Need a Mint Jolt? Drink a Candy Cane at T.G.I. Friday’s

In the dead of last winter when the flu bug was running rampant through the office, my co-worker said she was awakened in the middle of the night by searing throat pain. She crawled to the Christmas tree, nabbed a candy cane and found some instant, cooling, soothing relief.

It sounded like a cough syrup commercial, but I could relate. In hot chocolate, in after-dinner mints, in strongly scented sticks of chewing gum, sometimes only the wild rush of peppermint will do.

T.G.I. Friday’s knows about our subliminal urge for icy refreshment. That’s why they’ve concocted both cocktail and nonalcoholic versions of the candy cane.

In the grown-up beverage, vanilla ice cream, half-and-half, white creme de cacao and peppermint schnapps are swirled in the blender. Then a tall pilsener glass is sloshed with bright red grenadine. The snowy mixture is poured in, topped with a generous serving of whipped cream and garnished with a candy cane.

Slurp it through a straw, and even a bar stool in sunny California will feel like a picture-perfect winter wonderland.

* Candy Cane (alcoholic version)--601 calories/17.5 grams of fat. $5.25 at T.G.I. Friday’s, 601 Anton Blvd., Costa Mesa. (714) 540-2227.