Another one of my first cookbooks when I was growing up was the the Anne of Green Gables Cookbook. I’m not afraid to admit it – I love those books AND the movies! I have to watch every time Anne comes on public television. This Old Fashioned Homemade Lemonade was a summer favorite year after year.

Old Fashioned Lemonade
from the Anne of Green Gables Cookbook

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
grated peel over one lemon
1 1/2 cups lemon juice
Ice cubes
Cold water
Fresh mint leaves

Measure the sugar, the water, and the lemon zest into a large saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil for five minutes, stirring constantly. Let the mixture cool to room temperature.

Add the lemon juice to the cooled mixture. Pour this syrup into a jar and cover tightly with a lid. This syrup can be kept in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 weeks.

When you’re ready to enjoy some lemonade, put ice in each serving glass and pour 1/4 cup of the lemon syrup over the ice. Add 3/4 cup of cold water over the top, and stir. Add some fresh mint leaves to each glass. Yield approximately 12-14 glasses. Enjoy!

When I was a little girl, I used to love to mix up “potions” – usually the remnants of nearly empty shampoo and lotion bottles, mixed with a few squirts of hand soap and perhaps some bubble bath. I’d put my potion in a bottle and mix it up, and then attempt to sell it to my Mom, her friends, whoever was around. Yep, I was the little entrepreneur.

Well, Mom should have known back then that her little potion-mixer (apothecary, perhaps?) would be a bartender one day. During my brief career as a mixologist, my absolute favorite drinks to make were the ones that had many ingredients: Bloody Marys, Long Island Ice Teas, etc. Even better than that? A drink that requires a muddler. I love to muddle. What can I say? Dirty martinis, mint juleps, mojitos . . . Muddling just plain rocks.

So here is a great muddled-up cocktail to refresh you on a hot summer afternoon: My Mint Mojitos. See if you can muddle your way through this one! (I couldn’t resist . . .)

My Mint Mojitos

The leaves from one good sprig of mint (8-10 large leaves)
1 tablespoon sugar
Ice
2-3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 shot (1 oz.) of light rum
about 1/3 cup of club soda
1 sprig of mint for garnish

Prepare your serving glass with ice, and set aside.

In a shaker (or a glass, if you don’t have a shaker), place the mint leaves and the sugar. Using a muddler (or any blunt-ended kitchen tool), mash up the mint leaves into the sugar until they release their oils and become very fragrant.

Next, add some ice, the lime juice, and the rum. Shake (if you’re using a shaker) or stir (if you’re using a glass). Pour the mixture over the ice in your prepared serving glass, straining the leaves out if desired. (Personally, I don’t desire.) Top with club soda and garnish with a mint sprig. Enjoy!

Mint Juleps

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
about 10-15 fresh mint sprigs
Crushed ice
Bourbon (recommended: Makers Mark or Woodford Reserve)

In a small sauce pan, boil together water and sugar for 2-3 minutes to make a “simple syrup.” Pour into a container and add the mint leaves from 10 of your mint sprigs. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Then use a strainer or a slotted spoon to fish your used mint leaves out of the mint syrup.

To make a mint julep, put your crushed iced in a small glass. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of the mint syrup and then pour 2 ounces of bourbon over the top. Stir gently, and garnish with your extra mint leaves. Serve immediately.

You can store your mint syrup in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 months. One recipe yeilds about 20ish mint juleps.

We hosted a lovely wine tasting party at our home last month, and I wanted to share my menu and pairings with you!

Sombrero Rioja – bright and fruity, even our red-wino-phobes loved this red

Toad’s Hollow Rose – refreshing and totally dry, the opposite of a white zin, this rose was awesome, perfect for a spring afternoon or a summer picnic

Da Vinci Chianti Classico – everything a chianti should be, in my humble opinion; ripe and robus, easy to drink!

Praxis Syrah -a beautiful Syrah although a bit dry for some of our guests’ taste

La Crema Pinot Noir – this was the #1 favorite for those who knew their red wine, light and delicate – super smooooooth

Dynamite Merlot – a great classic merlot for easy drinking – our inexperienced red winers really enjoyed this one

Avalon Cabernet Sauvignon – this was a very bold, somewhat dry red that appealed to the seasoned red wine lovers, but not so much to the Arbor Mist addicts

Menage a Trois Red – we loved this red blend, not just for the funny name, but for its gorgeous fruity flavors and depth

Rosenblum Vineyards Zinfandel – this was one of my favorite wines of the night, but then again I am a fan of a nice, bold Zin – it paired up perfectly with dark chocolate!

La Ferme Julien Rose – a fun bargain Trader Joe’s wine that paired nicely with dessert, for those who had gotten as far into the deep reds as they could handle

One of my favorite delicacies of southern cuisine is a tall glass of ice cold sweet tea. People in other parts of the country might not completely understand our love affair with this curious beverage, but I’ll bet that if I poured you a glass after a hot day in the sun and set you in a rocking chair on my front porch, you’d start to understand.

Southern Sweet Tea

6 cups boiling water
3 family-sized lipton tea bags or 6 regular tea bags
1 cup sugar
Ice

What is better on a warm spring afternoon than a chilly, fizzy margarita???

In the interest of full disclosure, I feel a need to confess, dear readers, that in one of my former lives, I was a bar-tender at a resort in rural Montana. All I can say is that a girl learns how to make a good margarita out there!

Caution: this is not a drink for the faint of heart – these margaritas will ROCK you if you’re not careful – but they sure go down easy!

Fizzy Margaritas

1 fresh lime, cut into wedges
Margarita salt or kosher salt
Ice cubes
1 16-ounce bottle of Mexican beer, recommended: Corona
1 12-ounce can frozen lime-aid concentrate
12 fluid ounces of water
12 fluid ounces of tequila
1/4 cup orange liqueur (triple sec, cointreau, or grand marnier)
1/4 cup orange juice

Take one of the lime wedges, cut a slit in it with a sharp knife, and use the slit to rub lime juice around the rims of 4 glasses. Dip the rims of the glasses into the margarita or kosher salt to coat. Fill the glasses with ice cubes.

Place more ice cubes in a large pitcher. Pour the beer, lime-aid, water, and tequila into the pitcher. Tip: you can use the empty lime-aid can to measure the water and the tequila. Then add the orange liqueur and the orange juice. Mix well with a long spoon, and pour into the prepared glasses. Garnish with the remaining lime wedges. Enjoy!!!