mint

Herbal Limeade

July 26, 2018

Herbal limeade is one of those things that you don’t really know what you are missing until you try it. It doesn’t necessarily sound all that appetizing or refreshing, but I guarantee it is both!

My love of herbal limeade started thanks to one of my favorite restaurants in Charlotte. They make this amazing limeade that is actually blended with rosemary, mint, and basil. It’s definitely more herbal than limeade, but it totally works!

It’s like a green drink that you actually WANT to drink.

Since I can’t get my hands on their herbal limeade around Atlanta, I thought I would venture into making my own! My version is more limeade than herbal, but it’s still totally delicious and extra refreshing.

Perfect for Summer!

How to Make It

Start by making your herbal simple syrup. If you have your own herb garden, raid it for a few sprigs of rosemary, mint, and a couple basil leaves. The main flavors in this limeade are rosemary and mint, so you will want more of those two.

Place the sugar, water, herbs, and the zest of one lime into a small saucepan. Let it simmer until all the sugar has dissolved. Then turn off the heat and let the simple syrup cool with the zest and herbs still in there to extract as much flavor as possible!

While that cools, squeeze the heck out of a bunch of limes (and a few lemons). Limes are stubborn little suckers and don’t give up their juice easily, so if you have a juicer NOW is the time to use it!

Strain the lime juice into a fresh container to get rid of any seeds or pulp (unless that’s your jam), then strain the simple syrup to remove the herbs and zest.

Add the syrup to the lime juice then add enough water until it suits your taste. I typically stick to 1 part lime juice to 2-3 parts water.

Stick a few more sprigs of rosemary and mint in there to keep the herbal flavor alive and well while you sip on your delicious, refreshing, and (dare I say) healthy (?) beverage!

Tools and Recipe

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Strawberry Mojito Recipe

June 2, 2017

A few years ago (eight, actually), Billy and I found ourselves in Miami on the way to Puerto Rico. The first night we walked down the beach to find a place to eat (and drink), when we stumbled upon the Clevelander. Actually, you don’t really stumble upon the Clevelander. You are sort of drawn to it. It’s a huge restaurant on a corner with an expansive patio and a towering neon sign. Nevertheless, we settled in and ordered a couple mojitos.

About six mojitos later, it was decided; these were the best mojitos we had ever had! Sure, it could have been that we had consumed SIX mojitos. But I promise you I wouldn’t have had more than one if they weren’t special.

Once we got to Puerto Rico, we made a point to take a trip to the Bicardi factory where we learned even more about mojitos. From that point on, Billy and I were on a mission to make a mojito as good as the ones we had in Miami and San Juan!

We have actually gotten pretty close over the years. Every Summer when limes are in abundance, we stock up and try out hand at a few mojitos. This Summer I wanted to mix things up. We have had plenty of plain ol’ mojitos. Why not try a strawberry mojito?!

How I made them

Mojito’s require a little bit of elbow grease. Forget just pouring a couple liquids together. You have to work for this one!

In the bottom of a glass, I put mint leaves strawberries, and a bit of sugar. I don’t have a muddler, so I use the back of a wooden spoon to muddle the strawberries and mint leaves. I want my mint leaves to be beat up and the strawberries to be smashed. The sugar just acts as an abrasive to help with both of those things.

To that, I add the rum and some simple syrup and stir everything together. I top it with some ice and sparkling water. I had some lime La Croix’s on hand, and that worked perfectly!

Then I drink it as quickly as possible and make myself another one!

Just kidding! You guys have no idea how slow of a drinker I am. It’s pathetic. But I drank this strawberry mojito before the ice had a chance to melt. And that’s saying something!

It really is the perfect Summer drink! Lime and mint is already a refreshing combination. But with the addition of strawberries, it is sent over the top! It’s like that perfect drink to sip on a hot day by the beach, by the pool, or on the patio.No need to fly down to Miami or Puerto Rico. Unless you happen to find yourself there. Then definitely find a spot at the Clevelander and settle in!

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Mint Cookies ‘N Cream Ice Cream

June 30, 2014

My husband and I live in a house divided. He loves cookies and cream ice cream, while I would much prefer a bowl of mint chip. Maybe it’s for that reason that we barely buy ice cream.

But it is summer after all, so our lives would be incomplete without a nice cold bowl of ice cream as an after dinner treat (well, not really…by go with it). That’s where our handy dandy ice cream maker comes in. By making our own ice cream, we can combine any flavors we want and make everyone in the house happy.

For this recipe, I just started with a basic vanilla ice cream recipe then added in a little green food dye to slightly tint it a “mint” color along with some peppermint extract. I ended up using about 3 drops of food coloring and 1 tbsp of peppermint. After that was whisked together, I poured it into the chilled bowl of the ice cream maker. I let the ice cream churn for about 20 minutes and once the ice cream actually started to resemble ice cream and not a melted milk shake, I tossed in some crumbled Oreo cookies and let it mix for a couple more minutes.

At this point, the ice cream is still too soft to serve, so I transferred it into a container (adding in some more crushed Oreos every few spoon fulls) to chill in the freezer over night. I always perfer to let it chill overnight, but really, it just needs a couple hours to set. If you are making ice cream for a specific event or meal, give yourself maybe 4 hours prior to make the ice cream and let it set.

I just happened to find these really fun bowls at the grocery store. I really wanted to serve them in waffle cones (my husband loves waffle cones), but this was the next best thing! It was the perfect vessel to serve our creamy and slightly minty ice cream loaded with lots and lots of Oreos. I have to say, my husband was especially pleased with this flavor because it ended up tasting a lot like his favorite Girl Scout cookie (Thin Mints)!

What ice cream hybrid would you make this summer?

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