Take A Sip Of: Watermelon Bloody Mary

Happy Birthday to my little brother, HiPie. He is fresh back from St. Thomas and St. Croix. He will definitively need a cocktail starter to replenish the scads of electrolytes he left behind.

And we are having a dinner party with some friends tonight. One of them, born and bred in the Bayou. She is a fabulous cook thus inspiring this twist on a classic cocktail.

We love a good bloody mary. My favorite bloody mary is actually from a mix called Zing Zang. Amazing. But this fruitful pleasure is a highly tasty version. Another way to stay refreshed while we still are wrapped in summer.

Let's have a cocktail? Of course. This recipe compliments of Martha Stewart.

Watermelon Bloody Mary

Ingredients:

* 12 cups watermelon chunks (from a 4 lb watermelon, rind removed) plus pieces, for serving
* 1 teaspoon sugar, or to taste
* Ice, for serving
* 1 1/2 cups tomato juice
* 13 dashes hot sauce, such as Tabasco, or to taste
* 1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
* 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
* 1/2 teaspoon celery seeds, ground with a mortar and pestle, or celery salt
* Freshly ground pepper
* 1 to 1 1/4 cups vodka
* Celery stalks, for serving

Directions

1. Working in batches, puree watermelon (with seeds) and sugar in blender. Strain into a bowl through a fine sieve, pressing with a rubber spatula; discard solids. (You will have 5 1/2 cups juice.)

2. For children's drinks: Divide 2 1/2 cups juice among 4 ice-filled glasses.

3. For adults' drinks: Stir remaining 3 cups watermelon juice with tomato juice, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and celery seeds in a bowl set in a larger bowl of ice. Season with pepper. Stir in vodka and divide among 4 ice-filled glasses.

4. Garnish adult drinks with a piece of watermelon and a celery stalk.