Homemade Fresh Strawberry Margaritas

It's been a margarita summer.  This summer has basically sucked, not to mince words or anything.  But so be it.

As my mom would say, "it is what it is."

These margaritas are delicious- so wonderful and fresh.  They are very easy to put together, and a great use for strawberries about to turn!

Strawberry Margaritas

Strawberry Simple Syrup
Adapted from How Sweet It Is
Combine equal parts sugar and water, heat for about 2 minutes in the microwave until sugar melts.   Roughly 3/4 cup sugar plus 3/4 cup water will be close.  Then add 1 cup of the simple syrup and 1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries.

Margaritas
adapted from foodie bride

1 cup lime juice
3/4 cup silver tequila
1/2 cup triple sec
1 cup strawberry simple syrup

Combine.  

Sweet Tea

My mother in law makes some killer sweet tea.  Lemon is not in her recipe.  But I love lemon.  My husband is uber-health conscious, but he always sucks down her sweet tea without guilt.

It never fails to amuse me that when we cross into arkansas, being that close to route 40 has such a profound effect on his eating habits.  I made this for the last "party" I threw, which was a lousy event/occasion, but I needed some sugar available to mainline.

It also had the benefit of being a dish made with love by a mom dear to me, so it had a comforting effect.  This tea is sweet.  Sweet.  Sweet.  And addictive.  The baking soda neutralizes the acidity, and removes any bitterness.  It goes down easy!

You have been warned.



Sweet Tea
Adapted from my mother-in-law, Tina
inspired by Jennifer Rather --Ezra Pound Cake

3 family sized bags or 12 regular size bags of luzianne or lipton tea
12 cups water
1 - 1/2 or 2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 lemon, halved; optional

Measure about 4 cups of water into a pan, and bring to a boil.
Place 4 cups of boiling water into a pitcher, and place tea bags in water.  Add the baking soda and sugar.
Let it sit and steep for 15 minutes. Remove tea bags, but do not squeeze them- it adds bitterness.

Add remaining 8 cups cold water and the juice of half a lemon (or to taste).
Slice remaining lemon half into wedges, and serve with tea.

Pineapple Magarita

I need cuter margarita glasses than the $1 specials at Big Y.  That is apparent.  But this recipe is really good.   Ina's recipe was too stiff for me, and Foodie Bride's was not converted easily to bulk.  And if I'm going to make margaritas, it's going to be a pitcher so I can sip them all week!  So I modifed Ina's in the spirit of Shawnda's, and it's a winner.

Pineapple Margarita
Adapted from Foodie Bride and Ina Garten


2 cups lime juice, about 20 limes (Nellie and Joe''s key west Lime juice in a bottle)
2 cups white tequila
2 cups Triple Sec
2 1/2 cups fresh pineapple juice
Simple syrup (made from 1/2 cup sugar and 1 cup water, heated until sugar dissolved)

Hot Cocoa Mix

Happy Mardi Gras!  I love this hot cocoa mix.  The best part is, that the hot chocolate solid bits melt and leave a nice but of melted chocolate in the bottom of your cup!  It is great to make as gifts, and couldn't be easier.

Hot Cocoa Mix
Adapted from Confessions of a Foodie Bride


2 vanilla beans
4 cups granulated sugar
24 oz high-quality semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
9 oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 cups Dutch process cocoa

Split and scrape vanilla beans and place in a large bowl or jar with the sugar.
Work seeds into the sugar with your fingers. Submerge the pods under the sugar.

Cover tightly and let stand overnight (or for weeks) at room temperature.
In a food processor fitted with metal blade, process semisweet chocolate and dark chocolate until finely ground, using 4-second pulses. Process in batches, if necessary.  The chocolate should be as fine as you can.
Remove pod from sugar. Add ground chocolate and cocoa powder to sugar and whisk to blend, making sure to combine well.
Store mix airtight at room temperature for up to six months.
To serve, heat 2 Tbsp of mix with 8 oz of milk over medium heat.

This makes about 76 servings.

Watermelon Lemonade

Unfortunately, I like this much more than the kids do.  It's a nice thing to have on hand when you want to drink something that feels celebratory but your husband suggests maybe you should NOT make a pitcher of margaritas for a change.  I'm confident once the weather stops being so hot the margarita thing will pass.

Otherwise, I've always wanted to see rancho mirage.  Luckily, when I get back this little pick me up will still be accessible!!  


Watermelon Lemonade
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

makes 2 large glasses

1/4 cup (2 ounces) fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup (4 ounces) fresh watermelon puree, strained through a coarse strainer to remove seeds
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) simple syrup (i.e. 1 part sugar to one part water, heated to dissolve)
3/4 cup (6 ounces) cold water

Stir it all together and serve over ice.

The back forty-a.k.a. bourbon lemonade

Adult guests.  We get overly excited.  And by we, I mean, me.  I made a quadruple batch of margaritas and this.  For 5 adults.  At lunch time.  OK, so maybe we need to get out more.

I initially made this as suggested in the NY times, but quickly realized there was a reason that Deb made it less strong.  This drink definitely still has a kick, but it is refreshing and appealing to the non bourbon liker.  Definitely a way to help me get rid of the bourbon in our house!  Unfortunately I'm still on a quest to home make big Y's sweet bourbon steak sticks, so I think there will be a lot more bourbon to get rid of in house until I get it right...

Back Forty
Adapted from the New York Times

10 tablespoons maple syrup
12 ounces bourbon
12 ounce lemon juice
30 dashes orange bitters
Lime wedge for garnish.
In a cocktail shaker, mix syrup with 4 tablespoons hot water. Add bourbon, lemon juice and bitters. Add ice and shake. Strain drink over ice in glass. Garnish.
Yield: 6 drinks.

Whisky Sour

Meet my other addiction- whisky sours.  To say I'm an amateur mixologist would be an understatement.  I loved Midori sours in college, so the idea that I could make my own sour mix was enthralling to me.  Even better, it comes together very easily, especially if you go the bottle juice route.  Try to get a good quality bottled juice (oxymoron???) since it's a big part of the flavor.

Whisky Sour
Adapted from Ina Garten


Ingredients
3/4 cup whiskey (recommended: Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed or bottled lemon juice (4 lemons)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed or bottled lime juice (4 limes)
2/3 cup sugar syrup (see note)
Ice cubes
Maraschino cherries

Directions
Combine the whiskey, lemon juice, lime juice, and syrup. Chill in the fridge and serve up or on the rocks with a maraschino cherry.

Note: To make the sugar syrup, heat 1 cup of warm tap water and 1 cup of sugar in the microwave for about 2 minutes.  Stir until dissolved.  Chill prior to making.

Margarita from Scratch

I have been having a serious margarita craving this summer.  I broke our blender trying to make frozen ones early on, so I had to find a recipe that didn't use frozen limeade.   Besides the fact that I have always liked on the rocks margaritas better...

This recipe is perfect.  It's definitely citrus filled, and even though it has a lot of sugar, I feel like it's better for you than those bottled mixes.  I keep finding occasions to make it- my sister's visit, my brother in law's visit, Tuesday night....

Margaritas from Scratch
Adapted from Confessions of a Foodie Bride


Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (10-12 limes) or use bottled
1/2 cup silver tequila
1/2 cup orange liqueur/triple sec
lemon or lime wedges/slices for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Heat water and sugar for 2 minutes in microwave and stir until completely dissolved and the water is clear. Let cool in fridge.
Pour into a pitcher with lime juice, tequila, and orange liqueur.
Pour over ice and garnish .
To make frozen margaritas, freeze the limeade into cubes in advance. Blend with the other ingredients.