Hello, fellow Mad Men fans!
Still recovering from last night’s finale?
Well, here is a restorative libation to ease you into your Monday morning.
I made two versions from two different cookbooks. Pick whichever suits your liking!
The first is from the Playboy’s Host & Bar Book (1971) written by Thomas Mario. (If you want to read more about the Playboy book, click HERE).
How fitting that I chose Bloody Marys, especially after the scene in which Joan proposes that she and Peggy go into a business venture together. Man, I wish I could find a screencap of that lunch.
Instead, you’ll have to do with just Peggy. Imagine Joan sitting across the table from her.
Click through to see the drinks–but be warned, there are finale spoilers.
The Playboy recipe was very simple. Very standard.
However, I don’t know what the point of the ketchup was. It wasn’t enough to thicken it at all, and it’s not like it imparted a lot of flavor. Because ketchup. Maybe it if it was chili sauce…?
3/5 on the Tomato Scale
Now, perhaps you want a drink with a bit more kick. Or maybe you need multiple Bloody Marys for a crowd, or maybe a whole pitcher for yourself because you are that distraught that Don and Friends have moved on.
This recipe, for the 21 Club Bloody Mary, comes from The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook (Recipe courtesy of Tara Wright, The ’21’ Club, NYC).
Bloody Mary Mix:
- 24 ounces tomato juice
- 1 1/4 ounces Worcestershire sauce
- 4-5— drops Tabasco sauce
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 tablespoon olive brine
For the drink:
- 2ounces vodka
- Lime wedge
- 1/2 teaspoon horseradish (optional)
Instructions:
Make Bloody Mary mix: Mix tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and olive brine in a large container. Taste and adjust as needed. Make the drink: Pour vodka over rocks in a highball glass. Fill glass with Bloody Mary mix. Stir. Garnish with a lime wedge. Add horseradish, if desired.
Oh, I did desire the horseradish. So much so that I put the horseradish in the mix. Like, a lot of it.
This recipe was more like it! Maybe because of the horseradish, or the lime wedge in addition to the lemon juice. I think that the olive brine most definitely took this drink to the next level.
This Bloody Mary was a winner. And, to make it extra-yummy, I added a ton of Old Bay.
Because I love Old Bay.
5/5 on the Tomato Scale.
How cool is this United Air Lines swizzle stick???
Anyhoo, about the finale–did you like it? Surprised? Disappointed?
I really just want to talk about one thing. The ladies. I am sad that Peggy’s story was wrapped up all tidy in a romantic comedy bow. Seriously. What was that? I would have been much happier had her arc ended with her sashaying into McCann with that cigarette dangling from her mouth. But, no. Badass Peggy was reduced to the “girl who realizes that the man who could complete her was right under her nose after all” trope. And that phone call? Stan, I thought you were cooler than that. Peggy, I thought you were more self-aware.
C’mon, girl! You had the chance to be your own boss and be totally boss. This is not to say that she can’t be all Lean In and have it all. But she, fearless Peggy (didn’t her date in an earlier episode this season call her that?), decides to stay at McCann because she’s scared of failure. And because Stan wants her to.
Barf.
Peggy, you need to retire your Woman Being Pleasured by an Octopus print. Maybe send it over to Joan.
And Joanie! Bravo. You’ve come a long way, baby. I am thrilled that Mr. California Asshat showed his true colors and exited her life. No longer defined by whether or not she has a husband (all her beaus ever wanted was her to be a stay-at-home wife–except for Roger, who made her financially secure enough to start Holloway Harris), Joan was able to follow her bliss.
Joan, I hope that you continue to get a lot of work through Dow/Kenny Cosgrove. And that you get an actual office. Or at least a new apartment. Maybe one day Bob Benson will be working for you!
Joan Holloway Harris #RoleModel
Yeah, so that’s what I have to say about that.
Now if I could just get that goddamned Coca-Cola song out of my head.
[…] these Old Bay Horseradish Tomatoes.I am very fond of a Bloody Mary and wanted to do something with Yinzerella’s Old Bay and Horseradish Bloody Mary which is a totally awesome BM in itself. But I also wanted to put my own twist on […]
[…] On Saturday morning, Todd and Leah went to visit some other friends, so while they were away I prepared the brunch. As soon as they walked in the door from their trip to Dundalk I had brunch at the ready. As well as Bloody Marys. I used this recipe. […]
That United Air Lines stick looks so cool! I’ll definitely miss it when I prepare my Bloody Mary 🙂
I was really displeased by the finale, and I hated Don’s whole arc. But at the end when I was making disgusted noises about Don’s newfound hippie-dom, Nick suggested that the reason he smiled was because he got the idea for the Coke ad and went back to work. I’d like to think that that’s what happened.
Oh, and I also HATED that Peggy & Stan got together.
My first thought was that Don got his mojo back and he created the Coke campaign. Immediately. The receptionist girl at the lodge with the braids matching the girl in the commercial kinda nailed it for me. That smile said it all.
Glad that I’m not the only one unimpressed with “Steggy. “
Man, I am so bad about catching subtleties like that. I need to be hit in the face with it. Thank goodness Nick watched the last 5 minutes with me.