Flaming Dr. Pepper

by Malia Hoyt

Event Team—Back of House

I’m not superstitious, but some events are just bad luck from the beginning.

This year, I did an event that I swear had to be cursed. Before it even started, half of the guests cancelled due to dropped flights. Then, on the winding mountain road to get to the venue, I got car sick. Wisdom told me to take a beat before I dove into unloading the van, but my work ethic (wink, wink) told me to push through the nausea and help unload. After a few minutes, I was feeling so sick that I bent over next to the garage door and waited for my stomach to settle. When I started to feel better, I stood up…and smashed my head into the client’s garage door sconce. Glass shattered and rained down around me. (All of you who’ve ever broken a custom piece in a multi-million-dollar home know exactly how I was feeling right then. Anyone? Anyone?)

But things only got worse.

I was given the job of using the client’s brand-new, imported, wood-burning pizza oven. Normally, baking oven-fired pizzas is my fav job, but after 45 minutes of trying to get that sucker lit—and using an amount of lighter fluid that would disappoint any Boy Scout—we still couldn’t get it going. In desperation, I pushed the wood to the very back of the oven, hoping I might uncover some hidden vent and improve the air flow. I reached in and gave the logs a good douse of lighter fluid, but the flame still wouldn’t catch. I stuck my arm in again and sprayed the logs more liberally. No luck. So…I decided to just use the lighter. With my whole arm and face in the oven, I clicked the lighter, and BOOM!!!! The flames came roaring out of the funneled opening, right into my face. I flung myself out and backward. In sheer shock, I stood there breathing hard and saying “Hooooo! Hooooo!” The staff close by were as wide-eyed as I was!

Eventually I was able to go to the restroom and assess the damage. I lost a lot of hair in my braid, most of my eyebrows, and my eyelashes. I also singed my hairline really short. (It’s still growing back—currently in a real awkward stage) I had a Rudolph nose, and my lips felt like fire! My left arm also took damage as well as the knuckles on that hand. I was lucky it wasn’t a lot worse.

I wish the curse had stopped there.

But the troubles were far from over. Not long after that, the wind took a napkin into a sterno, and the tablecloth caught fire. Oh, and the guests got rained on.

Like I said, I’m not superstitious, but if half the guests miss their flights again, I’m calling in sick.

A Cocktail To Temp Fate.

The Flaming Dr. Pepper recipe I’m going to share is definitely not one you should attempt at any event that you suspect to be cursed. It involves setting alcohol on fire! On most days, it’s a lot of fun as well as delicious.

Just keep it away from your eyebrows.

image generated by AI

(serves 1)

Ingredients

8 ounces beer (preferably dark)
¾ ounce amaretto
¼ ounce overproof rum (100 proof or more, otherwise it won’t light on fire)

Instructions

Pour beer into a glass until it’s halfway full.
Pour the amaretto into a shot glass and add the rum.
Set the rum in the shot glass on fire. Carefully pick it up and drop the shot glass into the beer. The beer will extinguish the flame, and you’ll be left with a delicious drink that tastes oddly like Dr. Pepper even though there’s no Dr. Pepper in it.