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Liquid Kitchen® Presents: Black Cat Old Fashioned

Kathy Casey
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Liquid Kitchen® Presents: Black Cat Old Fashioned

It has been a long month of Halloween insanity. Scary clowns have ruined your costume idea for the night and now, all you want to do is watch some bad horror movies and chill. That’s okay. Maybe you aren’t the crowd type and parties aren’t your deal anyway. Does that mean you can’t have a little fun with your cocktails on Halloween? Of course not! Here is a spooky spin on an Old Fashioned, with a boozy mashup of bourbon, homemade Orange and Black Coffee Syrup, and smoky mezcal for a little bit of fire and brimstone. It will warm you up to a long night of trick-or-treaters at your door…..if any are brave enough to venture out.

Black Cat Old Fashioned

(makes 1 cocktail)

  • 1½   ounces bourbon
  • ½   ounce mezcal
  • ¼    ounce Orange & Black Coffee Syrup
  • 1-2 dashes chocolate bitters
  • garnish: fat orange peel

Measure the bourbon, mezcal, syrup and bitters into a mixing glass. Fill three-quarters full with ice. Stir with a bar spoon until well chilled. Serve strained over a large ice cube in an old fashioned glass. Express the orange peel over the drink to release the oils, twist and add to the drink.

Photo courtesy of Liquid Kitchen®
Photo courtesy of Liquid Kitchen®

Orang & Black Coffee Syrup

(makes about 12 ounces)

  • ¼   cup fresh orange juice
  • 1 Tablespoon finely minced orange zest
  • 24 coffee beans
  • ¾ cup water
  • 2 cups sugar

Combine ingredients (minus the sugar) in a small saucepan. On medium-high heat, bring liquid to a boil. Once it has boiled, add the sugar and stir to combine well. Continue to boil for about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and steep for 1 hour. Strain and store refrigerated for up to 30 days.

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Kathy Casey is a chef, mixologist, and is known as the Original Bar Chef. Her newest book is D’Llish Deviled Eggs, which is a great accompaniment to any cocktail. Follow Kathy on Twitter and Instagram. For more great cocktail recipes, visit www.LiquidKitchen.com.

‘This Is Your Brain On Drugs’ Actor Has A Change Of Heart

Al Olson
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‘This Is Your Brain On Drugs’ Actor Has A Change Of Heart

If you were alive in the late 1980s and owned a TV, you saw the commercial. Over and over again.

The 30-second ad brought to you by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America featured an egg, a sizzling-hot frying pan and an actor saying “This is your brain on drugs.” The ad’s intent was to scare the bejesus out of teens — and their parents — from drugs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub_a2t0ZfTs

John Roselius, the actor now mostly known as the “This Is Your Brain on Drugs Guy” or simply “The Egg Guy,” has turned away from this campaign and has fully endorsed marijuana legalization. In fact, the 72-year-old actor has already voted in favor of Prop 64 in California. (The state allows for early voting.)

“I’m 100 percent behind legalizing it, are you kidding?” he asks.

In an interview in The Rooster, a Colorado-based magazine, Roselius said the 1987 commercial gig paid him $360. Did he believe what he was saying at the time? Nope. According to the interview:

He also admits that marijuana doesn’t fry your brain like an egg in hot cast iron. In fact, he knew it didn’t even when he made the ad. How? Because he’d smoked a bunch of it, mostly during the 1960s, when he was living in San Francisco, often on the dock at lunchtime, often with his other buddies in the Marines. “It was the most relaxed I ever was,” he said.

Roselius is one of many Americans shifting their position on marijuana legalization. According to the latest Gallup poll releases last week, 60 percent of U.S. citizens now support full legalization.

Marijuana is fully legal in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington state and the District of Columbia. This November, voters in Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada will decide on the issue. Three other states — Florida, Arkansas and North Dakota — will vote on whether to allow medical marijuana in its state.

 

Highway is an essential source for cannabis science, how-to stories and demystifying marijuana. Want to read more? Thy these posts: One Man’s Journey In Pursuit Of The Truth Behind Marijuana Prohibition, Marijuana Myth Busting: Does Holding In Smoke Get You Higher? and A Drag Queen’s Visit To The Cannabis Store.

Hillary Clinton References Meme: I Think Death Row Records Influenced My Look

Taylor Berman
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Hillary Clinton References Meme: I Think Death Row Records Influenced My Look

Last week, a tweet by @double_cupp_me compared the Hillary Clinton debate fashion to the suits worn by various members of notorious 1990s rap label Death Row Records. The tweet went viral with more than 102,000 retweets and 147,000 likes. This morning, the former Secretary of State referenced it during her interview this morning on the syndicated hip-hop radio station the Breakfast Club.

https://twitter.com/double_cupp_me/status/789088080426831872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

“This is a good hip-hop meme,” host Charlamagne Tha God told Clinton as he showed her the tweet on his phone. “In one you dress like Suge Knight, in one you dress like Tupac, and in one you dress like Snoop Dogg.”

While it wasn’t entirely clear if she knew or remembered what Death Row was, Clinton laughed heartily and provided a smooth, if not completely convincing, answer.

“I think Death Row and a lot of other fashion sources have influenced my look,” she said. “Don’t you?”

She also gave her review of Saturday Night Live‘s recurring parodies of her and Donald Trump’s debates. “They’re pretty funny,” she said. “I think they did a great job. It wasn’t hard to make fun of those debates, but they did a great job.”

Later in the interview, Stevie Wonder joined the show to sing the presidential candidate “Happy Birthday” for her 69th birthday. Watch the full show below. Clinton addresses the Death Row Records meme at 18:04, and Wonder joins the group at 21:17.

The most essential daily news, entertainment, pop culture, and culture coverage. Want more? Check out “A Brief History Of Shaq’s Obsession With Krispy Kreme Donuts,” “The Official Fresh Toast Playlist For Your Perfect Halloween Party,” “Couple Shooting Engagement Photos In The Woods Encounters Lurking Black Metal Band“

[h/t Stereogum]

Oregon ‘Health Alert’ Is One Sign Marijuana Legalization Works

Al Olson
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Oregon ‘Health Alert’ Is One Sign Marijuana Legalization Works

This is what marijuana legalization looks like: Cannabis that does not pass regulatory standards is pulled from the shelves and consumers have a clearer idea of what they are buying.

Last week, the Oregon Health Authority announced its first “health alert” when it was discovered through lab testing that two strains of marijuana contained high levels of pesticide. According to the state agency mandated to regulate marijuana, 130 consumers purchased the tainted weed between Oct. 17 and Oct. 19 from New Leaf CannaCenter in McMinnville, Ore.

“Anyone who visited the dispensary during this time frame should check the label of the product they purchased and immediately return the product to the dispensary, or dispose of it in a safe and responsible manner,” the OHA said.

While this certainly is bad news for the 130 customers who bought the pesticide-laden cannabis, it is a perfect demonstration of what legalization does for consumers. A non-regulated industry would not have an agency dedicated to keeping the market free from inferior products. It ensures that growers, distributors, processors and retailers follow protocols designed to keep consumers safe. Try doing that with your unregulated neighborhood dealer.

Greg Bogh, owner of the McMinnville dispensary, released a statement:

“New Leaf CannaCenter is deeply troubled that it received product from a grower that did not meet the standards set by the Oregon Health Authority or the very high standards New Leaf always strives to maintain. As soon as we learned about the problem, we immediately removed all of the remaining product from our inventory and cooperated fully with the OHA to remedy the situation.”

OHA offers the following tips to consumers considering purchasing marijuana products:

  • Read marijuana product labels. All labels must have the producer’s business or trade name and licensee or registrant number; the business or trade name of licensee or registrant that packaged or distributed the product, if different from the producer; the name of the strain; and the universal symbol.
  • Request a copy of the pesticide test results from the dispensary.
  • People choosing to smoke marijuana should consider the negative effects that smoking may have on their health.

 

Highway is an essential source for cannabis science, how-to stories and demystifying marijuana. Want to read more? Thy these posts: One Man’s Journey In Pursuit Of The Truth Behind Marijuana Prohibition, Marijuana Myth Busting: Does Holding In Smoke Get You Higher? and A Drag Queen’s Visit To The Cannabis Store.

Watch The Roots Geek Out After Backing Phil Collins For “In the Air Tonight” On ‘The Tonight Show’

Taylor Berman
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Watch The Roots Geek Out After Backing Phil Collins For “In the Air Tonight” On ‘The Tonight Show’

On last night’s The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon, Phil Collins performed his 1981 classic, “In the Air Tonight.” In addition to his regular keyboardist and guitarist, Collins was backed by Tonight Show in-house band and Philly legends The Roots, who were clearly thrilled to be playing with the former Genesis drummer on his most popular song.

Roots guitarist “Captain” Kirk Douglas performed almost the entire song with his eyes closed, nodding along in a sort of silent reverence as Daryl Stuermer played his guitar solos, and Questlove was clearly ecstatic after nailing one of the most iconic drum breaks of all time. In fact, Fallon told Collins during their interview that Questlove was “really has been stressed out about this for months,” referring to the drum section. 

q-love

Collins also explained that he wrote the song after divorcing his first wife, Andrea Bertorelli, in 1980.”I was pissed off. I was angry,” he said. “Well, you know, you go through a divorce. And sometimes it’s like ‘I love you, I love you. Don’t hang up. And sometimes it’s like, ‘Well, fuck you.’ And that’s where a song like ‘In the Air Tonight’ comes in. There’s obviously a lot of anger in there.”

Watch the full performance, and Collins’s interview with Fallon, below.

The most essential daily news, entertainment, pop culture, and culture coverage. Want more? Check out “A Brief History Of Shaq’s Obsession With Krispy Kreme Donuts,” “The Official Fresh Toast Playlist For Your Perfect Halloween Party,” “Couple Shooting Engagement Photos In The Woods Encounters Lurking Black Metal Band“

Oh My Gourd! 5 Pumpkin Edibles To Celebrate National Pumpkin Day

Amy Hansen
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Oh My Gourd! 5 Pumpkin Edibles To Celebrate National Pumpkin Day

For as big of a fame whore as it is, you’d think pumpkin season lived and died by the introduction of the Pumpkin Spice Latte. But long before the PSL arrived, National Pumpkin Day (Oct. 26) has been the day to celebrate everyone’s favorite ubiquitous holiday symbol: the pumpkin.

This is the day when we all work ourselves into a frenzy over the anticipation of pumpkin pie, pumpkin festivals, pumpkin bake-offs, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and various versions of pumpkin beer we’d never actually be caught dead drinking at any other time. Pumpkins are the mascot for not only autumn and harvest, but Halloween, Thanksgiving and, once they start rotting on your doorstep, the shedding of a year and the beginning of a new one.

To honor everyone’s favorite seasonal talisman, here are five pumpkin flavored edibles to jump start your holidays.


via GIPHY

1. Infusion Pumpkin Cookies

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMCTcryjO8d/

Each of these pumpkin cookies from Glendale Greenhouse dispensary in Arizona contain 100 mg of THC and are topped with real cream cheese frosting, pecans and dried pumpkin flakes.

2. Mini Pumpkin Pies

https://www.instagram.com/p/-XFbMgHwyQ/

Denver-based Sweet Grass Kitchen has been making these pie-lettes every season since 2012. And since then, the small batch bakery has been selling thousands of pies every year. The recreational pies contain 10 mg of active THC, while the medical pies contain 75 mg.

3. Pumpkin Spice Liquid Gold Bar

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMCW4CKg8XC/

Available in Washington and California, Gfarma Labs introduced the pumpkin spice edible in 2014, and now offer it seasonally. Twenty bucks will buy you a whopping 210 mg of THC.

4. Pumpkin Pie Delight

This popular seasonal snack from Incredibles in Colorado is 45 grams of pumpkin spice and graham crackers infused with 100 mg of THC.

5. The Grand Pumpkin

https://www.instagram.com/p/BY3k9-Vhpki

Big Daddy’s Edibles out of California makes some beautiful baked goods, such as milk chocolate ganache-dipped confetti cakes and these white chocolate cranberry cookies. And during the fall season, they sell pumpkin bread — more than 1,000 mg of TCH in each loaf.

Watch a Truck Carrying Weed Edibles Burst Into Flames On A Delaware Bridge

Taylor Berman
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Watch a Truck Carrying Weed Edibles Burst Into Flames On A Delaware Bridge

Tragedy struck in Delaware earlier this week when a Weed World Candies filled with, uh, weed candies, burst into flames on the Delaware Memorial Bridge as it made its way into Philadelphia. No one was injured, but all of the weed edibles went up in smoke.

WPVI reports that firefighters quickly arrived at the scene and extinguished the massive fire, but not before the truck and its contents were completely destroyed. According to NBC 10, more than $50,000 worth of edibles and other merchandise were lost in the fire. All five people traveling in the RV escaped unharmed.

Video shot from other vehicles shows the truck burning in the center lane of the bridge. There’s no word what started the blaze, which WPVI reports brought traffic to a near standstill for an hour.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Obc48tffDjs

https://twitter.com/Squared6abc/status/790342258419568640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/four20unicorn/status/790512024916750337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

According to their website, Weed World Candies started operations in 1999 “with the goal to get Marijuana & Hemp legalized and industrialized.” They drive around the U.S. in “loud” RVs, vans, and trucks to promote the legalization of marijuana.

[Complex]

11 Of The Best Cheap Beers In America, Ranked

Jacob Uitti
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11 Of The Best Cheap Beers In America, Ranked

My high school days consisted largely of sitting on the back of a pickup truck drinking cheap beer. (Of course, I was 21 in high school and/or went to a high school where the drinking age was high school age. Moving on). And in college, we drank cheap beer in pine forests, dorm rooms and, eventually, in bars. In other words, I’m a cheap beer expert. Like the way scientists can detect the existence of planets just by studying light patterns, I can tell a good cheap beer just by the condensation dripping down the can. As such, we wanted to impart some hard-earned beer knowledge about something I know a lot about: cheap beer. Sometimes they’re the best, sometimes they’re all that’s available! Below are 11 versions for you to crack open (in case of emergency). Cheers!

11. Coors

They call this the Banquet Beer, but really it’s a lot like Utica Club: overly heavy for what it’s trying to be. Coors is the unfiltered Marlboro Red of light beers. People who drink it consider themselves old school – cowboys even.

10. Natural Ice

Likely the strongest of all the cheap beers. We learn early on in college that anything “Ice” at the end means “stronger.” So, “Natty Ice,” as it’s known, was the first thing people looked to buy if money was an issue, which it often was. Natty Ice is bitter, so much so you can taste the cheap booze going down when you drink it.

9. Utica Club

Ah, the cheap beer I drank most my freshman year of college. Utica Club has a name like a small yacht someone is trying to convince you is a cruise ship. It’s beefy, for a light beer, and fills you up.

8. Coors Light

While I often wanted MGD those fateful high school days, the people buying the beer all too often bought Coors Light, which has always tasted the most watery of any cheap beer ever. Is it all water? I’m still not sure.

7. Rainier

This refreshing beer originated in Seattle, WA in 1878. For a company to still be around THAT LONG, they must be doing something right. And that something is simple, crisp light beer. Anecdotally, visiting most bars in the Seattle area, Rainier is just about the most popular brew, despite being surrounded by so many craft options.

6. Olympia

The other most popular beer in Washington State is just a few years younger than Rainier, which originated in 1896. Olympia is brisk and clean and a touch lighter in body than Rainier. If chilled properly, it tastes like a rushing river out of an ice luge.

5. Pabst Blue Ribbon

Likely the most popular “tall boy” can of beer in the country. Everyone knows the white can with the big blue ribbon. If given a blind taste test, I’m sure I couldn’t differentiate between PBR, Olympia and Rainier, so let’s call them all super duper fantastic!

4. Miller Lite

I’ve been working in a bar for about seven years now, and this one fellow has been coming in since day one. He orders two Miller Lite bottles each night and each  night I rib him and say, “Tastes great, less filling.” Miller is fine beer. It’s also a beer I used to be able to drink a bottle of in under three seconds. I’m not sure why I’m telling you this.

3. Miller Genuine Draft

For some reason, I always liked MGD best out of any of the other Miller family beers. It tastes the most robust, like it has some body and a strong flavor composition, relatively speaking. Whenever someone would pick up a case of beer in my early drinking days, I’d always request MGD.

2. Yuengling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7X7_lVgRRk

One of the first beers I ever drank, Yuengling is thought to be the oldest operating brewing company in America. I drank a ton of it when I lived in New Jersey and while the beer is easily drinkable and on the lighter side of the spectrum, it has some good flavor, a touch of malt, and is often served at parties as the high class cheap brew option.

1. Rolling Rock

If I could only drink one beer from this list forever, this would be the one. It’s sophisticated for a light beer. Heck, it comes in a fine green bottle! It tastes the most like a craft pilsner and doesn’t leave me feeling awful ever. That’s a win!

5 Drinks To Chug With Your Halloween Candy Binge

Erin James
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5 Drinks To Chug With Your Halloween Candy Binge

For all you candy-lovers, inner children, costumer party enthusiasts, sweet tooth-aholics and regular alcoholics, this one’s for you. Who says kids get to have all the fun on Halloween? Fun-haters, that’s who. This year, take your fright-fest frivolity to the next level by making an educated choice in pairing Halloween treats with equally tasty tricks, of the alcoholic variety.

Treat: Peanut M&MS


via GIPHY

Trick: Sandeman 10-year Tawny Port

Trivia: Port, if you aren’t familiar, isn’t just a dockside locale for imported goods to check-in; it is also a sweet, fortified red wine that hails exclusively from Portugal. The grapes are fermented like regular red wine but, when the ideal sugar level hits during this sugar-to-alcohol conversion process, the fermentation is stopped before it is complete when spirits (usually grape brandy) is added in, thus fortifying the mostly fermented juice.

Legally, the bottlings have to be at least 17.5 percent ABV, so most makers use about 30 percent brandy to jack it up, and the finished product must be aged for a minimum of two years. Long story short, this Tawny port was aged for 10 years in barrel and shows off flavors of prune, vanilla, strawberry jam and nuts, which make it a reciprocal match for a bag (or six) of peanut M&MS.

Treat: Jolly Ranchers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzDIIfaBhIU

Trick: Domaine Neige Première Ice Cider

Trivia: The world’s first ice cider, Neige was released onto this planet in just 1995. Created in Québec’s praised Montérégie region, the province’s fruit basket of agricultural fame, and modeled after ice wine, ice cider is made in two different ways: cryoconcentration (apples are picked, pressed for juice and the juice is left outside to freeze once the weather is cold enough) and cryoextraction (apples are harvested in late winter, as opposed to early fall, when they are naturally dehydrated, concentrated and frozen). This golden pour is a vibrant syrupy delight of white flowers, baking spices, tart apple and caramelized citrus, all leading to a symmetrical, tart-and-sweet equal to favorite Jolly Rancher flavors, like Cinnamon Fire, Green Apple and Blue Raspberry.

Treat: Snickers


via GIPHY

Trick: Larcerny Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Trivia: Kentucky is hallowed ground for the barrel-aged American whiskey better known as bourbon. By law, bourbon whiskey’s mash bill (the “recipe” of grains used) must be 51-80 percent corn, it must be aged for a minimum of two years in new white oak barrels, nothing but water can be added at bottling (like flavoring) and the ethanol alcohol percentage (proof) must sit between 80 and 125 proof. Although the spirit is now produced in everywhere from Seattle to Tokyo, bourbon originated in the Bluegrass State’s Bourbon County and must be produced within state borders to call it Kentucky Straight Whiskey.

This small-batch straight bourbon whiskey is true to the cause, blended from barrels that are aged anywhere from six to 10 years and is bottled at 92 proof. The amber-hued spirit fumes of creamed corn, maple, freshly baked pastries and caramel, with similar oaky traits on the palate, sealing with a caramel-coated nutty kiss. Snickers — in all of its caramel-and-peanut-topped nougat glory, covered in a cushy blanket of milk chocolate — is the icing on the bourbon cake when it comes to harmonious pairing. Must find Snicker bourbon cake recipe…

Treat: Skittles


via GIPHY

Trick: Georgetown Brewing Bodhizafa India Pale Ale

Trivia: In a British solution to exporting ales eastward, specifically to India, brewers would increase the amount of hops used to preserve the beer throughout it’s long — and usually humid — trip. Turns out the naturally growing plant would also increase the bitterness in the ale, a flavor profile that has a cult support base today.

Georgetown Brewing’s Bodhizafa IPA, named for Patrick Swayze’s character in the 1991 movie “Point Break,” won the coveted “Best American IPA” gold medal this year at the Great American Beer Festival and rightly so: it’s friggin’ delicious. Juicy with explosive citrus aromas and flavors (mandarin, grapefruit and candied lemon), resinous hops lay down the bitter law, making exceptions for creamy malts and a crisp, citrusy finish. Like Bodhi on his surfboard, this beer is all about gravity and balance, complementing the juicy quality of Skittles and countering the candy’s sugar with bitterness and acid.

Treat: Mounds


via GIPHY

Trick: Smatt’s Silver Rum

Trivia: Coconuts and rum go together like… pirates and rum. The 17th century sugar-based spirit even spans musical history, from seafaring sing-alongs (yo-ho-ho) to R. Kelly’s “Remix to Ignition.” Fermented and distilled from sugarcane byproducts (typically molasses), rum comes in various grades, from spiced and dark (color derived from caramelized sugar and/or barreling aging) to light (or white/silver) rum, such as Smatt’s Silver. This colorless, filtered rum bursts with notes of coconut, caramel and banana, with vanilla laced through to the pure and clean finish. Coconut is crucial here, making this rum an easy drink pick when sipping and mowing down on a milk chocolate and coconut Mounds bar, matching sweetness for sweetness, fruit flavor for fruit flavor.

Skulls Ready: A Short History Of Dia De Los Muertos

Sam Jones
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Skulls Ready: A Short History Of Dia De Los Muertos

Before you paint that colorful skull on your face and don a flower crown, learn a little more about the culture you’re borrowing from.

Dia De Los Muertos — also known as Dia de Muertos in the English back-translated version — began in Mexico. It’s now celebrated across Latin America and among communities that share this heritage and tradition, according to National Geographic.

Before Spanish colonization in the 16th century, the holiday was celebrated in early summer. Now, it’s observed from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2, coinciding with the Western Christian All Saints’ Eve, All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.

Its name isn’t for nothing. The day really is meant for the dead, in celebrating those that have passed with private altars, or ofrendas. These include favorite food and drink of the deceased, photos, memorabilia and flowers. Toys are left for children, and booze for adults. Families gather around the altars to pray or reminisce about the lives of their loved ones. It’s meant to be a celebration, not a mourning, under the belief that the dead would be bummed out by a lot of sulking and crying. Why not put on your dancing shoes and feel alive? The calacas (skeletons) and calaveras (skulls) are almost always seen as rejoicing, vivid characters, not the shadowy, melodramatic ghosts and ghouls seen in Western Halloween tradition.

Here’s where things get a little spooky: Some versions of the tradition hold that spirits of dead children reunite with their families at midnight on Oct. 31, with adults following them from the gates of heaven on Nov. 2. Every community celebrates differently, however, with their own traditions and celebrations.

If this is the first you’ve heard of this holiday’s complex and rich history, and you’re planning to wear a sugar skull for Halloween, be ready to defend your choice to appropriate a deeply personal and religious holiday. Or wear pretty much anything else from your own culture.

 

The most essential daily news, entertainment, pop culture, and culture coverage. Want more? “5 Scary Things To Make With Leftover Halloween Candy,” “6 Pop Culture Food Costumes For Halloween,” “Liquid Kitchen Presents: The Green Ghoul“

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