I love brunch. I love the idea of sleeping in, taking time to prepare a meal for family or friends, sipping on a cocktail mid-morning (because that’s acceptable brunch behavior), and enjoying a tasty meal in my pajamas. Sounds like fun all-around!
If I have company for brunch, I love to set up a bloody mary bar (inspired by the Build Your Own Bloody Mary Bar at Ozona Grill ). The drink cart gets decked out with my favorite mary fixins and guests get to build their own version.
This weekend my friend Tony is in town, so we’re going to be enjoying a little “Bloody Sunday” morning tomorrow. If you want to play along and have your own, here are my suggestions for a Bloody Mary Bar must-haves:
an icing bucket (to keep the vodka cold)
vodka (I prefer Texas-made Tito’s)
bloody mary mix (get the plain, not spicy, so guests can add their desired level of spice) – If you’re feeling ambitious, I’ve heard that this homemade recipe is good, but I’ve never actually made it
ice
lemon or lime wedges
margarita salt (and yes, here I did use a juicer as a salt dish – it’s the perfect size!)
carrot sticks
celery
olives (black and green)
pickles
other pickled veggies (okra, corn, green beans, pearl onions – anything pickled is perfect!)
shrimp (I cook and refrigerate the night before so they’re ready to go)
candied bacon swizzle sticks (I adore these from The Gracious Girl, but I can never get mine to stay twirled as pretty as hers)
Worcestershire sauce
Tony Chachere’s Cajun seasoning
Tabasco hot sauce
cute paper straws (you can get them from my shop here)
funny cocktail napkins (because boring napkins just won’t do)
water (for re-hydrating… very necessary!)
Step 1, which I almost always forget because I’m so excited to start loading up my glass: Coat the rim of your glass with juice from the lemon or lime wedge.
Step 2: Liberally coat the rim of the glass in the salt.
Step 3: Add ice (not too much or you won’t have room for all the delicious fixins!).
Step 4: Add vodka, then bloody mary mix (until the glass is about 3/4 full – again, gotta leave a little room!).
Step 5: Add desired veggies, fixins and spices.
Step 6: Garnish with a cute paper straw, sip and enjoy!
What are your bloody mary must-haves? I’d love to hear!
