By Halloween night. Sofia went to her party dressed as a cat and looked beautiful and I took seventeen photographs and she said, MAMI, STOP, and I said I would stop when I am dead and possibly not even then. Eduardo drove her to the party and picked her up at eleven and she came home with chocolate on her face and happiness on her entire being and this is what holidays are for — making your children look like that, even when they are sixteen and think they are too old for happiness.
I did not give out candy this year because we had forty trick-or-treaters last year and I ran out after twenty and had to give the remaining children bags of plantain chips, which some of them actually preferred, which tells you something about the quality of American candy versus plantain chips. This year I made coquito — Puerto Rican coconut eggnog, the adult version with rum — and invited the neighbors over because Halloween for adults should involve sitting on the porch, drinking coquito, and watching small humans dressed as superheroes demand sugar from strangers. It is the most American thing in the world and I participate with great enthusiasm.
My neighbor Patricia — Irish woman, sixty-eight, lives alone, wonderful — came over and had three cups of coquito and told me about her childhood Halloweens in Boston and I told her about growing up in Bayamon where Halloween exists but differently, more like a footnote to the real holidays which are Christmas and Three Kings Day and every day your mother cooks pernil. Patricia said, Carmen, your coquito is the best thing I have ever tasted. I said, Patricia, I know. She said, How are you so confident? I said, Practice. Fifty-one years of practice.
The coquito recipe is Mami version, which is Abuela Consuelo version: coconut cream, condensed milk, evaporated milk, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and rum. Good rum. Not the cheap rum that Papi drank, but good rum, the kind that makes you feel warm without making you forget who you are. I thought about Papi tonight, the way I sometimes do when rum is involved. He would have loved this night — the porch, the neighbors, the coquito. He would have drunk too much and sung too loud and embarrassed us all and we would have loved him anyway because that is what children do. They love their fathers. Even the complicated ones. Especially the complicated ones.
November starts tomorrow. The countdown to Thanksgiving and then Christmas and then the new year and then the eternal gray winter that makes Hartford feel like purgatory with snow. But tonight the coquito is sweet and the porch is warm and my neighbor is laughing and my daughter came home with chocolate on her face. Tonight is enough. Tonight is more than enough.
Consuelo’s recipe has been in my phone for three years, and I finally made it tonight — and I think Papi would have approved of every sip. There’s something about a drink that makes you feel warm without making you forget who you are that felt exactly right for a night like this one. If you want to bring a little of that porch magic into your own kitchen, here’s how I made it.
Coquito (Puerto Rican Coconut Rum Eggnog)
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Chill Time: 2 hours | Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes | Servings: 10
Ingredients
- 1 can (15 oz) coconut cream
- 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
- 1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
- 1 1/2 cups good white rum (or gold rum)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for garnish
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves (optional)
- Cinnamon sticks, for serving
Instructions
- Blend. Combine the coconut cream, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, rum, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves (if using) in a blender. Blend on high for 60 seconds until completely smooth and frothy.
- Taste and adjust. Taste for spice and sweetness. Add a pinch more cinnamon or nutmeg if you like it bolder. The rum should be present but warm — not sharp.
- Chill. Pour into a glass bottle or pitcher with a tight lid. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight. The flavors deepen and come together beautifully as it rests.
- Shake before serving. The coconut cream can settle slightly. Give the bottle a good shake before pouring over ice or into small cups straight from the refrigerator.
- Serve. Pour into small glasses or cups. Dust the top with a pinch of ground cinnamon and add a cinnamon stick. Serve cold.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 310 | Protein: 5g | Fat: 12g | Carbs: 30g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 95mg