Zombie Mint Mojitos!

The mojito is one of my favorite summer drinks. Mojitos originate in Cuba and are said to have been the favorite drink of famed author Ernest Hemmingway. We happen to have mint growing in our garden, or rather, taking over our garden. Mint sends out creepers and creates new plants with the same root system, so it tends to spread out everywhere. A while back we decided to get rid of it. We dug it up and literally chopped up the roots and pulled them out of the dirt, leaving only miniscule, mutilated root fragments, and it still came back from the dead. Thus the name, "Zombie Mint Mojitos". I love the combination of fresh limes and fresh mint muddled together, soaked in simple syrup and drenched in rum. ¡Delicioso! I spent much of my college years bartending so I am familiar with the recipes but if you're not here's the one I used, I used simple syrup instead of straight sugar. Simple syrup is two parts sugar to one part hot water, mixed until the sugar dissolves. There are a lot of fun variations on the mojito, some people like to use dark rum or flavored rum, but I like the classic version. Enjoy!

Ingredients
Ice
6 ounces light rum
12 mint sprigs, or spearmint, 8 roughly broken apart
6 tablespoons fresh lime juice
4 tablespoons sugar
Club soda
4 slices lime

Directions
Place ice in beverage shaker then add in the rum, 8 broken up mint sprigs, lime juice and sugar. Shake well and serve over ice in a high ball glass. Top off each glass with a splash of club soda.

Garnish each with a slice of lime and a sprig of mint.

Summer Sangria!

Me in 2010 at Dry Comal Creek Vineyards and Winery

For my 27th birthday my husband took me for a weekend in the hill country and one of our stops brought us to the Dry Comal Creek Vineyards and Winery. I loved this place! Live music, wine tasting, and they invite guests to engage in the ancient art of "foot pressing"! While there we indulged in their house sangria and fell in love. We bought a bottle of their red table wine and only just made this mouthwatering sangria this summer!


The recipe can be found here, but really it's very simple:

6 oz. can frozen orange juice concentrate plus 1 can of water
6 oz. can frozen limeade concentrate plus 1 can of water
1 liter Hill Country Fair grapefruit soda (chilled) (found at HEB)
1 bottle Dry Comal Creek Foot Pressed Table Wine <-- Seriously it's delicious


DIRECTIONS

Blend frozen limeade and orange juice with water. Add Foot Pressed Table Wine. Add chilled Hill Country Fair grapefruit soda and freeze until slushy, then serve. Garnish with orange slices.

I didn't have orange slices so I garnished with green grapes, which are also a great snack in the Summer. Voilà! Enjoy your delicious summer sangria!