A New Series: Happy Thirsty Thursday!

Last week I shared my recipe for a Cherry Mojito on (thirsty) Thursday, and it got me thinking this might make an awesome regular series.  So here we are, Happy Thirsty Thursday!  Mint grows like wild fire, and I keep thinking up new mojito recipes to put it to good use.  We had some fresh strawberries, so I decided to give them a try.  

Ingredients: (for one Strawberry Mojito)

- half a lemon

- half a lime

- mint leaves (7 - 10 leaves)

- a couple strawberries

- half a shot of simple syrup

- a shot of white rum

I started by picking some fresh mint.  I used about ten leaves.  I rinsed those off, plus a couple deep red strawberries.  I dropped the mint into the bottom of my glass, and sliced a strawberry up, dropping the slices into the glass as well.  Then I squeezed half a lemon and half a lime, removed the seeds, and poured the liquid into the glass.  Next, I poured in a shot of light rum, and a half shot of simple syrup.  If you would like to make your own simple syrup, check out my recipe here.  I mashed all that stuff together in the bottom of my glass, making sure to break up the strawberry slices, and smoosh the mint.   Once it was nice and flavorful looking I filled the glass up with ice, and poured my club soda over the top.  I used the wild cherry club soda I had leftover from my Cherry Mojito recipe, but I'm sure this would be great with regular club soda too.  

To finish off the look I sliced up my other strawberry, and tucked the slices in around the ice.  I saved one slice to spear with the top bunch of mint leaves, and float on the top of the drink.  I didn't realize how simple it is to make layered drinks like this.  All that red on the bottom is sooooo pretty.  Be sure to stir before you take you start drinking though, because other wise all the rum and favor will stay on the bottom, making your last sip beyond strong.  Ha!  I made this last night, and looking at these photos this morning makes me want to make one right now!  This drink is dangerous, you totally can't taste the rum in it at all.  Yet at the same time it's not overly sweet tasting.  The lemon and lime juices balance out the sweetness of the strawberries and the simple syrup, and it makes for a super refreshing light summery drink.  

While you're reading this I'll be hanging out on LBI with one of my favorite buddies from college.  I'm going by myself, which isn't something I do often, but it's nice to have some girl time.  I love Aaron, but I'm pretty sure I love him even more after a day or two with the girls.  :)  I wish I had more girlfriends that lived near me, so I could have girl nights more regularly.  i don't have too many friends that live close by.  The few awesome buddies I do have, don't know each other, so it's usually Aaron and I, and another couple hanging out together.  Maybe one day I'll invite all my lady friends over, and do lady things together.  Like painting our nails, and talk about hair, and boys.  :)  

Hope you have a lovely thirsty thursday, and happy DIYing, chris!  

Cherry Mojito

It's still super hot here.  Heat wave central. Hello, Summer!  I know a great way for (adults) to cool off on these hot summer evenings.  A nice cold alcoholic beverage.  I don't drink much, and when I do it's usually a Jack and coke.  I say coke but I prefer pepsi, and every once in awhile I'll reach for a ginger ale instead of a pepsi as my mixer.  I've also been know to mix my whiskey with root beer, which I know is completely bonkers.  Also, I'm not too brand specific on my whiskey, nothing that's cheaper than Jack Daniels, which really isn't anything special.  

Wow, that was a little rant about my go to alcoholic beverage!  Anywho ... in the summertime I enjoy a good cocktail.  I get more adventurous with my adult beverages, and I start experimenting more.  Today I came up with a Cherry Mojito.  MMM!  I definitely dig a good mojito.  The mint and lemon lime flavor is so crisp, and refreshing on a super hot day.  I didn't want to mess with that classic flavor too much, but I figured I like all cherry flavored things, so how could this go wrong?  I'm so happy I tried this, so super tasty.  I think I'll be making this again!  

What You'll Need:

- white rum

- simple syrup (or water & sugar)

- fresh mint

- half a lemon

- rose grenadine

- maraschino cherries

- cherry soda

Directions:

I started off by making some simple syrup.  I made a small batch, by boiling 3/4 cup of water in a saucepan, and then I lowered the heat and added 3/4 cup of white sugar.  I continuously stirred the two ingredients together until the sugar had completely dissolved.  This only took about five minutes at most.  I funneled this into a small bottle, and chilled it in the refrigerator.  I went through some extra old junk mail, and catalogues, while that cooled down for a bit.  

About an hour later I picked some of my orange mint, and rinsed that off in the sink.  I placed about five to seven leaves in my pint glass.  Next, I squeezed the juice of my half lemon in the glass.  I poured in a shot of rum, a half shot of the simple syrup, and I mashed that all together.    Then I poured in a half shot of rose grenadine, added some ice, and filled the glass with some store brand wild cherry soda.  Mixed it up, added some mint, and a maraschino cherry for garnish.  

It's fantastic!! Not too sugary, not too fruity, not too rummy.  A great spin on an old favorite.  Hope you enjoy, and happy Thirsty Thursday! :)  Oh, and in case you're more a beer person, the glass I'm drinking this out of is from a brewing company called Twin Lakes.  It's brewed right here in my home state, Delaware.  I'm not a beer person, but Aaron is, and he says their beer is great.  Happy DIYing, chris.