Dirty Banana

It's Thirsty Thursday at Hustle & Shine and featured today is the Dirty Banana. You should know that it's the best drink you will ever have. I may be embellishing just a little, but only because I associate this drink with my husband, our engagement and trips to Martha's Vineyard- all very delightful things.

Rosemary Grapefruit Cocktail

It's Thirsty Thursday! (or it was 5 years ago in college, anyways....)

Since we are now all working professionals, longing for the days of Thirsty Thursday, let's imbibe in a more grown-up cocktail. Definitely more grown-up than my ($1!) drink of choice on Thursday's in college... the Dirty Shirley. Yep, the innocent child's drink, Shirley Temple, with the addition of vodka. And yes, it's exactly as good as you're imagining.

Anyways, back to that grown-up cocktail. While out to dinner with friends at Maggiano's, I spotted sprigs of rosemary in the bar's garnish tray. Intrigued, I asked the Bartended to make me whatever drink includes those, and was delighted with the delicious combination of rosemary, vodka, grapefruit and Campari, which they call an Italian Greyhound.

Of course I had to recreate. I used this recipe, loving the added step of infusing rosemary into the simple syrup to amp up the rosemary flavor.

I bought a boatload of grapefruits from BJ's to squeeze my own. While the fresh-squeezed flavor was a nice touch, next time I'll use good old bottled Ocean Spray Ruby Red, for the convenience and pink color of course.

 

 

 

Mastering the Mojito

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Fact: I drank exactly 5,349 mojitos on our honeymoon. And if I'm indulging fun facts, I spent exactly 2.5 hours at Lowe's last night and as I type, am currently on my fourth time watching Pitch Perfect. Both of which I'm absolutely certain is not normal behavior.   But anyhow, back to mojitos. On our honeymoon in Mexico, every time a waiter came by the pool I quickly panicked to think of another drink to order, but I always defaulted back to my favorite- the mojito. They are so refreshing and the perfect summer drink for a hot day.

This past Friday night over Parks and Recreation reruns with my new sister-in-law, was the perfect opportunity to master my mojito recipe.

A quick Google for the "perfect mojito recipe" led me to this recipe and, as it claimed to be, was the best mojito.  I followed the recipe and steeped the mint, which came from my kitchen herb garden (how very Ina Garten of me!), in the simple syrup. Infusing the simple syrup with fresh mint definitely made all the difference. The recipe reccomended steeping and cooling for one hour, but if you're impatient and thirsty like me, you might not wait the full hour. You also might not have a muddler, in which case the bottom of a wooden spoon to muddle. However, this mojito recipe may warrant the investment in one!