Tequila Spritzer

Cilantro Lime Tequila Spritzer with Jalapeño Slices :

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• ½ cups sugar
• ½ cup cilantro, plus 8 'sprigs'
• 1 liter club soda
• 1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (about 8 small limes)
• 8 ounces tequila, or less depending on taste
• 2 jalapeño peppers, sliced into rounds

Instructions

1. In a medium pot add water, sugar, and cilantro. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes to make a simple syrup. Strain out cilantro and discard. Chill the simple syrup mixture in the refrigerator for 2 to 24 hours or freeze for 1 hour to speed up the process.
2. In a large bowl combine chilled syrup, club soda, lime juice, tequila; stir. Serve over ice with a sprig of cilantro and top each drink with 2-3 jalapeño slices.

FUCKING EPIC AND SPICY AND DEEEELICIOUS AND REFRESHING! Boom. 

Cailin Callahan

www.cailincallahan.blogspot.com

Tastes like Summer

I love Steve + Cookies (a fabulous restaurant in margate) Ugly Tomato Salad. It's big slices of juicy tomato topped with fried onions, blue cheese and a sherry wine vinaigrette. We have been having a TON of tomatoes from the garden...delicious red, green and orange tomatoes. So, I decided to try and recreate Cookies goodness at home. The three colors of the tomatoes were spectacular. Then I thinly sliced shallots, dipped them in egg and tossed them into some rye flour before putting them in a hot pan to fry/sautee them til crispy. The dressing was amazing: one clove of garlic in the blender with about 1/2 a cup of sherry wine, a small bunch of fresh oregano (from the garden), a few splashes of apple cider vinegar, and a drizzle of agave nectar -- I pureed it in the blender and then emulsified it by adding EVOO slowly as it pureed. OUTSTANDING. BEST DRESSING TO EVER PUT ON TOMATOES! I didn't have blue cheese, so I did without - and I sprinkled some sliced basil (from the garden) on top to finish it off, some kalamata olives and a sprinkle of salt (to make up for the lack of blue cheese saltiness). It was outstanding.

The next day, after teaching back to back yoga classes, we managed to have a great family day at the beach. Dad was pretty tired, but he's always a good sport because he knows how much my mom loves the beach. The ocean was warm and refreshing and delightful. 

That night, back at the house, I'd promised to make margaritas. But I hate margarita mix, and I wanted something super refreshing. So, using our juicer, I juiced cucumbers, limes, and yellow (yes, yellow!) watermelon. Because of all of the fresh limes, the juice was pretty tart - which I like - but to cut the bite I added a bit of agave nectar. To each salt-rimmed, topped off with ice-glass, I added a shot of contrieau (orange liquer), and a generous amount of tequila. FREAKING DELICIOUS. If you don't have a juicer you could always just put watermelon in a blender and add lime juice - leave out the cucumber or just use it as a garnish - and use agave to sweeten. 

Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is probably my favorite holiday...I mean, it's all about margaritas and Mexican food, what's not to love about that?!? Mindy and Leslie joined mom, dad and me for dinner. I made some spicy salty sweet fried peanuts, guacamole, mango salsa, shrimp tacos, and sopapillia cheesecake. To drink we had margaritas, but I certainly didn't use any of that premade bullshit. The first few rounds were using a citrus blend: orange, grapefruit and fresh line juice. The second round was a batch of fresh made juice: watermelon, cucumber, mint, and lime. Then, after it was shaken and poured I put a slice of jalapeño in there for some added spice and depth. Que rica! Can't wait for next year...