DIY Bloody Mary – when you need it now (recipe)

Sometimes the hankering for a Bloody Mary possesses you when you’re not prepared. Sometimes you just have to make do.

The inspiration hit at the beginning of the 2014 World Cup Finals. A friend tweeted a photo of a refreshing glass of Bloody Mary that looked very tasty. I remembered that I had an unopened bottle of TJ’s Bloody Mary Mixer gathering dust in the pantry. I dug it out and discovered that the expiration date was months past. Since it contained clam juice, I thought it was best not to take a chance with it.

TJ’s recipe for a tasty Bloody Mary

I took a look at the ingredients on the bottle – a key reason I buy and love TJ’s Mary mix. Not a lot of ingredients with chemical names. It’s mainly tomato puree (tomato paste + water or tomato sauce). I decided to try and make my own!

Sadly, I didn’t have a few ingredients I really like in a Bloody Mary. I also tweaked the idea in a few ways, including substituting Gin (my preferred Bloody Mary Mix mixer) for beer, a twist on the refreshing Michelada.

Main ingredients

Beer Mary

Here’s what I came up with – and it worked VERY well. Tasty, relatively low cal and a minimum of preservatives:

Mix in a bowl:

1 can tomato sauce (includes onion and garlic powder)

1 can water

Per glass ingredients (Suggested amounts, but per taste):
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon white vinegar

Juice from 1/2 lime

1 teaspoon green Tabasco sauce

A jigger of vodka or gin, or beer as directed below

Directions:

1. Fill glass with ice

2. Add per glass ingredients

3. Fill glass 2/3 full with tomato sauce/water

4a. Add vodka or gin, or

4b. Fill remainder with pilsner of choice, like a can of Oranjeboom from TJ’s

5. Garnish with olives and/or celery and lime wedge

6. Enjoy!

How to Make a Killer Sangria: A Trader Joe’s Shopper Shares Her Secret

Michelle Walton knows good sangria. She spent $100 mixing a batch from a South American recipe. But with a bottle of Maria Ole Sangria from TJ’s, Michelle now impresses her friends for a fraction of the cost. Take 30 seconds to listen to how she does it. She makes it seem so easy! Thanks for sharing, Michelle!

Pancake happy hour

It’s been a while since I could drink white wine without it burning. Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinto Grigio – all lashed flames on the way down.

Recently, I discovered a white wine that tasted really good and didn’t burn. It was a little on the pricey side – for special occasions.

I received a dinner invitation and decided this was a good $$ wine event. Explaining my predicament and discovery to the cashier at the wine shop, she said that most likely the problem was with the acidity of one-grape wines, and the solution was getting a mixed-grape version.

Aha!

My next step was to go to TJ’s, explain the situation and see if they might offer a non-offending white wine. The kind and informative Joe had a good suggestion:

Pancake time

Joe said that the flavor rivaled the $$ wine I liked. As we talked, he said, “Well, it’s not exactly the same. But it’s pretty close.” And, as with all TJ’s items, Joe reminded me that if I didn’t like it, I could just bring it back.

He was right that it wasn’t quite the same as the $$ wine. But, I did enjoy a glass that went down smoothly and painlessly! Cheapwinefinder.com describes Pancake’s Big Day White as a “Tuesday night wine.”

Give it a try. It’s only five bucks! And it’s summer.

Trader Joe’s: It’s safe to drink Bloody Mary mix, again!

I’ve been a Bloody Mary mix fan for a long time. But one in-flight look at the ingredients made me put the mix down and step away from that drink option. Until now.

What I found in the most common Mary mix was high fructose corn syrup. Yes, I can make my own mix which is the best way to get your favorite flavor and leave out the offending ingredients. And I thought, for those reasons, that would be my only option, until discovering Trader Joe’s version.

Trader Joe’s keeps it real

My recipe:

A glass of ice, add three olives, the juice of half a lime and fill with Bloody Mary mix. If you’re so inclined, make it an adult drink with some gin or vodka.

A merry Mary

And enjoy!

Finding relatives in strange places

Charles was my mother’s older brother. Not Charlie, never Chuck – Charles.

Charles married Sara Bertha – Sara B. to all who knew her.

They were born in Mississippi, but ended up living and raising their family in Memphis, Tenn.

Charles was a joker from way back, my mom would say. He and mom had that red-cheeked smile that percolated quickly into a roaring laugh. Another family trait: Their eyes sparkled with mischief when they were happy, even if they had no intention of getting into trouble. Tears rolled down their faces when they laughed too hard, which was often.

Mom told many stories about teenaged Charles’ pet monkey Pete. The two would go for a car ride, and when Charles hit the gas too hard, Pete would bang on the seat until he slowed down.

Sara B. loved to cook. She wasn’t strict, but she maintained an air of disapproval to keep up with her husband’s teasing. I remember she wore flowing, long lounging dresses. Sara B. had that classic, indelible Southern hospitality gene. “I just made a pitcher of lemonade. Y’all come sit and I’ll pour you a cold glass.”

Just as Charles was ready with a joke or rib, Sara B. was ready to shake her head and roll her eyes. Smiling, eventually.

One of my last memories of Sara B. was after she passed away. Mom and I were going through the family home in Memphis with my cousin Rosebud, Sara B.’s daughter. She opened the medicine cabinet, and there was a barely used bottle of Estée Lauder perfume. “Beautiful.” Rosebud said, “That was Mom’s favorite.” Now, I think of “Beautiful” when I think of Sara B. And I think of Sara B. when I come across that perfume.

I was stopped in my tracks recently going through TJ’s, when I saw this:

If my Aunt Sara B. had a wine named after her, it might look like this.

After seeing that, I turned and saw the pylon of Charles Shaw wine crates stacked across from the boxes of Sara Bee. Here’s a sample:

Three-buck Charles

And I realized – there’s my aunt and uncle memorialized in wine across the aisle from one another at Trader Joe’s. A light white wine and a hearty red.

Beautiful.

Galluping into the New Year

Trader Joe’s creative labeling is as much a feast for the eyes as the food and drink are for the lips!

I found some wine selections that offer a trifecta of tasty reds. In the race for New Year’s festive libation, you might want to pony up for one of these:

14 Hands: The front runner?

Wild Horse on the inside

Dark Horse or crowd favorite?

Have a safe and fun weekend! Cheers!

Thank you, TJ’s.

And thank you for visiting Things I Love at Trader Joe’s!

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Lifting up a glass of good cheer! Wine: The label says it all.

At the start of the holiday season, decorations will be hung, presents will be bought and bottles of wine will be selected based on taste preference … maybe. For me, the message on the label often trumps the wine in the bottle.

If you’re a label shopper, too, Trader Joe’s should be your first stop. Usually, I find a label for every emotion and occasion on the TJ shelves.

I offer three message-filled libations as proof:

A warming, festive smile…

Put on a happy face: Oreana Happy Face Syrah

Popping the question mark…

Wonder-ful wine: The Numbers, part Syrah, Cabernet and Mouvedre

General happiness and celebration…

Ale, yes! Jubelale for beer loving revelers.

Thank you, Trader Joe’s! Cheers to you!

And cheers to you, too! Thank you for reading and following Things I Love at Trader Joe’s!

Follow Things I Love at Trader Joe’s on Twitter: @TraderJoesKC

Follow Things I Love at Trader Joe’s on Pinterest: Trader Joe’s

Related Links:

30 creative and unusual wine labels

Trader Joe’s Wine Guide

Trader Joe’s Wine Compendium

Festive, bubbly Trader Joe’s: Spanish sparkling wine

A holiday weekend. A beautiful evening with a few friends gathered at your house. Interesting conversation. Lots of laughter. It’s obviously time to break out the bubbly and make it a party.

Labor Day 2012 presents …

Now it’s a party: Albero Spanish sparkling wine

Fruity, refreshing and bubbleful.Relax. Enjoy. And cheers to my mom. It’s her birthday today.

“Cheers!” A fun night with friends and family

Thank you, Trader Joe’s, and happy Labor Day!

Follow Things I Love at Trader Joe’s on Twitter: @TraderJoesKC

Follow Things I Love at Trader Joe’s on Pinterest: Trader Joe’s

Related Links:

Albero company site

A toast to chick lit

RECIPE: White raspberry sangria

Beer here: Drink local

I’ve always loved the beer selection at Trader Joe’s. When I lived in L.A., I could count on getting a 6-pack of tasty Dutch, Czech or German beer at a shockingly low price – the brew-side equivalent of the classic Two-Buck-Chuck.

In Kansas City, a couple of things changed: First, the beer is a little pricey, running about $1 more than the same beer at other stores (at least for the Pilsner Urquell and the Boulevard Brewery flavors). However, I admit, after saving money on the other products, I will save a trip to a second store and buy the beer there for one-stop shopping.

The other difference is in the selection of singles. Maybe they offer singles in other TJ’s around the country – I don’t remember seeing that before. What struck me about the choices, was the array of Missouri beers. How cool is that?!

Missouri beer selection

I love our hometown Boulevard beers. This gives me a chance to taste types that I haven’t tried before, plus the opportunity to taste test beers from around the state!

One note for Missouri beer buyers: There’s a law that mandates beer must be purchased in quantities of three or more. I believe it might come from Missouri’s Liquor Control Law, Section 311.200, which states:

2. For a permit authorizing the sale of malt liquor not in excess of five percent by weight by grocers and other merchants and dealers in the original package direct to consumers but not for resale, a fee of fifty dollars per year payable to the director of the department of revenue shall be required. The phrase “original package” shall be construed and held to refer to any package containing three or more standard bottles of beer. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 311.290, any person licensed pursuant to this subsection may also sell malt liquor at retail between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and midnight on Sunday.

It’s a curious law, huh?! This kind of encourages drinking more than one might have! Chalk it up to another government oddity. Does anyone know the origin of this law? Another note, I think it only pertains to smaller beers (i.e. 12 ounce) – larger beers are still available as singles.

In the meantime, since you need to buy at least three to taste one, check out the selection on TJ’s posted beer menu:

TJ’s beer menu

Happy beer drinking!

Thanks, TJ’s!

Follow Things I Love at Trader Joe’s on Twitter: @TraderJoesKC

Related links:

KC Beer Blog

Beer Advocate

Missouri liquor control law – Revised statutes