Being that it’s been nearly two full months since our last Theme Week collaboration, the usual gang is teaming up for Cocktail Week. The Lovelies participating this time around include: Megan of Wanna Be a Country Cleaver, Alison of Decadent Philistines, Carrie the Bakaholic Mama, Lauren of Climbing Grier Mountain, Mads of La Petite Pancake, Kat of Tenaciously Yours, Jeanne of Inside NanaBread’s Head…and!! be sure to pop by our new partners Katie of The Hill Country Cook, and Madeline of Munching in the Mitten. Wow! That’s a lot o’ cocktails!

But before I get too carried away, let’s talk about my tasty adult beverage offering…

Summer has finally arrived here on the 45th Parallel, so what better way to beat the heat than a refreshingly icy, lightly fruity cocktail? After all, something has to quench the perpetual parch that takes up residence when the temperatures start to soar.

I love a good mojito on a hot summer day. Preferably accompanied by some ridiculously good fajitas or other home-cooked Tex-Mex fare. The tang of lime paired with refreshing mint and topped off with a splash of fizz–man! Nothing tastes better than that! Unless, of course, you add the sweetness of the best cherries grown in the world. Living near The Cherry Capital of the World, I feel it is my civic duty to try to factor cherries into as many things as I can–cocktails included. Trust me when I tell you–adding fresh cherries to a mojito is a very, very good idea.

To make a Cherry Mojito, all you need is sugar, white rum, sparkling water, sweet cherries, fresh mint, and a lime.

Start by pitting a few cherries with a fancy-schmancy cherry pitter. Cherry pitters are kitchen essentials on the 45th Parallel. If you are without a cherry pitter, then just slice the cherry in half and pluck the pit out with your fingers. Old School.

Grab a tall glass and place the cherries with a few mint leaves in the bottom.

Pour some sugar in the glass. (And if you’re like me, on the counter.) Here comes the fun part–the muddling! Muddling occurs when the sugar crystals help to break down the fruit/herb in the glass to release the juices/oils that flavor the drink. Muddling = Flavor.

Fish you’re mini tart shaper out of the back of the gadget drawer. Channel your inner Don Draper and use the tart shaper to muddle the cherries with the mint and sugar.

What? Doesn’t everyone have a mini tart shaper? No? Oh. Sorry. I was on a wicked Pampered-Chef-Bender for awhile, so I happen to have a mini tart shaper. If you’ve never been on a wicked Pampered-Chef-Bender, then the back of spoon works nicely in the absence of a tart shaper.

There! Muddled!

Fill the glass with ice, and squeeze a hefty wedge of lime over top. Then pour the rum and sparkling water into the glass.

Stir the muddled madness to mix it all together. Stirred. Not shaken.

Garnish with additional cherries–they’re pretty and will make a nice snack later. Then go out on the porch, prop your feet up, and cool of with a Cherry Mojito!

♥♥♥

Traverse City Cherry Mojitos

http://comfortablydomestic.com

Makes One Cocktail

4 fresh sweet cherries, pitted

2 large leaves of fresh mint

1 wedge of lime (1/4 of a small lime)

1 Tbs. Granulated sugar

3 Tbs. white rum

1 C. crushed ice

¼ C. sparkling water (or more, to taste)

1. Pit cherries with a cherry pitter, or slice in half to remove pits.
2. Place cherries, mint leaves, and sugar in the bottom of a tall beverage glass.
3. Crush cherries, mint, and sugar at the bottom of the glass with a wooden muddler, or with the back of a spoon.
4. Fill the glass with ice.
5. Pour rum and sparkling water over the ice. Squeeze the lime wedge over all and drop it into the glass.
6. Stir to combine. Garnish with additional mint, and cherries.

But wait! There’s more!

Megan kicked off Cocktail Week yesterday with a cocktail she describes as “spicy, angry, and full of fire!” Spicy in a good way though, because there is chocolate involved.

The kind folks at Kitchen Aid also gave Megan a totally kick as… super-slick blender to GIVE AWAY! We’re talking a free blender here, Friends! The kind of blender that won’t leave major ice chunks in your slushy drinks. This blender is tough with like 15 F’s! Tufffffffffffffff! So if you want to win it, and you know that you do, click on over to see how Megan created her Raging Aztec Frappe, and then enter to win in the comments section. Be sure to tell Megan I sent ya!

And while you’re a-clicking away, be sure not to miss Allison’s Adult Arnold (Palmer) cocktail, Carrie’s Raspberry Thyme Tom Collins, and Kat’s killer Amaretto Sours.