Two Women, Two Grandmothers, One Legacy of Flavor:

Some of my most cherished memories are standing beside my grandmother in the kitchen. She’s been gone for a while now, but her presence still shows up—in the way I measure ingredients, in the notes she left in the margins of her old cookbooks, and in the way food always brings people together.

I’m Marisa, one half of the duo behind Bloody Darn Good, and if you’ve ever tried one of our bloody mary mixes, you’ve tasted a bit of our story. This business was born from the kitchens we grew up in, the grandmother’s who shaped us, and the family gatherings that connect us across generations.

Isabelle’s Kitchen

My grandmother, Isabelle, wasn’t a chef by trade, but her presence in the kitchen was confident and she was always smiling. Her recipes were less about precision and more about connection, family, and tradition. I still have some of her cookbooks, filled with her notes. Those pages are some of my most cherished memories of her. They’re stained, worn, and irreplaceable.

I often think of her when I am cooking. I’ve started using our bloody mary mixes as the base for a lot of recipes—chili, pasta, marinades, soups— they bring a deep, layered flavor that reminds me of the spaghetti sauce she taught me to make. I know she would’ve loved seeing me create this and helping me find new was to use pur mixes. In some ways, this recipe blog is my way of bringing her back into the kitchen.

Bett’s Bloodies

If you are familiar with Bloody Darn Good at all, you know that my co-founder, Diana, has her own family story. Her 97-year-old grandmother, Elizabeth, created the bloody mary mix that became the foundation of our business. That first batch—based on her hand-written recipe—was the one that kicked everything off. We named it OG, short for Original Grandma, and yes, that’s her photo on every label.

Her original recipe inspired our other three flavors. And now our Morning Light blend—a fresh, modern take on the original, is her favorite. Diana’s grandma is still with us, sipping on an occasional bloody and her legacy is part of everything we do.

Why This Blog

We created this blog to share more than just cocktail tips. We also want to share the meals, the stories, and the flavors that connect us to the women who made us who we are. This is for the grandmothers who handed us measuring cups, taught us to taste before serving, and showed us how to feed people with love and always have a good time.

We hope you’ll find inspiration here—not just for your next brunch, but for the kind of cooking that brings people together with a smile.

Let’s get cooking—and maybe spill a few stories along the way…

— Marisa