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"Every year on Halloween, the decorations are up, the carved pumpkins are lit all around the front of the house, the huge black plastic cauldron is filled with candy, and the crock pot is out on the front step. Yes, that&amp;#039;s right. I said &amp;quot;crock pot&amp;quot;. You see, in my neighborhood, I&amp;#039;m sort of a Halloween celebrity. Every year since I moved here (and that&amp;#039;s a lucky 13 Halloweens ago this year), I&amp;#039;ve offered beverages to thirsty kids and parents traversing our large housing development. The kids get cold apple cider or water, and the parents have a choice of that or a cup full of hot, delicious, spiked cider from my bubbling crock pot. It&amp;#039;s gotten so popular now that I have regulars who show up with their own mugs in hand. I&amp;#039;m known as &amp;quot;The Cider Lady&amp;quot; and I get rave reviews for it, too. For those of you that imbibe, I&amp;#039;m happy to share the recipe: 1/2 gallon apple cider (you should be able to find it in the grocery store this time of year) 1 bag of mulling spices (if you can&amp;#039;t find these, throw in a couple of bags of Cinnamon or Cinnamon-Apple flavored herbal tea) 1/2 cup spiced rum 1/2 cup Applejack or other apple brandy 1/2 cup Buttershots or other butterscotch schnapps Pour it all into the crock pot and heat to warm, or if you&amp;#039;re pressed for time, heat it on the stove and pour it into the crock pot. You can double (or triple!) the recipe as needed.  Warning: if you have too many cups of this yourself, you will be prone to giving out giant handfuls of candy, singing &amp;quot;Monster Mash&amp;quot; in a creepy British accent, and asking visiting adults if they&amp;#039;d like a cup full of &amp;quot;Psyched Spider&amp;quot;. Sip slowly, even though it&amp;#039;s so darn good you want to gulp it down. Do you do anything special for the parents or trick-or-treaters, besides handing out candy? [Follow Ellie on Twitter and Facebook] "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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