The Bloody Mary Book: Reinventing a Classic Cocktail

For brunches, parties, and game-day tailgating, there's no cocktail more beloved than the Bloody Mary

In 65 inventive recipes, the Bloody Mary is rejiggered with a rainbow of garnishes, new flavors, and different liquors. The drinks are a dizzying array of creativity, from the Vegan Mary, which is packed with umami, to a Middle Eastern Mary, adding cumin, coriander, and harissa for an extra bit of spice. Shake up these recipes for the perfect weekend pairing, complete with bar food for a little nosh:

Drinks:

• The Bowling Green Bloody
• The Bloody Maja
• The Gazpacho Mary

Eats:

• Celery Stuffed with Pimiento Cheese
• Smoked Salmon Spread
• Spanish Potato and Sausage Tortilla

And if you don't have time to whip up a Bloody Mary mix from scratch, no worries: author Ellen Brown has demystified the cream of the crop of store-bought bases that will have you sipping a savory concoction ASAP. Just add your own special twist and a few garnishes. Whatever your fancy, the Bloody Mary is the perfect weekend drink.

Ellen Brown is a versatile and respected author and recipe developer. She gained national limelight more than thirty years ago as the founding food editor of USA Today, and is the author of more than 35 cookbooks, including Scoop, Mac& Cheese, Soup of the Day, and Donut Nation. For the last six years she has written a popular weekly column for The Providence Journal, and profiles of her have appeared in The Washington Post, Coastal Living, and The Miami Herald. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island.