How Do You Like Your Bloody Mary?

Everyone loves a Summer cocktail and who doesn't love customizing it with their favorite mixes and additions?  Set up all your toppings, mixers, vodkas, glasses, stirrers, and big cube ice for an easy Bloody Mary Bar.   My favorite mixer is vintagevinemix with just the right amount of spices.  Vintage Vine is natural and gluten free and made with the highest quality ingredients. 

Mix with your favorite vodka. Our favorites are titosvodka or absolutvodka. Either one teams up beautifully for a delicious tasting cocktail. 

Everyone has their own style for customizing their Bloody Mary. Here are a few suggestions to top off your drink with taste and style.

Pickle spears, salami, blue cheese stuffed olives, celery, grape tomatoes, cucumber spears, dill pickles, Tabasco, celery salt, lime wedges, a small dollop of horseradish if you like extra kick and a shake of Worcestershire.

Cheers to your weekend🍹

Celebrate Summer with a "Summer Mary" or "Beer Mary"

I love a great make your own Bloody Mary bar when we are out, or when hosting friends on the weekends.  Some like a lot of spice while others prefer their Bloody Mary on the milder side.  Some like theirs topped with meats, cheeses and relishes while others go traditional with lime, celery and stuffed olives of choice. Other great garnishes include cucumber slices, pickle spears, spears of chilled cocktail shrimp, cubed cheddar, pepperocinis, Worcestershire sauce, small dollop of horseradish, shake of celery salt, and of course, vodka. 

 Betterhomesandgardens has a recipe for making a pitcher of 8 servings of Spice Beer Mary I've listed below. This recipe is a "Mary" with beer as the main ingredient...no vodka.  

Interesting twist......have you tried it before?

~Spicy Beer Mary~

Kosher salt, 1 lime cut into wedges, 3 cups hot vegetable juice, chilled, 1 teaspoon lime juice, 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish, 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire, 1/4-1/2 teaspoon bottled hot pepper sauce, 1/4 teaspoon celery seeds, 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper, 2 (12 oz.) cans or bottle lager or pilsner chilled beer, ice cubes, celery sticks and lime wedges.  Old Bay seasoning is optional too.

In a shallow dish, combine Old Bay seasoning and salt.

Rub rims of 8 (12 oz.) pilsner glasses with lime wedges from 1 lime, and dip rims in salt mixture. 

In a large pitcher combine vegetable juice, lime juice, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce, celery seeds, and white pepper. Pour in the beer and stir gently to combine.

Serve in glasses over ice and garnish with celery sticks and or additional lie wedges.

CHEERS!🍸

Kick Off Super Bowl Texas Style

Sunday, February 5 kicks off Super Bowl L1 from the gorgeous NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas and whether you are cheering for the New England Patriots or the Atlanta Falcons, it's time to enjoy football at home surrounded by friends, family and great food and drinks the way the Texans celebrate. Recently, King Ranch Saddle Shop has been on the prowl for fun and unique Texas-style game day celebrations and I thought I'd join along! For those of you who don't know, King Ranch has a rich Texan history dating back to 1853 and has grown from a cattle ranch into so much more! For the sake of the game, I suggest checking out their cowgirl boots because, let's be honest - bringing a cow into the living room would be a bit overkill. 

Style out your table with party ware from your favorite party store.  I bought these great plates, napkins and colored candies in both teams colors to place on the table to create a festive look from Party City.

Our cocktail of the day will be Titos Vodka American Mules (recipe below).  It is produced in Austin, Texas at Texas' oldest distillery and the skillful process makes it outstanding in your cocktails.

Our menu will be American Mule cocktails, Texas style barbecue chicken drumsticks with a barbecue hot sauce blend. Also serving slow cooker barbecue beef brisket as our main dish, accompanied by macaroni and cheese and baked beans with a spicy sauce. Enjoy my recipes and pictures below and have a great weekend celebrating the big win and thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Snacks of chocolate candies in teams colors in football cups I found at Party City.

Wash and bake chicken drumsticks or wings in 400 degree oven for 1 hour or until done.  Mix half or entire bottle of hot sauce (depends on how spicy you want them) and 1 1/2 cups favorite barbecue sauce together in a dish. Brush drumsticks or legs when they are done with sauce and stick back in oven for 10 more minutes. Delicious and don't forget plenty of napkins!

Slow Cooker Barbecue Beef Brisket with 3 ingredients. How easy is this? 1 6 pound beef brisket, 1 jar dill pickle spears, and 1 (18 ounce) bottle barbecue sauce.  Sweet meets spice and it's delicious. Place brisket in the bottom of the slow cooker. Pour the pickle spears and pickle juice over the beef, add bottle barbecue sauce.  Cook on high until beef shreds easily with 2 forks, about 6 hours.  

You will use 1.5 oz. Titos vodka, 0.5 oz. lime juice, 3 oz. ginger beer.  Combine all ingredients into chilled copper mug filled with crushed ice and serve.

Grab your cowboy boots, make a plate of awesome food, kick back with a chilled Tito's vodka Mule and enjoy the game!