Make mine extra spicy

Me, age 38

 

I’m feeling kind of guilty.

 

The kids are filing into the school building, waving one last time to us parents as we holler our goodbyes. I take a look around and notice some moms and dads wiping tears from their eyes. As for me, I am trying to hide the huge smile on my face.  

 

It’s the first day of school, but not just any first day of school. My daughters are in third grade, and Owen is starting kindergarten – full-day kindergarten – which means I have turned a major corner in my life as a mother: all of my children are officially in elementary school.

 

As I leave the playground (childless, for the first time in eight years!), I think about how buoyant I feel to have reached this milestone. I might be worse for the wear, but I have survived. As I hum the Rocky theme song to myself, I run smack into my good friend Anne Marie, who has likewise just bid farewell to her youngest. She tells me how devastated she is now that she’s done with the “little kids at home” chapter of her life. “I’m so sad,” she cries.  

 

Back to my feelings of guilt: while Anne Marie is trying her best not to burst into tears, I’m ready to burst into song. Does this make me a bad mom?

 

I’ve chatted with my own mother about my elation in sending my children off to school, and she tells me I have nothing to feel bad about. She confesses that when she took my littlest sister to kindergarten, she did cartwheels across the playground.  “You really did cartwheels?” I ask her, incredulous.  

 

“Well, no, sweetie,” she responds. “But I felt like doing cartwheels. It’s pretty much the same thing.”

She has a point. I could do cartwheels myself, but I have no time to spare. I need to get home because I’m hosting a party at 9am sharp. It’s time to celebrate, and what says “celebration” better than “Bloody Mary bar”?

 

I’ve invited all the neighborhood parents to my morning fete, and my sun-filled back porch is stocked with everything to make it extraordinary. Through the years, my three sisters and I have perfected the Bloody Mary bar, which I’m delighted to unveil today to my fellow moms and dads. A Bloody Mary makes everyone feel better, whether they are stifling a sob or breaking out in a victory dance like me. 

 

The Merritt Sisters’ Recipe for an Unforgettable Bloody Mary Bar

 

What you will need

 

Plastic spears

Toothpicks

Lots of ice

Lots of vodka (we suggest the 1.75L Kirkland Signature Vodka from Costco) 

Bloody Mary mix (we like Zing Zang)

Worcestershire sauce

Celery salt

Ground pepper

 

Build your Bloody Mary in a cup over ice. Mix 3 oz Bloody Mary mix, 1 ½ oz vodka, a dash of Worcestershire sauce, and pinches of celery salt and ground pepper. Stir well.  Add your fixins to taste. Make it spicy – or not. It will be good either way.

 

Fixins

 

Artichoke hearts

Bacon slices (cooked and chilled)

Banana peppers and/or pepperoncinis

Beef jerky sticks

Celery stalks

Cheese curds – white, cheddar, Cajun, etc.

Cherry tomatoes

Cucumber slices

Hot sauce (or Tabasco )

Lemon wedges

Lime wedges

Olives – stuffed with garlic, blue cheese, jalapeno, etc.

Pickled asparagus spears

Pickled Brussels sprouts

Pickled green beans

Pickled mushrooms

Pickles – dill and/or sweet spears

Shrimp (cooked and chilled)

String cheese

 

***

 

My porch table is an awesome sight with its bountiful spread of fixins. But what’s even more awesome is taking that first sip of spicy, vitamin-packed, vodka-based goodness and toasting to the start of a new school year.

 

Cheers!