My husband makes a fantastic Bloody Mary from scratch. Everyone raves about it and begs for the recipe. With a Bloody Mary love born during years of family gatherings in New Orleans he set the bar high.  He has tried every tip and trick he has seen or read about. After many successful taste tests and lovely brunches he is ready to share the secrets to this rockstar cocktail.

The perfect Bloody Mary takes a little more work than some other cocktail concoctions but this is well worth it. You want to start about a week in advance, invite some friends over and then let the anticipation build!

Ingredients:

1 Handle Vodka (We use Absolut but you can use any mid priced Vodka)
2 pounds heirloom tomatoes

Instructions

Step 1: Prepare the Tomato Vodka - Start 5-7 days in advance. Quarter 2 pounds of heirloom tomatoes. Pour one handle of Vodka into a large thermos or other container with lid. Combine the tomatoes and vodka and stir. Put the lid on your container and place in a refrigerator. Stir the tomato vodka mixture daily. You may taste this on a daily basis – it’s yummy!

Step 2: Prepare the homemade Bloody Mary mix – You can do this on the day of or a day or so before. It will keep for a few days. Take 5 lbs of tomatoes and cut them in eighths and throw them in a roasting pan. Include in the roasting pan one whole yellow or Vidalia onion (sliced) and chopped cloves of garlic. Top tomato, onion aid garlic mixture generously with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Step 3: Broil the Tomatoes – Set broiler to high. Put roasting pan under the broiler on the middle rack for 30-35 minutes. Carefully pull oven rack out with glove and stir every 10 minutes

Step 4: Strain the Tomato Juice – Remove the roasting pan carefully and pour through a wire strainer to catch the liquid in a very large bowl. Be careful – the pan and the liquid will be very hot. Let the tomato mixture sit on the strainer for 20 minutes or so to get the most juice into your bowl. Then take the remaining mixture and transfer to a blender.

Step 5: Blend Tomato Mixture – Add a 1/2 cup of water to the blender and blend mixture. Then transfer back to the strainer. Let sit for 20 minutes. You may want to mash the mixture with a spoon to help the juicing process. Repeat at least once more. Throw away pulp once you’ve determined there is no more juice.

Step 6: Complete Tomato Juice – This process should yield 2-3 quarts of tomato juice. Taste the juice and add a few squirts of lime and lemon juice. Depending on how many people I am serving, I will sometimes pour one half of my mixture in to another pitcher as reserve and take the 50% remaining and add to it half a bottle of straight Bloody Mary mix to increase volume. Chill juice in fridge. It should last in the fridge for more than a week if for whatever reason you have made too much.

Step 7: Making the Best Bloody Mary Glass – Pull out two plates. On one of the plates, pour less than half a shot of vodka. On the second plate, pour several tablespoons (depending on the number of guests) of celery salt. Take a glass cup and dip the rim in the vodka. and screw the glass in to the celery salt plate (similar to the way you would apply margarita salt). Make sure the rim is coated with celery salt.

Step 8: Prepare and Serve the Bloody Mary- Add ice to the glass and pour in tomato juice and tomato vodka (your call on how much). Next add a teaspoon of horseradish, a dash of celery salt, Worcestershire, black pepper, Tabasco (I like the habanero version) and garnish with a small celery stalk. Some folks prefer lime or raw okra over celery.  All are fine choices.

I know there are a lot of Bloody Mary lovers out there as well as a lot of experienced recipe / food bloggers so please give me any suggestions and / or feedback.  This is the first time I have ever tried to post a food tutorial and I found it harder than a furniture one!  I think you will love the drink so plan yourself a little party and impress the pants off your friends with this incredible drink!  Who would not be impressed with tomato infused vodka?  Of course – come back here and tell me what you think!

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We Van der Linden’s are Hardcore Netherlands Fans!

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This is the last of five posts over ten days as part of Momalom’s Five for Ten.  We are all writing about the same topics in an honest effort to get to know one another better and make more connections.

Our first topic was Courage.   The second was Happiness.  The third was memory.  The forth was Lust. Today’s is Yes! 

If you are already a regular Mommy Words visitor, I hope you enjoy these posts.  If you are here as a part of the Five for Ten, welcome!  I can’t wait to get to know you.

Something must have scared the crap out of me at some point because I am not the “try anything” girl I used to be.   I have gone from the adventurous (not with food) gal who was always up for something new and fabulous to being nervous about a double date with my husband.  I kid you not.  Something is wrong. 

I used to possess a gumby like flexibility that allowed me to be cool with auditioning for musicals that I got (and didn’t get), dropping everything at any hour for live music dressing in a glittering gown and attending a ball.  I used to laugh hysterically all the time as I thrust myself into new experiences, went out on limbs to make new friends and said yes to most of the things that came my way.  I had a hell of a lot of fun.

Now I am a coiled up ball of rigid likes and dislikes and I feel like I am choking.  God, I said it.  I said what has been on my heart for years.  I need to address the questions my darling husband asks me all the time because I ask them too.   I want to bring back the crazy girl he married.  We both liked that girl a lot…and I think the kids wouldn’t mind if I shared a little crazy with grownups.  There will be a few things I will not bring back because people with children just don’t roll that way, but otherwise, I know it is game on for me.  I need to find my yes man or risk losing that part of myself.

I think it starts with just saying yes to simple things and not backing down with some silly excuse.  I am not the only mom I know who does this.  I sit around saying how much I need a girl’s night and then as it approaches I put up my own roadblocks.  I’m really tired or the kids have left me very crabby or I feel like I have nothing left to give at the end of the day…and so we reschedule.  Over and over.  There goes the girl’s night.

Update:  I interuppted the writing of this post to participate in said activity at a very lively upscale restaurant and bar.  I put on makeup and a nice shirt.  I rocked some tight jeans and high heeled boots.  I drank wine and 8 of us girls spoke of things other than children.  I almost did not go.  I am so glad I did.

In addition to girl’s nights I want to say yes to romance, yes to a date night where I change my clothes for it and we actually leave the house.  So what if the kids have left me with a couple extra pounds?  My husband thinks I am hot in my jammies so it could only help to brush my hair and wear a short skirt right?  As part of this romance I am going to make out in the car again.  It was always fun, always silly and always totally hot.  It is also something I have had a stick up my butt about for awhile now.  If I am going to bring back the lust – I’m going to need to say yes to a little teenage like action.  It won’t hurt if it makes me feel young again either.

I have scheduled a babysitter for tomorrow but I am already nervous.  I’ve become some sort of strange prude.  I will shake it off before tomorrow and get my car nookie going

I will say yes to myself and start doing things I always liked to do, things that I miss.  I am going to get back into singing lessons so when the kids are a little older I can audition for musicals again and be on stage.  I miss it.  I am going to go hiking more because I love it and it has been too long.  I am going to say yes to the little hippie that is left inside me and get rid of my boring clothes and try to always have a little funk in my look, because that’s the way I feel like me.  The little things will make a big difference!

It all sounds so easy, but I have become a very scheduled and boring person along the way.  I have stopped saying yes and started to back away from anything risky and fun.  It is going to be hard to chill out and roll with the punches and see where it takes me.  I think great things can happen when you open your heart to new things and open your mouth and just say YES!

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It is 4 p.m. on Saturday and I am sitting in bed with Violet.  I am freshly showered and her little belly is full.  Sounds nice but it means I surrendered my to do list.  It is laying outside covered by my tiny powdery opponent.  I was bested by what Sophia calls the Flying Yellow Allergies.  I should have known I never had a chance.  That crap beat me so good I have on pajamas, my nursing bra and a t-shirt from high school.  I do not plan on a re-match at any time tonight.  I am down for the count.  I am pretty sure I would not even go back outside for a glass of wine with no kids and a free babysitter.  It’s bad.

I could go on, but you get the point.  Claritin and Zyrtec have nothing on this stuff.  I only completed 50% of my list.  I returned the Liberty of London stuff I should not have bought at Target and came home planning on cutting my wood for the kid’s chairs, cleaning my entire pollen and sawdust covered workshop because it happens to be our screened porch, building the chairs and of course…the laundry.  Always the laundry. 

I cut all the wood and picked up the whole porch but when I started to sweep and vacuum I knew I was in for it.  My defenses were completely inadequate!  When you disturb this villain its nasty aggressive nature comes out.  I had pollen coming out of my nose and eyes and after hours on that porch I just stopped.  I will go back later.  I can build the chairs inside tonight if I start to feel better.  Of course, I will do the laundry or it will take over the house.

I will say, in my defense, that the pollen had accomplices whereas no one was helping me.  A hummingbird got caught inside the screen porch and spent an hour diving at my head trying to get off the porch.  I am deathly afraid of beaked flying things in enclosed spaces.  Sue me.  I also happen to have a 12 week old baby that prefers when I am inside the house with my boob out.  And I’m her biggest fan, so she usually gets what she wants.

So yeah, 3 tiny things kicked my tush.

Did I ever really have a chance?

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I have changed shape.  Nothing fits me.  Well, I should re-phrase.  I can put my pants on and I can get them up and I can even zip and button most of them but something is not right.   Yes, I have an 8 week old baby.  That is what I have been telling myself.  That is what you, my friends, have been telling me.  Thank you, by the way, I would have locked myself in a closet by now without your lovely compliments.  

HOWEVER - something has been bothering me.  Violet is not my first baby.  She is my third and I have done this all before.  Everything was going according to plan.  I am breastfeeding all the time and burning a bazillion calories a day over here.  My cheekbones are starting to reveal themselves once again.   My giant breasts are finally starting to chill the F out.  I am losing the baby weight quickly as usual.  

So what the hell is wrong with my pants???  Oh – I get it – my mom was right…as usual.  There is no money growing on any of my trees and I now do not have a baby belly – I have a BAGEL BELLY.  I am what I ate – and that was a hell of a lot of bagels.  Starting in my first trimester.  I posted about it here.  No more mystery.  My pants look like crap because how could they possibly look good wrapped around my bagel shaped belly?  Really – it is like a little extra puffy and round – all the way around. 

I know how it happened.  I blog from the bagel store in the mornings and my bagel habit grew with my belly.  I went from half a bagel with light cream cheese to a whole bagel with light cream cheese to a whole bagel with regular chock full of fat cream cheese.  Then I decided I liked bagels so much I would have one for breakfast and one for lunch.  You see, I did not eat a second lunch later – I just spent the mornings stuffing myself with bread and cheese and expecting to come out of it unscathed.  What was I thinking???

I learned better.  I now know a few key depressing facts.

I look like shit as a bagel. 

People – your 30′s are different than your 20′s.  

Drinking Diet Coke no longer makes up for all other calories.

I may actually have to pay attention to good carbs versus bad carbs.

Bad carbs are my favorite food in the whole world.  My favorite drink is wine and I will never give it up.  Especially if I have to give up bad carbs.  I mean I need to cry in my wine – not a glass of water.

I can’t just starve so I am going to have to find something else to eat. Something healthier.  Suggestions are welcome but let’s not get too healthy too fast.  I am already in shock.  So don’t throw tofu and raw food at me okay?

Finally, and I cringe as I write this, I am going to have to really exercise.  To sweat.  To do real cardiovascular stuff – not just running after my kids.  Not just yoga.  I am going to need to do aerobics or something.  I may need a leotard and some leg warmers over here.  My heart is already racing.  I have a long way to go.

But I really want to be a hot mama so here is my goodbye to bagels.  Oh – and I suppose just to be on the safe side I should also bid adieu to Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream.  I don’t know what that would look like but it can’t be good.  I would rather look like Heidi Klum or something.

 Wish me luck.  This is going to suck. 

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Source: WCNC.com Charlotte, NC

This house is a block from my own.  The strong winds following hurricane Ida took this baby down last week.  The noise was terrifying and could be heard a block away.  The owner of the house does not live there, and has for the most part abandoned what was once a beautiful old bungalow.  This enormous tree was dying of root rot.  Everyone knew it but because it was on his property the city would not take it down.  He would not pay for it.  We all love trees, people, but they do get sick and when they do their roots are weak.  Their trunks are not.  The entire house is now destroyed.  We are just lucky that this tree fell on this mans abandoned house and not on the houses next to his where families live with their children.

Trees should be checked often by you as a homeowner and by a professional every 3-5 years.  They should be banded if you have a canker worm problem and they are susceptible.  They should be cut back to encourage healthy growth.  Tree care is one of the many things as a homeowner that costs money and ticks you off in the short run.  But hey – a little money now is worth the roof over your head and the safety of your family and neighbors is it not?

In this hurricane season, please check your trees and your home to make sure that you are as safe as possible.  And since you are looking at this picture, let us all be thankful that this tree did not hurt anybody and that this tree is not on our homes.

See, there is something to smile about every day!

For the full article and additional pictures please go to WCNC’s website.

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Okay pictures and the full download AND How-Tos will have to wait for tomorrow but the flowers and the scrapbook were a big hit! When my husband dropped off the flowers the concierge asked him for his business card! Woohoo! I was so happy they came out well and even I could not have hoped for someone to mistake me for a real florist! Yeah Baby! Fabulous results! And the whole shower was just beautiful! Thanks for all the encouragement!

So I am one of 4 gals hosting a baby shower for my wonderful friend Michelle on Saturday and as usual I believe I overestimated my own abilities as well as my time without kids each day.  I also get excited about craft projects WHETHER OR NOT I HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE.  My husband is going to laugh at me or strangle me when he realizes I will not be coming to bed tonight because I will be waiting to change the water for the flowers, make the faux floral arrangement and figure out how to scrapbook.

Here is how my table looks (we are eating elsewhere for now) without the scrapbooking stuff and only 2 of the 8 vases I have to fill.  I have abandoned the idea of tissue paper pom poms even though I love them because I could not find orange tissue paper anywhere.  I made a white one though as you can see.  Wouldn’t it be cute hanging?  I think I may make some bright pink ones for Sophia’s room!  Again…there I go!

The Prep Area

To summarize what I have now gone overboard on…

First, I decided to save money I would be a florist and order our Gerbera daisies from a wholesaler and purchase inexpensive vases and then babysit the very sensitive flowers and arrange them.  All of this with no skill.  Thank God for the Internet and www.ehow.com but I may still fail.  Turns out florists are a little sneaky with their secrets and don’t just share all their goods online like I do.  Believe me there will be a How-To on this site if I accomplish this.  Here’s how the flowers come.

Not Quite Ready for the Party

So far I have gently taken the daises from their box, filled vases with cool water and some flower food, cute each stem by about 1 inch (this will have to done every 24 hours) and placed them in vases (with their little nets on) and then on a counter that does not get any direct sunlight and is not near any fruit.  The daises are currently hydrating.

Hydrating Daisies

Second, I thought plain old floating candles would be boring so I got a vase that needs a faux flower arrangement inside of it.  Again – NO IDEA how to do this.

Faux Flower Dilemma

Third, the gals had a great idea to take pics of everybody coming to this couples shower and put them in a scrapbook.  Since I was already at Michael’s and I am absolutely fascinated by all the pretty paper in the scrapbooking aisle, I also volunteered to do this.  To be fair to me, I thought scrapbooking was a lot easier than I think it really is.  Please….if you are a scrapbooker or know ANYTHING about it I need help!  I don’t even know if I am supposed to do both sides of the page.  I did get some fabulous Bebe Chic paper though and a very mod brown linen book so I am pumped about that.  Again, maybe it will turn out to be the best baby shower idea ever and I can pass on my hints to you.

A note on the brown…the nursery colors are Brown, Blue and a very mod Orange is the accent.  I will ask Michelle if I can post pictures.  It is SO cute.  It was not as easy to find napkins in brown as in other colors.  Hint:  Shop early if your shower theme is nursery colors and you are not going with baby blue or baby pink.  You will thank me.

I will update later in the day with my progress.  Then you can all laugh at me too.

Dear readers, since there are only a few of you reading this very new blog of mine, I have decided to make some of the ugly, hard changes now.  You see, while most of you use Blogger and have easy changes of template, I use WordPress and want to shoot myself in the head over finding a look I like for this site.  My knowledge of CSS and html code is actually above that of a layman but I still struggle.

So, I have decided to go with a Theme that requires a lot of tweaking but has a lot of support in that endeavor.  This way I will be able to have the site I want with the content that I hope will interest you.  In addition to stories and thoughts I also have How-To’s and DIY projects for you!  I want to be able to have downloadable PDF content AND a rockin’ look to my site.  So…stay tuned.  I will make the switch tonight and things may be ugly but please stay with me on this journey.

Your Friend,

Brittany

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