For those of you wondering how you’re ever going to eat all those tomatoes coming at you from the back garden; I’ve got the answer for you….

….Don’t eat them – Drink them!

What better excuse to make up a round of fresh tomato brunch Bloody Mary’s than an overabundance of the fruit/vegetable in question. I mean – you gotta’ do something with all those tomatoes, don’t you?

So here it is, easy instructions for making your own Bloody Mary Mix from scratch (and if you grew those tomatoes yourself, you can’t get much more “from scratch” than that).

Fresh Tomato Bloody Mary Recipe (makes about 6)

This is not the usual Bloody Mary Mix – this baby is thick and a little bit chunky at times and noticeably, something different. But I think it’s great.

• 2 pounds of August/September tomatoes (this recipe is very worth making at harvest time, and not at all worth making at any other time.)
• 8 ounces of vodka
• ¼ cup of fresh lemon juice
• 6 generous dashes of both Tabasco
• 12 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
• A few good pinches of black pepper and celery salt

Pop all ingredients in a blender and puree until smoothish (as desired). Refrigerate until well chilled, at least a couple of hours or for as long as a day before serving over lots of ice to appreciative brunch guests.

Garnish, of course, with a celery rib (for traditionalists) or with whatever else strikes your fancy.

OK, it’s actually not that different in the making – the only difference here really is that you use fresh tomatoes instead of tomatoes juice. So if you have a Bloody Mary Recipe that you love, just use that and substitute ½ pound of tomatoes per drink for the tomato juice.

In an interesting variation, you can also make a fresh tomato Bloody Mary using roasted tomatoes for the juice. To make this version, simply cut your tomatoes in half, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast in a 350 degree oven for about a half hour. Then, puree as indicated with the other ingredients above. You can add a little water if this version is too thick.

This is equally good as a Virgin Bloody Mary, simply by omitting the alcohol. Another variation is a fresh tomato Bloody Maria, which uses tequila instead of vodka.

If you like a spicier Bloody Mary, feel free to add a hot chili pepper or two to the blender. Personally, although I do like spicy food, I prefer the classic mix – sometimes you don’t mess with perfection.