Hello, Summer! Mojitos

It's officially Summer! Hooray!

I've got just the thing to celebrate the beginning of sun-streaked hair, freckled noses, bare shoulders, sandals, and ocean breezes: Mojitos!

We've been growing mint for years and Summer 2014 is no different -- when the leaves get big and heavy, it's time to collect a few sprigs and make merry. Er, make mojitos.

Now, I'm all for the fancy blueberry, watermelon, and/or black cherry versions, but sometimes it's better to keep it simple. My favorite is the original: lime juice, sugar, mint and rum. And, you don't have to worry about taking time away from the pool to make each drink by hand. You can make a batch in the blender. Yes, you heard me: Mojitos in the blender. I discovered years ago that if you put the mint leaves in the blender instead of muddling them in the bottom of the glass, you won't have to deal with soggy mint leaves when you get to the end of your drink. Instead, you get a pretty green border of minced mint floating at the top of the glass. And, the bright green color from the fresh leaves just screams "Summertime!" Cheers!

Ah-mazing Mojitos
Ingredients:
1 cup fresh lime juice
1-2 TBS Rose's Sweetened Lime Juice
2 TBS superfine sugar
4 oz white rum
16-20 large mint leaves (no stems)
Club soda
2-4 sprigs of mint for garnish
1 lime sliced, for garnish
Ice

Minimal MESS/ingredients/clean-up: Category 1

To Do:

• Blend the lime juice, sugar, rum and mint leaves on high, about 15 seconds.
• Pour equally into 2-4 glasses filled with ice, until about 3/4 full. Top with club soda and garnish with the lime slices and mint sprigs.
• Put your feet up, soak in some sun, and enjoy!
   
  Happy Summer!
  xoxo

Shepherd's Salad

I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate. --Julia Child

It's been too humid and sticky to make a hot meal, so I've been resorting to some lovely salads.  I had all the ingredients in the fridge for one of Chris's favorites (and one of his greatest finds): Shepherd Salad.  There are a ton of variations of the recipe, but the one we make, which feeds two nicely, is below.

Ingredients:

1 large cucumber (peeled, cut in half lengthwise, seeds scooped out, then sliced into pieces about 1/2 inch thick)

1 large green pepper (peeled, seeded, cut into bite-size pieces)

2-3 plum tomatoes (cut in half, then diced)

2 TBS olive oil salt (to taste)

1 TBS Lemon juice (more/less to taste)

6-8 large mint (chopped)

1 TBS goat cheese (crumbled)

Kosher salt/ground black pepper (to taste)

To Do:
Combine the cucumber, pepper, tomato and olive oil in a medium-sized bowl and stir gently.  Add lemon juice and mint, and marinate for at least 30 minutes.  Add the goat cheese and salt/pepper (and more lemon juice if needed) right before serving.  For a pretty presentation, chop up more mint and sprinkle over individual servings. Enjoy!


xxoxo