Mojito (say it with an accent)

Out of necessity, I have recently become hooked on mojitos - this is due to a very aggressive mint plant in a window box.  Once the mint dies or they make an aggressive tequila plant, I will switch back to my beloved margaritas.  Til then, I am a mojito gal.

What you need:
fresh mint
silver rum (do NOT get crappy rum...trust me on this.  There is not enough in a mojito to cover up crap rum)
soda water
sugar or sweet n low
lime juice

Step 1: Put on your helmet and padding and wrestle a sprig off your mint shrub/tree.  Pop it in a glass.

Step 2: Add a tsp of sugar or 2 packets of sweet n low.

Step 3: Add just enough soda water to cover the sugar (VERY little)

Step 4: Use a pestle or similar implement to muddle the mint, sugar, and soda water.  What is muddle?  Smoosh it with force so that the flavors all seep out and mix.

Step 5: Add rum:soda water in a 1:3 part ratio.

Step 6: Squirt in lime juice to taste (I like it more tart, so .5-1 tbsp, and then stir.



If you want to do a less traditional route, you can add a splash of fruit juice or include fruit slices in the muddling step.  Play around with it to find your favorite flavor!

Mojito with a splash of Light Cranberry Juice

Do you know what mojitos go well with?  Lamb. 

It's getting hot in here...

Yes, I did just bust out some old school Nelly for you. 

Anyway, I am serious, it is literally getting hot as Hades all over the country these days.

Virginia, 2011

So what's a girl to do when she has guests (or is just plain bored)?  Obviously, the answer is to cool off with a refreshing and unique beverage: the beerita.  How did I come up with the beerita?  It was equal parts creativity, desperation, and adventure.  My initial attempt at the drink was the frozen variety.  I learned two things that night:  1. do not operate a blender after you have been drinking, and 2. do not add the beer until after the blending is complete or it will literally rain on your parade.

So, first, you need winning ingredients:

light beer, 1 can frozen limeade, silver tequila, and a very girly pitcher to class it up

Pour the limeade, 12 oz. silver tequila, 1 bud light (or other light beer), and 16 oz. water into the pitcher and stir (alternatively, pour everything but the beer into a blender with ice and blend til uniformly slushy, add the beer afterwards).  Pour into a glass with ice.

Enjoy the beverage slowly, with a friend, or in the alternative, quickly by yourself

After you are done with drink 1, refill, and keep going til the pitcher is empty.  You will then be faced with an important decision: make another vs. fall asleep on the couch while watching The Goonies.  By the end of the night, things look more like this:

HEY YOU GUYS!!!

Thank you to Moni and Cory for not letting me drink my pitcher alone.  True friends.

Martinis are always the answer

As some of my friends may recall, a few weeks ago I was REALLY excited about spreading Weed and Feed all over my yard (excited because 1. I don't do yardwork and 2. I was actually doing something other than sitting on the couch on a weekend).  Anyway, yeseterday I realized that most of my yard is now dead, which supports my position that I am more of an indoor girl (even though I really don't do any cleaning whatsoever, and I consider laundry to be an act of the devil). 

Anyway, as I was gazing over the lawn, I realized that there was really only one thing to do to fix the situation:  drink.  And so I did.  I am the queen of fake martinis -I say fake because they are usually pink, and I use vodka instead of gin.

Here is one of my favorite go-tos:

throw some ice into a shaker
put in about 4 shots of vodka (unless you are less of a woman than I, in which case 3)
then fill the rest of the shaker with about 2/3 light cranberry juice and 1/3 grapefruit tangerine juice (Giant has one of these - Ruby Red Tangerine)
Shake it up (I prefer to involve some sort of awesome dance with this to make it fancy)
Pour it into some sort of beachy looking glass and enjoy.

And thank you to Mary Q for requesting some of the classics for this blog!  I wish I had a picture to include but I already drank the whole shaker.  Oops. Settle for this:

Call me, James.