The Liquid Muse

Guest Writer, On a Gas Can Full O' Southern Hospitality

In my line of work, I meet some awsome people. Among them is Jenny Adams, author of Mixing New Orleans and freelance writer. We finally clinked glasses, in person, at Tales of the Cocktail this past July, and were instant drinking buddies! Here is a little about Jenny, followed by her first contribution to The Liquid Muse:

Jenny Adams is a full-time freelance writer and the contributing editor of Nightclub & Bar magazine. She dreams of one day being well known for her writing, but still able to run around incognito due to her somewhat handicapped sense of fashion. She digs cream cheese, sailboats, words like 'visceral' and loud, live music. She can't stand overly-fruity cocktails, small children when they're sticky, words like 'genteel' and when her bacon isn't fully cooked. For more aboutJenny, please visit jennyadamsfreelance.com.

Oxford is to Mississippi what the city of Austin is to Texas. It’s slightly out of whack with the rest of the state – a sort of oasis for liberal minds and literary genius, a verdant speck of a town where moonshine and Veuve Cliquot are poured with equal zeal as women teeter by on Prada heels. The town earned the nickname “The Little Easy” during its heyday in the early ‘90s, and today, it is still one of the South’s best places to Happy Hour. Where else do people sit around discussing Faulkner’s lesser known works over fried pickles and Martinis?

In this little oxymoron of a town with only 20,000 residents, one cocktail is known to top the rest, however. You haven’t been to Oxford, Mississippi till you have climbed atop a ripped barstool at Ajax Diner, ordered the catfish and a Bloody Mary. The waitress will heft a red, plastic gasoline can with a smile, and if you it’s your first time, the experience can be slightly bizarre.

In this gasoline can is Proprietor Randy Yates’ town secret to curing the effects of the night before. He mixes it by the gallon to ensure customers never go without. Add in your favorite vodka, and Wah-la!

A note: I once had a theory that if one drank this magical hangover juice all night long, one would awake refreshed and feeling quite normal after an entire night out partying. I regret to say, my hypothesis was proven false in the winter of 2006. I had to have another in the morning before feeling my usual self.

Ajax Diner Bloody Mary Mix:

4 cans of V8 Juice
1 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 cups orange juice
1/2 T. horseradish
1 T. kosher salt
1 T. black pepper
1/2 T. cumin
1/2 T. garlic powder
1/2 T. celery salt
1 T. red pepper flakes
1/2 T. cayenne pepper
1/2 cup Coke
Tabasco to taste

Combine all ingredients in gallon container. Mix well. Fill tall glass with 1 1/2 ounces of vodka and sufficient mix. Garnish with a squeeze of lemon, a squeeze of lime and a spear of pickled okra.