Holiday Cocktail Countdown #15: Katie's Pizzeria's Blood Orange Martini

Like any red-blooded American, Gut Check uses liquid medication to cope with holiday stress. Not only does a good winter cocktail make it possible to tolerate family members, say, inquiring about your procreation plans, it helps keep you warm, too. From now until Christmas, we're calling upon local drink-slingers to suggest great cocktails to get you through the season. Some of them are holiday-themed, some traditional, some not so much, but they all share one common thread: delicious potency.

Holly Fann

Katie's is squeezin' what's in season for their Holiday Cocktail

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For Katie Lee, owner of Katie's Pizzeria, (6611 Clayton Road, Clayton; 314-727-8585) a seasonal cocktail is just that -- one that includes the best of what's in season. From what tops the pizzas to what goes into the regularly changing specialty cocktails, Katie's takes its cues from what's fresh and ripe, making blood oranges an obvious winter choice.

Potent, perfumed and tangy, this smooth cocktail is easy to drink and just as easy to make.

Blood Orange Martini
Approximately 3 ounces Purus Vodka

Juice of 1/2 medium-sized blood orange

Splash of lemon juice

Pour vodka, blood orange juice and lemon juice into a shaker over ice. Shake. Pour into a martini glass.