Bloody Mary, Not Just for Breakfast

I don't know about you, but there's something to be said for morning cocktails. Now I'm not saying I have one before work, heavens no, but on days I have nothing terribly important to do, what's the harm in having a drink before 5:00 PM? Why the heck do we have to wait for 5:00 PM, who arbitrarily picked that time of day and why do we justify a drink before that time by saying, "Well, it's 5 o'clock somewhere" ? UNLESS we're talking about those few cocktails that are designated as "ok" to serve and drink in the morning. I'm talking about Mimosas, Screw Drivers, Irish Coffee and the wonderful Bloody Mary, which are usually staples at any popular brunch location. For that matter why are they only popular drinks in the morning and not the rest of the day? And why is it frowned upon to crack a beer instead? These aren't riddles I'll solve at the moment, but if you feel the urge to solve the dilemma, be sure to let us know.

Now I've got to admit, I'm not a Mimosa fan, probably because I'm not a Champagne fan (I know what am I thinking not liking Champagne?). Screw Drivers, not bad. Irish Coffee, wonderful on a cold winter's day. But Bloody Marys, that's something I can definitely get into. I went on vacation for a few days in August and decided the Bloody Mary was going to be my drink of choice. Don't ask me why, it just sounded good. So every place we ate breakfast, I had to try and judge the restaurant's recipe. You would think a Blood Mary recipe would be pretty standard, but there was a lot variance in flavors and consistency, size and garnishes, I was pretty surprised. I ordered them in the morning and usually had one (or two) with dinner. My favorite by far was at Hammerheads on the Boardwalk in Ocean City, MD followed by a close second at the Brass Balls Saloon. They both had a great consistency, not watered down, and a good balance between spicy and bland. Plus I'm a fan of olives for garnish.

Because I'm on a Bloody Mary kick, I wondered where the name came from. My first thought was the drink was name after the English Queen Mary, daughter of Henry the VIII, who ruled in the mid-1500's and had hundreds of Protestants executed when she tried to bring the country back to Roman Catholicism. What I found out is there seems to be no definite origin of the name for the drink, just who created it. Regardless of who created it, for whatever reason I feel better, healthier, drinking this drink then other alcoholic beverages. When you make it with V8 it has 2 servings of veggies & only about 220 calories per drink compared to over 300 for an 8 oz rum & Coke. Not bad for a cocktail.

If you look online you can find a ton of different recipes and I'll be honest what you like is more of personal preference. But I'm a HUGE fan of the Old Bay Bloody Mary. Recipe below. I'd love to hear your favorite Bloody Mary recipes, feel free to email it in and I'll post or add as a comment. Bottomline, a Bloody Mary is good ANY time of day!

For a pitcher of this fabulous recipe, which is great to share with friends:

1 qt / 32 oz V8 (you can also use Spicy V8)
1/4 c lime juice (fresh squeezed is great, but the bottle kind works too)
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp hot sauce (I like Frank's, Tabasco is a great choice as well)
2 tsp prepared horseradish
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/2 - 1 c vodka (I'm a fan of Tito's or you can use pepper vodka for an extra kick)
lime slice
Old Bay in a bowl / shallow dish

Using the lime slice, wet the rim of the glass. Dip in Old Bay seasoning to add flavor to the rim. Mix first 9 ingredients in pitcher. Fill glass with ice, pour in Bloody Mary, garnish with lime slice. You can also add lemon slices, celery stalks,oysters, shrimp and my favorite, olives in or as a garnish. The Old Bay on the rim gives you extra flavor every sip.

With that in mind, I'm going to mix a pitcher up right now. Have a great night!