Lately, I have really been in a tiki state of mind. Give me all of the rum drinks, and nobody will get hurt, mmkay?

I think I just really need a tropical vacation. Somewhere with a beach and wild chickens...Hawaii? Key West? Aruba? (they have pink beach chickens that I really want to drink with in Aruba...see for yourself.)

But for now I'll just mix up some tropical-ish drinks and pretend real hard that when I kick off my shoes my toes are in the sand and not in...don't do it. Don't kick off your shoes in the chicken yard.

P I N K   G R A P E F R U I T   P I N E A P P L E

P L A N T E R ' S   P U N C H

Makes one serving.

• 2.5 oz. good dark rum

• 1 oz. fresh squeezed pink grapefruit juice

• .5 oz. fresh (if you've got it, or else just bottled) pineapple juice

• .5 oz. fresh lime juice

• .5 oz. homemade cherry syrup, instructions below (or just good quality grenadine)

• 3 dashes Angostura Bitters

• slice of grapefruit, pineapple leaves, edible flower for garnish

To make fresh cherry syrup:

Combine 1 cup pitted, fresh cherries, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup water in a saucepan over medium high heat. Simmer for about five minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and smash cherries with a muddler. Set mixture aside to thoroughly cool, then strain into an airtight jar and store in fridge.

To make the cocktail:

In a shaker with ice, combine all ingredients except ice, shake until chilled. Fill glass with crushed ice and strain shaker contents into glass. Garnish. If you like Angostura Bitters as much as I do, float two more dashes on top.