooked patties to a platter. Continue to form and fry patties until all the batter is used. Serve the patties warm or at room temperature.
 
 
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*If you don’t have either Cajun or Creole seasoning, you can approximate by blending 6 tablespoons paprika, 4 tablespoons garlic powder, 2 tablespoons black pepper, 2 tablespoons cayenne (add more for more heat), 2 tablespoons dried basil, 2 tablespoons dried oregano, 2 tablespoons dried thyme, 2 tablespoons onion powder, and 2 tablespoons white pepper. Store the remainder in a tightly-capped jar.

†Pepitas can also come from a related cultivar.

[1] (photos #1, #2, and #3 by Jonathan Melendez © Idaho Potato Commission).

[2] The recipe suggests a side of cranberry sauce. We added Greek yogurt, too.

[3] Pepitas, unlike pumpkin seeds, have no hull (photo © The Nibble).

[4] Mashed potato flakes, a.k.a. instant mashed potatoes (photo © Idahoan Foods).

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[1] Cocoa Bomb on the rocks (photo © Heritage Distilling).

[2] A cocoa bomb, inspiration for the whiskey (photo © Williams Sonoma).

Here’s a different type of chocolate for Halloween…or Christmas…or Valentine’s Day…or whenever: Cocoa Bomb Chocolate Whiskey from Heritage Distilling.

Heritage is the largest independently owned craft distillery in the Pacific Northwest.

It’s also the most-awarded craft distillery, with numerous awards for Cocoa Bomb*.

This chocolate whiskey is so delicious that it is sold out just about everywhere.

Trying to replace our supply, we found one spot that still has inventory, Martin Bruni Liquor.

The whiskey was driven by the love of the Cocoa Bomb hot chocolate experience†—a hollow sphere of chocolate with hot chocolate powder and marshmallows inside (photo #2).

You place the cocoa bomb in a mug and pour hot milk over it. The sphere “explodes,” the chocolate shell melts, the cocoa powder mixes with the milk, and you’ve got a delicious cup of hot chocolate.

Thus inspired, the Heritage team set out to make the best-tasting chocolate-flavored whiskey on the market.

It doesn’t explode for theatrics, but bottled at 75 proof and naturally flavored with cane sugar, the whiskey is extremely smooth with notes of cocoa, dark chocolate, and a hint of marshmallow.

It has no milk, but you could create a Black Russian-type drink by combining it with half-and-half.

When you track down a supply, get more than one bottle. You’ll be glad you did.
 
 
> The history of chocolate.

> The history of whiskey.

*Best of Class: Infused/Flavored Whiskey from Sunset’s Spirits Awards 2022, Double Gold Medal / Best Flavored Whiskey from The Fifty Best 2022, Silver Medal from American Distilling Institute 2022, Gold Medal from USA Spirit Ratings 2021.

†Cocoa Bombs™ were invented by Eric Torres Garcia of Boise, Idaho. They became an immediate viral success on TikTok. Today, you can buy them from CocoaBombs.com.

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How about an eerily smoking Margarita for Halloween? In this case, a grapefruit Margarita is enhanced with fresh rosemary and a smoking rosemary sprig.

Thanks to Canta Negra Tequila for the recipe.

> More Margarita recipes.

> More Halloween cocktail recipes.

> The history of the Margarita.
 
 
RECIPE: ROSEMARY-GRAPEFRUIT MARGARITA

 
Ingredients Per Drink

 
Preparation

1. RIM a rocks glass and fill it with ice. For Halloween, black lava salt makes a great impression.

2. PLACE the rosemary and agave nectar in an empty cocktail shaker (no ice). Muddle until the rosemary becomes fragrant.

3. ADD the tequila, grapefruit, and lime juices, and ice to the shaker. Shake vigorously for 10-15 seconds and double strain (pour from the shaker over a mesh strainer) into the ice-filled glass.

4. LIGHT the rosemary. If you’re using the smoked rosemary garnish, carefully hold a match under the top half of a sprig of rosemary until it starts to smolder slightly. Add the non-smoking stem side of the spring into your glass. Serve.

 
 
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*Note that black flake salt is different from kala namak, which is also known as black salt or sanchal. Kala namak is unrefined volcanic table salt with a strong sulfuric flavor which is mined in Central India. Despite its name, it is actually light pink in color. What you want here is either Cyprus black flake salt or Hawaiian black flake salt (also called black lava salt), both of which are midnight-black.

[1] A smoking Margarita (photo © Canta Negra Tequila).

[2] Black flake salt, also called black lava salt, makes a great Halloween cocktail rim (photo © Get Flavor).

[3] Fresh rosemary (photo © Burpee).

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