Firewater Friday . . . Bloody Mary

Queen "Bloody" Mary I Tudor of England - Queen Mary I of England reigned as Queen of England for a short five years (r.1553-1558).  The daughter of England’s King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon.  After Henry’s dissolvement of his marriage to Catherine (due to her inability to produce a male heir),  Mary spent much of her life being treated as a royal bastard.  After Henry VIII’s son’s short lived reign as king, Mary became queen.  Mary earned her nickname, "Bloody Mary," because during her reign, she unsuccessfully tried to return England to the Catholic faith and had more than 300 persons burned at the stake for heresy.

Bloody Mary the children's game - A rather ghoulish game where an evil and vengeful witch of the same name is summoned. This is done by standing in front of a mirror, with one candle lit and calling the name "Bloody Mary" into the mirror three times in a row.  You must be brave to play this “game” as there are said to be horrible consequences . . . . the horrifying image of the witch will appear in the mirror and rip your eyes  out  and claw your face or you may drop dead on the spot or you could end up in the mirror with the witch for eternity. 

Whatever . . . the drink is WAY more fun!  I made this concoction with the juice from fresh tomatoes.

BLOODY MARY

• 1 2/3 Oz. Vodka
• 5 Oz. Tomato Juice
• 2/3 Oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
• Pinch Celery Salt
• 2 Dashes Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 Dashes Tabasco Sauce
• Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

Fill a glass with ice cubes. Stir in tomato, lemon juice and vodka. Add spices. Add a coarse grind (or cracked) fresh black pepper and stir. Garnish with a wedge of lime twisted onto the salted rim of the highball glass. Serve with a celery stalk, lemon wedge, green olive, hot pepper, shrimp   . . . one or all work for me!  Heck, you can have yourself a salad in a glass and call it healthy!

Better yet!  The Bloody Mary is renowned as the ultimate cure for a hangover.  So, drink up and make sure you save some for the morning  . . .