My friend Yvonne and I tested my Bloody Mary oyster shooters and got lightly “toasted” at the same time. We kept draining our shot glasses and after each one we figured we needed one more, just to make sure the seasoning was right. And besides, each shot glass contained dinner (an oyster and a vegetable) and a drink (a spot of vodka), so why stop before our appetites waned? Before we knew it we’d moved from testing to party mode. We laughingly dubbed our oyster concoction a “party in a shot glass,” and the name stuck. One thing is sure: start slurping these and you’ve got a party whether it’s for just the two of you or for a crowd of your best buddies.

　　

Ingredients

makes 24 shooters

　　2 (12-ounce) cans V8, tomato juice, or Clamato juice, chilled

　　2 tablespoons prepared horseradish

　　2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 medium lemon)

　　1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

　　3 to 4 shakes Tabasco sauce

　　1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning

　　1/2 teaspoon celery salt

　　1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

　　2 dozen fresh oysters (about 2 pounds)

　　Vodka

　　Halved lime slices, for garnish

　　

Step 1

In a large (at least 2-cup capacity) pitcher, stir together the V8, horseradish, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, Cajun seasoning, celery salt, and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to assemble the oyster shooters. Set 12 (1 1/2-ounce capacity or more) shot glasses on a decorative tray. Spoon 1 oyster into each, top with 2 tablespoons tomato mix, and refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 2 hours ahead. Just before serving, float 1 teaspoon vodka on top. Garnish with lime slices.

　　

do it early

Step 2

The Bloody Mary mix can be made up to 2 days in advance and refrigerated. Assemble the shooters, including the oysters, up to 2 hours before you plan to serve them. Float the vodka on top just before serving.

　　

tip

Step 3

Make it effortless: buy your favorite Bloody Mary mix and use it for instant oyster shooters. If you wish, spice it up with a few of your own additions, such as celery salt, prepared horseradish, or Cajun seasoning.

　　Pastry Queen Parties by Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Copyright © 2009 Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Published by Ten Speed Press. All Rights Reserved.A pastry chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author, native Texan Rebecca Rather has been proprietor of the Rather Sweet Bakery and Café since 1999. Open for breakfast and lunch daily, Rather Sweet has a fiercely loyal cadre of regulars who populate the café’s sunlit tables each day. In 2007, Rebecca opened her eponymous restaurant, serving dinner nightly, just a few blocks from the café.  Rebecca is the author of THE PASTRY QUEEN, and has been featured in Texas Monthly, Gourmet, Ladies Home Journal, Food & Wine, Southern Living, Chocolatier, Saveur, and O, The Oprah Magazine. When she isn’t in the bakery or on horseback, Rebecca enjoys the sweet life in Fredericksburg, where she tends to her beloved backyard garden and menagerie, and eagerly awaits visits from her college-age daughter, Frances.Alison Oresman has worked as a journalist for more than twenty years. She has written and edited for newspapers in Wyoming, Florida, and Washington State. As an entertainment editor for the Miami Herald, she oversaw the paper’s restaurant coverage and wrote a weekly column as a restaurant critic. After settling in Washington State, she also covered restaurants in the greater Seattle area as a critic with a weekly column. A dedicated home baker, Alison is often in the kitchen when she isn't writing. Alison lives in Bellevue, Washington, with her husband, Warren, and their children, Danny and Callie.