If there's one meal I dread, it's Thanksgiving dinner. It's not that I don’t love the turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes and stuffing. It's that I love it a little too much. I can never resist seconds—and thirds!—and by the time I've had my last pieces of pumpkin and pecan pie, I can hardly move. The worst part? Once the turkey tryptophan has finally knocked me out, I always have dreams (er, nightmares) that I'm pregnant. And the next day, when I’m back on the treadmill, all I have are regrets—and an angry trainer. (What? It's hard to run when you’re full.)

So this year I'm thinking of skipping the whole ordeal—I hope my grandma will still love me—and indulging in all those yummy fall flavors via martini.

For its fall cocktail program, Blue Velvet is serving Squash of Nog, a comforting cocktail made with brown sugar syrup, sweet Kabocha squash and Myers's Rum; over at S Bar, there's the Celery Spectacular, an intoxicating concoction of ginger and celery juice—I do always love the touch of celery in my grandma’s stuffing. And, for dessert, Abode Restaurant & Lounge has a pumpkin pie martini, a decadent libation of spiced rum, amaretto and pumpkin puree served in a graham cracker–rimmed glass.  

At Lola's, people can get the best parts of the whole meal. They have a strong cranberry vodka cocktail, of course, but they also have a mashed-potato drink that's made from real potatoes. It's not creamy, unfortunately, but the garlic gives it a nice kick, and there's a lot of vodka in that big glass. You can also order the tangy caramel apple martini, garnished with a rather large piece of apple—hey, I never said I wasn’t going to eat anything—as well as a rich pumpkin pie martini that actually tastes better than the food version. It's sweet, creamy, spicy and, best of all, comforting. (Note: Lola's isn't open on Thanksgiving, so I plan on going on Thanksgiving eve and nursing my hangover the next day. By Friday, I should be ready to tackle the gym, right?)

I know what you're thinking. I'm a drunk. No seriously: You're thinking that all of these calorie-laden drinks won't do much in the way of combating the holiday I've renamed "fat fest." You're right. When all is said and done, I might skip the drinks and head straight to Bar Lubitsch for a shot of their pumpkin vodka.  

Alexandra Le Tellier is Bars & Clubs editor for Metromix Los Angeles.

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