Serves 6
Hands-On: 10 minutes
Total: 10 minutes

4 cups vegetable juice
3⁄4 cup fresh lime juice (from 7 limes)
1⁄4 cup prepared horseradish
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
1 1⁄2 cups (12 oz.) vodka
1 teaspoon celery salt
Lime wedges
Celery stalks
Pickled okra spears
Spicy pickled green beans

Combine the vegetable juice, lime juice, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper in a pitcher. Stir in the vodka just before serving. Sprinkle the celery salt on a small plate. Run a lime wedge around the rim of each glass; invert glasses onto celery salt so salt adheres to rim of glasses. Fill each glass with ice and about 1 cup vegetable juice mixture. Garnish with the celery stalks, pickled okra spears, and spicy green beans.

Recipe excerpted from What Can I Bring? by Elizabeth Heiskell. Copyright © 2017 Oxmoor House. Reprinted with permission from Time Inc. Books, a division of Meredith Corporation. New York, NY. All rights reserved.

Serves 10
Hands-on: 15 minutes
Total: 2 hours, 15 minutes

1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and halved
1 cup halved green beans
1 medium English cucumber, cut into 1⁄4-inch-thick slices (about 3 cups)
2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips (about 2 cups)
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into thin strips (about 2 cups)
2 cups pitted kalamata olives
1 cup canned artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
3⁄4 cup Versatile Vinaigrette (see below)

1. Fill a medium saucepan with water; add the salt, and bring to a boil. Add the asparagus; cook until bright green, 30 to 45 seconds. Remove the asparagus from the pan, and immediately plunge into ice water to stop the cooking process. Add the green beans to the boiling water; cook until bright green, about 1 minute. Remove the green beans from the pan, and immediately plunge into ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain the asparagus and green beans.

2. Combine the asparagus, green beans, cucumber slices, tomatoes, bell pepper strips, olives, and artichoke hearts; add the Vinaigrette, and stir gently. Let stand about 2 hours.

Versatile Vinaigrette

Makes: 3 cups. Hands-on: 5 minutes. Total: 5 minutes
 
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4  teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup olive oil or canola oil
 
Whisk together the vinegar, honey, mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Add the oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly until smooth.
 
NOTE: You can use a food processor to combine the oil and the acid, but it’s easy to over process the liquids and they can become thicker than gravy. If the dressing gets too thick, add water to thin the dressing; do NOT add more oil because that will only make the problem worse.

Recipe excerpted from What Can I Bring? by Elizabeth Heiskell. Copyright © 2017 Oxmoor House. Reprinted with permission from Time Inc. Books, a division of Meredith Corporation. New York, NY. All rights reserved.

Serves 10
Hands-on: 20 minutes
Total: 1 hour, 10 minutes

1 1⁄2 cups packed fresh mint leaves
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
3 tablespoons (1 1⁄2 oz.) bourbon
4 cups chopped seedless watermelon
2 cups chopped fresh strawberries (about 12 oz.)
2 cups sliced peeled fresh peaches (about 2 medium peaches)
1 cup fresh blueberries
(about 6 oz.)
1 cup fresh raspberries
(about 4 oz.)
Garnish: fresh mint

1. Bring the mint, sugar, and water to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Boil 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, and cool 20 minutes. Pour through a fine wire-mesh strainer into a bowl, pressing the solids to release the liquid. Discard the solids.

2. Stir together the bourbon and 1/2 cup of the mint syrup in a small bowl. Store the remaining syrup in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

3. Toss together the watermelon, strawberries, peaches, blueberries, and raspberries in a large bowl until combined. Pour the bourbon mixture over fruit. Let stand 30 minutes before serving. Garnish, if desired.

Recipe excerpted from What Can I Bring? by Elizabeth Heiskell. Copyright © 2017 Oxmoor House. Reprinted with permission from Time Inc. Books, a division of Meredith Corporation. New York, NY. All rights reserved.

So here it is in all its glory... our most talked about, sought after, and begged for recipe. We love these served in mint julep cups or silver goblets.

Serves 22
Hands-on: 15 minutes
Total: 1 hour

2 cups packed light brown sugar
22 bacon slices
22 very thin breadsticks (from a 3.5-ounce package)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spread the brown sugar in a large pan or baking sheet. Wrap 1 bacon slice around each breadstick, starting at 1 end of the breadstick and barely overlapping  the bacon. Roll the breadsticks in the brown sugar, pressing to adhere. (At this point, you can cover and refrigerate overnight, if desired.) Place breadsticks on an aluminum foil-lined 12- x 7-inch baking sheet.
2. Bake in the preheated oven until bacon is cooked through and almost crisp, 35 to 40 minutes. Immediately remove the warm sticks from baking sheet, and place on wax paper. (They will stick  like glue if not moved immediately.) Cool to room temperature.

Recipe excerpted from What Can I Bring? by Elizabeth Heiskell. Copyright © 2017 Oxmoor House. Reprinted with permission from Time Inc. Books, a division of Meredith Corporation. New York, NY. All rights reserved.