Drink that leftover watermelon with the Mint Melon Breeze

Yep, I said drink, not eat. Good news, my fellow watermelon-loving lushes. I have a new use for watermelon and liquor – one that doesn’t include keeping it the freezer overnight. Mr. Lush and I modified a recipe in the Food and Wine Annual Cookbook (love that cookbook by the way) and made a lovely summertime cocktail. (since we changed the recipie, we get to rename it of course!)

This will make around 2 pint-size, or 4 smaller Mint Melon Breezes:

First, you’ll need some simple syrup. If you don’t have some, its easy to make but needs to cool a bit before using it. Take equal parts sugar and water and boil or microwave until it reduces by half. Let it cool. That’s it – that’s simple syrup. (I actually use ½ sugar ½ Splenda, but to each their own) 

 

After you have your simple syrup, blend:

• 2 cups cubed/sliced watermelon
• 5-8 mint leaves

Strain. Mix with:

• ½ c blueberry pomegranate juice
• 1 ½ tbs simple syrup
• 1oz Cointreau
• 4-5 oz of tequila, we used El Espolón Repasado

(Note, if you use cheap tequila, use more simple syrup)

Shake, pour over ice into glass with half sugar rim. Top with mint sprig and garnish glass with watermelon slice.

 

Cheers!

Cinqo De Mayo wine deals and recs...and tequila too!

Many think Cinqo De Mayo is just for margarita lovers, but I had a couple of wine specials hit my inbox today that I thought I’d share with you…. 

• Cameron Hughes Wine – they have 5 wines for 25% off using the code: CINCO25
• Wine Enthusiast 5% off your entire order, using promo code CINCO5.

If you do want a wine today, I'd recommend a white spanish wine (for obvious reasons); a Verdejo or Albarino. Iff you're going for something spicy to eat, maybe a white blend from California that has a little bit of Viogner, Riesling, or Gewurztraminer in it, to balance out the spicy, with a little bit of Sauvignon Blanc, to pair with the cheesy goodness that most mexican food is known for. I'd recommend a few readily available at most grocery stores such as 7 Daughters, Shoofly Buzz Cut, Kendall Jackson Summation or Conundrum, althought that one is typically a bit more full bodied/closer to Chardonnay.

 

Now if you’re in the mood for a high class margarita or just something smooth to sip on, ScotchGuy recommended some good tequilas in a recent article, Some tequilas are worth sipping, not swigging. We gave El Espolón Repasado a try and it’s excellent for the price (we got it for $18- a Resposado for $18!). We are margarita snobs - Jose doesn't even make it into the house - so we had it in our Lush Margaritas with Cointreau.

 

Enjoy!

 

The Lush Margarita

I do love a good margarita. Of course, a good tequila is a must but so is a good, not too sugary, easy mix. So, here’s my favorite quick margarita recipe, which comes in at less calories than and also isn’t quite as sugary as the premade margartia mixes.  

• 1 can frozen Limemade (I use Minutemaid)
• ½ can frozen “Five Alive”
• 3-4 fresh limes

Take both concentrate mixes, put in 48 oz pitcher. Fill pitcher up with water. Juice 2 of the limes into the pitcher and use the 3rd for garnishing, or add it as well if you like your mix a little more tart.

That’s it, that’s your mix. Now, it seems like everytime I bring up margaritas, I get reminded of the 900 calories they have in them….good news, that’s just not the case with this one. The pitcher itself has 1050 calories, so your actual calorie count per margarita will differ based on how many margaritas you make from the pitcher, and how much liquor you put in there.

I take a pint glass, salt my rim, fill up with ice, and add in 2 oz-ish of tequila (silver or anejo) and 1 oz-ish Cointreau. (you can use Grand Marnier as well) I personally add liquor to the glass and top off with the mix, so if for some reason we don't finish the pitcher I'm not wasting good tequila. We use pint glasses and usually make 5. That’s about around 250 calories, give or take. So, that’s less than 500 calories for a pint size margarita.

Enjoy!

Dirty martini showdown

Mr. Lush and are fans of dirty vodka martini's. Extra dirty, actually, as you can see in this picture. We have vermouth, but normally we just mix vodka and olive juice for a dry dirty martini.

Why are there two bottles of vodka behind my extra dirty martini? Because in true Lush Style, we had a Dirty Martini Showdown last night. I made one with Ciroc and one with Belvedere. I made sure to measure both so they had the same amount of vodka and olive juice proportion and we tasted both back to back.

The results- Mr. Lush blindly tasted and came up with Ciroc as the clear winner - I liked both but preferred Ciroc slightly as well. Which is good, as its a few dollars a bottle cheaper than Belvedere, probably because its less known. Never heard of it? Its made from grapes, not potato, as most vodka is made from. Here's another tip- Sams Club sells is for $27/28, a steal from the regular $33-35 you'll find at most liquor and grocery stores. If you're a vodka fan, I highly recommend picking up a bottle.

A Lucid Trip to Randalls

Last weekend the Luce’s called me and asked if I wanted to go to Randalls in IL and I jumped at the chance. I had heard the selection in IL varies from that of MO and had discussed going in the past, but with gas prices, it was a difficult justification. Evidently, Mr. Luce had reason to celebrate and sought out a certain bourbon that’s fantastic deal for the price but not distributed here, (see Lucy's blog) so off we went.

It was a good size store. Not as large as Lukas Liquors, which is practically a warehouse of wine, however, there were a few things that really impressed me…..

First and foremost, the room where the wine was displayed/sold was actually a different temperature than the rest of the place; about 10 degrees cooler. Very nice and how rare!!

The selection was a bit different, about 30% stuff we can’t find here, and the prices were mostly competitive, if not better, although they didn't carry a large amount of expensive wines-most things were $40 and under.

The tasting area….was a-w-e-s-o-m-e. The wines available for taste, eh, just 4 and they were ok. However, the selection of liquor available to taste was amazing. Since the Luces and myself are equal opportunity drinkers, we were in heaven. At minimum, I would say there were 80 bottles available to taste, one of which was on my list: Absinthe. Recently re-legalized in the US and 124 proof, I had wanted to try it, primarily for novelty purposes, but was not excited about the $65+ price tag. However, there on the shelf, was Lucid Absinthe, calling to me. If you are a black licorice fan, this is your drink-the website even includes a traditional french way to drink it, which I did not try-I just sipped at room temperature. Honestly, I am not a fan, but it certainly worth trying and thanks to Randalls for having it open. We tried other liquors from respado tequila to bourbon, and it was fantastic.

I certainly recommend a visit. For those who read this in time, there is a tasting tomorrow from 12-4 .

Thanks to the Luce’s, for making the trek and taking me along!!