Sunday Bloody Sunday

My wife and I are big football fans. In fact, one of the first things that attracted me to her was the fact that she loves the game as much as I do. Nary a Sunday goes by when we can’t be found glued to the couch watching morning, noon and night. And though I have grown increasingly uncomfortable with the risk of brain damage associated with the violent collisions of grown men, I remain an ardent viewer.

One of our favorite football traditions – that we started early in our marriage – was to cook up a big cast iron skillet full of beautifully browned potatoes, onions and celery for breakfast. Since we live on the West Coast, our football starts at 10 a.m. Just to get us in the right mood we’d kick things off with a super-spicy Bloody Mary. Honestly we’d get so sloshed that we often both fell sound asleep on the couch before the second half kickoff.

We’d wake up sometime around the middle of the afternoon game just in time for a fresh round. This was before the DVR so we’d miss a lot of football, but boy it sure made for a fun, relaxing and lazy day.

Today we don’t indulge quite as intensely as we used to, but come game day we still go the extra mile to convert the traditional Bloody into a feast in a glass. As the 2019/2020 season charges to its apex, what better time to sample one of these beauties! Or two.

Blood Mary Extravaganza

Ingredients

• 2 oz. vodka
• 1/3 glass of Clamato juice
• 2/3 glass of tomato juice
• 1 – 2 tablespoons grated/creamy prepared horseradish
• Couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce
• Several dashes of Tabasco sauce (to taste)
• ½ fresh lemon squeezed
• Celery stalk, lemon round, green olives, cocktail onions, pickled string beans, cooked shrimp and crab claw to garnish

Prep

1. Pour vodka, tomato and Clamato juice into a tall glass filled with ice.
2. Add lemon juice, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco to taste.
3. Stir well.
4. Garnish with celery stalk, green olives, cocktail onions, pickled string beans, cooked shrimp and crab claw.
5. Bottom’s Up! (Makes one stunning drink.)

David Pitlik is a corporate writer by day, a comedy writer from a previous life, and a lover of great food, wonderful drink and sparkling banter with good friends.