As you sit and wait for all those trick or treaters on Halloween ^[1] night, here’s a terrifying drink to sip, right out of a Sherlock Holmes story!

A delicious drink of grapefruit juice and vodka with a salted rim – and a little “blood” for the occasion. Mix this treat up and turn on a scary movie – then wait for the little ghouls to ring the doorbell!

Mixing this Halloween Drink – 

First you need to color the salt. In a small bowl, mix the salt with the food coloring until it’s well mixed. Spread it out on a piece of parchment paper and dry it in a 250° oven for about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Store in a small jar.

To make the drink, wet the rim of the glass with some lemon. Place the salt in a deep plate and roll the glass rim in it. Set it aside.

Next, in a pitcher, mix the grapefruit juice, vodka and food coloring, stirring until well blended.

Add ice cubes to the glasses and pour the drink in.

Sit back and enjoy the Halloween evening!

© Copyright 2018 The Lazy Gastronome

5 from 3 votes

Print ^[2]

Salty Hounds of Baskerville

As you sit and wait for all those trick or treaters on Halloween night, here's a terrifying drink to sip, right out of a Sherlock Holmes story!

Course: beverage

Cuisine: American

Keyword: adult beverage, alcohol, beverage, grapefruit juice, vodka

Servings: 4 drinks

Author: HelenFern

Ingredients

Bloody Salt

• 1/4 cup coarse salt, like margarita salt
• 3-4 drops red food coloring

The Drink

• 24 oz. Pink Grapefruit Juice
• 8 oz. vodka
• 6-8 drops red food coloring

Instructions

Bloody Salt

1. First you need to color the salt. In a small bowl, mix the salt with the food coloring until it's well mixed. Spread it out on a piece of parchment paper and dry it in a 250° oven for about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Store in a small jar. 

The Drink

1. To make the drink, wet the rim of the glass with some lemon. Place the salt in a deep plate and roll the glass rim in it. Set it aside.

2. Next, in a pitcher, mix the grapefruit juice, vodka and food coloring, stirring until well blended.

3. Add ice cubes to the glasses and pour the drink in. Sit back and enjoy the Halloween evening!

I’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave me a comment –

January 1 was National Bloody Mary day – so I made some Bloody Marys!    We used vodka as well as a couple of other variations (see below).  It’s a great drink for brunch.

What you need:

• 2/3 cup vodka
• 2 cups tomato juice
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon tabasco sauce
• 1 teaspoon celery salt
• 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
• ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
• Garnish such as celery, green olives, pepperoncini peppers, bacon

How to Do it:

Place all the ingredients except the garnish in a large pitcher and stir, making sure to mix it all well.  (A wire whisk works great).

Put ice into four 8-10 oz. glasses and pour the mixture over the ice.  Use your choice of garnish (the classic is celery –  I used them all!)

Makes 4 drinks

Here are some variations to make not using vodka:

• Use tequila to make a bloody Maria
• Beer instead of hard alcohol is refreshing – a Beery Mary (my husband’s creation)
• No alcohol at all – a Virgin Mary.  I like to add a splash of lemon infused sparkling water to it.

© Copyright 2017 The Lazy Gastronome

A Buddha’s hand ^[9] take on the classic Limoncello –

And here’s how you make it!

What you need:

• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup water
• ¾ cup Buddha hand cut into pieces
• 1 5^th 100 proof vodka (you’ll use most of it, but not all)

How to Do it:

Place all the ingredients except vodka in a pan and bring to a boil.

Boil for one minute, then reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.  Remove from heat and pour into a quart sized mason jar with lid.  Cover and refrigerate until totally cool.

Pour vodka into the jar and stir the sugar at the bottom, working to dissolve it.  Continue adding vodka until the jar is full.  Put the lid on and shake hard.  Leave in the jar for 4-6 days, shaking a couple of times a day.

After the mixture has sat for a few days, pour the mixture through a wire mesh strainer into a large pitcher, removing the large pieces of citron.  Next, line the strainer with a coffee filter and strain it a second time.  Using a funnel, pour the flavored liquor back into the emptied vodka bottle.

Serve over ice in a sugar rimmed glass or use it in mixed drinks – like a lemon drop.

© Copyright 2016 The Lazy Gastronome

I love Sunday brunch with a bloody mary – and I really love bacon!  But I don’t like so many garnishes that I cant drink the drink!  So here’s my version of the treat!

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What you need:

The Mix –

• 3 cups of V-8 juice
• 4 Tablespoons of fresh lime juice
• 4 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 Tablespoons creamed horseradish
• 2 teaspoons lemon pepper
• 4 teaspoons celery salt

The Drinks – 

• 8 oz bacon flavored vodka
• 4 slices of bacon
• Sea salt and celery salt (for rim of class)
• Lemon wedges

How to Do it:

Put all the ingredients for the mix in a pitcher and mix well using a wire whisk.  Chill.

Wrap each piece of bacon round a wooden skewer,

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then wrap in a paper towel.

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Microwave on high for about 1 – 2 minutes – just until the bacon is crisp.  But be careful – it burns fast!

Once they have cooled, carefully remove them from the stick.

Rub the rim of each glass with a lemon wedge.  Place the salt mixes on a flat plate and rub the rims of each glass in the salt.

Place ¼ of the mix with 4-5 ice cubes and 2 oz of vodka in a shaker.  Shake well.  Pour into a class and garnish with a bacon twist.  (you can also add green olives or lemon wedges).

Serve immediately!

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Serves 4

© Copyright 2016 The Lazy Gastronome