This article spotlights Jodi Parks Roos, who caught our attention with her brightly colored and uniquely garnished bloody mary creations. In fact, Jodi was nominated by the Bloody Mary Enthusiasts Facebook group to be our next person spotlight.
Jodi is a practice manager for all six locations of Parks Dermatology in the Daytona Beach area of Florida. She enjoys horseback riding in her free time and has turned her creativity and passion for bloody marys into an innovative way to raise money for charity.
What got you into bloody marys?
I’m going to call my dad out on that one, because he used to have a V-8 every day. Later on, when I was in my twenties, I started putting vodka in them. It started as a family thing, and it still continues. I’m the hostess, and probably twice a month, my family comes over now that my nieces and nephews are old enough to drink. They enjoy them, too.
When my mom was still with us, we would also have bloody marys on Sundays. Now my sister and my brother (he‘s a big Caesar fan) will hit me up with a group text “We’re ready for bloody marys. We want Jodi’s bloody marys!” I like that it’s kind of my gig. They trust me to make a great bloody mary, because they’re always fun and festive.
Do you remember your first bloody mary?
You know I do! The first one was made with Major Peter’s mix. And I remember the celery salt was a must, the celery stalk was a must, and Worcestershire. And my friend added pickle juice to it.
What’s the inspiration for all the creative and cool bloody marys that you post?
Before joining the Bloody Mary Enthusiasts Unite Facebook group, I started to just post fun pictures on Sundays. It was fun, and I got a lot of likes. Someone reached out one day saying they hadn’t seen my post yet and asked if everything was okay. That’s when I realized people were really liking it, and it became a little bit of a hobby. I love to be creative and colorful and different.
I love the group so much. I think we’re unique in that we all have different opinions, likes and dislikes, but none of us are judgmental. I think that we need to project that everywhere.
What’s your favorite must-have garnish?
I have to go with bacon. I’m a big BLT fan, and I bake my bacon in the oven, so it comes out nice, flat, and not greasy. Usually its the first garnish I eat, so it doesn’t have time to get soggy. The right piece of bacon is perfect in a bloody mary.
Do you make your own mix at home?
My go-to is spicy V-8. I like to add pickle juice or pepperoncini juice, Worcestershire sauce, a little Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, and Tabasco. The Pepper Palace Black Rose hot sauce is also a really good sauce.
I hear you’re doing something cool with bloody marys and charity…
We have a local park close to my house, and they were doing a benefit for a friend who had cancer, so I thought, I could make more money with bloody mary donations than just writing a check. So I started doing some charity work with my bloody mary bar. I’ve done it four or five times now. For my mom, who we lost to Alzheimer’s, I do an annual walk. This year, they’re not doing the walk, so instead, I’ll set up a bloody mary bar and accept donations. I’m really looking forward to it.
