MARY ON THE RANCH RECIPES

Steps:

• Open the jar of pickles and pour the ranch seasoning mix inside. Cover tightly and shake well until evenly dispersed. Refrigerate overnight.

• Mix cream cheese and ranch seasoning mix together until well-blended. Place cream cheese mixture into a piping bag or Glad zipper bag with the corner snipped off.  Fill the insides of the olives with the cream cheese (you’ll have a few leftovers which are good for snacking). Set aside.

• Mix the ground beef with the ranch seasoning mix and black pepper to taste until well blended. Form into 4 slider-sized patties. On a grill or in a pan, cook the burgers for about 4 minutes per side, or until cooked to your liking. Place between the slider rolls and set aside.

• Prepare a grill for high, direct heat or preheat the oven to 400°F. If grilling,make sure the skewers have been soaked in water for at least 20 minutes. In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, lemon juice and ranch seasoning mix together. Add in the shrimp and toss well to coat. Partially cook the bacon by either microwaving between two paper towels for 90 seconds or cooking in the oven or in a pan until some of the fat has renderedout and the bacon has softened. Wrap half a piece of bacon around each shrimp and thread two onto each of four skewers. Grill for 3 minutes on each side or bake for about 10 minutes, turning once, until both are cooked through.

• Mix the tomato juice, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, celery salt, ranch seasoning and black pepper in a pitcher. Season with a few shakes of Tabasco sauce, to taste. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

• Fill a tall glass to the top with ice. Add about 2 ounces of vodka (if desired), then pour the Bloody Mary mix to the top. Repeat with remaining glasses.

• Garnish each glass with a celery stalk, 1 ranch pickle, a skewer of ranch bacon-wrapped shrimp and a skewer with a burger speared throug hthe middle and two ranch cream cheese stuffed olives.

Steps:

• 1.

  Combine vegetable juice, vodka, ranch dressing mix, dill pickle juice, and salt in a pitcher. Chill at least 1 hour before serving.

• 2.

  To serve, rub a lime wedge on the rims of three glasses; dip rims into additional ranch dressing mix. Fill glasses with ice and Bloody mary mixture. Garnish with dill pickle spears, crisp-cooked bacon and an additional lime wedge, if desired.