Every once in a while I get a craving for Bloody Mary’s, the last fix was during the Forth of July this year. I don’t know if it’s the spices in a Bloody Mary, or the vitamins in the tomato juice. But when I want one, I’ve got to have one.

Since Bloody Mary’s are made with tomato juice, V8 or Clamato I automatically place the drink in the exotic drink category (even though tomatoes are technically a fruit and not a vegetable). But other then that horticultural peculiarity called the tomato, I still find the drink a little bit hard to understand. But slowly I’m coming to grips with the whole concept.

Over the years I’ve tinkered with different Bloody Mary recipes, some of them were pretty good, others less so. This time around I ended up modifying a recipe from Frank’s Red Hot, to suit my own taste. Using the base recipe I removed the vodka from the base mix, and added 2 TB of Pickle Juice and 1 tsp of Old Bay, so here is the recipe I ended up with:

1 qt. tomato juice
2 TB Frank’s Red Hot
2 TB Worcestershire Sauce
2 TB prepared horseradish
1 TB lemon juice
1 tsp celery salt
2 TB Pickle Juice
1 tsp Old Bay

For a garnish I used a pickle spear, a couple of olives and a sprinkle of Polish Seasoning on top.

The only reason that I removed the vodka from the base mix, is that I like to add the vodka on a drink-by-drink basis. Since some people like a lot of vodka, and other just want a little. So this way everyone can be happy.

One other thing that I have learned from mixing up Bloody Mary’s is to use a shaker to mix up the vodka and base mix. Because I’ve noticed that if you fill the glass with ice, pour in your vodka then pour in your base mix. The vodka always ends up on top, no matter how vigorously you stir it you. So if your thing is doing a shot of vodka before drinking a virgin Bloody Mary, do it this way. If not, then get your shake on.