Frozen Coconut Limeade

It's National Tequila Day, but I'm going to go ahead and rebel against that with a little bit of rum. And some toasted coconut, and a few limes, and pretty pink glasses. Is that alright?

I saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen a few weeks ago, on one of the hottest days yet in this LA summer, and was just like, yeah. Coconut, lime, rum, blended? Sign me up. I tweaked it a little bit, adding some toasted coconut and switching the sugar for simply syrup (and some rum because duh), and the result was a refreshing, tangy, adult slushie! Keep in mind - this is not a sweet drink, unless you make it so. Coconut milk is not naturally very sweet, but you can switch it for coconut cream or add other sweet things to dress it up a bit. 

Frozen Coconut Limeade:

2 1/2 cups ice

1 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/3 cup lime juice

Simple Syrup, to taste

Choice of rum, to taste

Toast coconut over the stove on medium heat, stirring often, until golden brown (and your kitchen smells amazing). Remove from heat & set aside. Blend remaining ingredients, adding simple syrup slowly, to taste. Pour into glasses & garnish with toasted coconut & lime slices. If you want a little extra sweet, you can also blend some toasted coconut in with the slushie. Cheers!

s i p p i n ' : mango mojitos

I love Sundays. They are the start to my weekend and I like them best lazy, sun-drenched, and with good food and drinks--and they are even better when Evan is here to spend them with me. I get about two Sundays a month with him, and we savor them! This Sunday being the USA world cup game, we knew we'd spend our afternoon watching, but not before a few hours spent splashing at the beach and a stop at the store for fresh fruit to drink and use to cheers when our guys scored. He had the idea for mango mojitos, and I happily obliged, excited to take from the mint plant I potted this week. These are perfect for a post-beach relaxed evening! 

Most recipes call for a mango puree, but being without a blender, I simply muddled them with the mint. They get fruitier as you drink! This recipe makes two cocktails, but we continued to refresh our drinks with extra materials as they emptied...cheers!

1 ripe mango

several sprigs of fresh mint leaves

sugar or simple syrup, to taste

2 limes

light rum (we just used bacardi)

soda water

Remove pit and slice mangos into small chunks. Place half of the amount in each glass, along with several mint leaves. To help the muddling, I added a splash of rum and a small spoonful of sugar to each glass. Muddle ingredients, then squeeze lime juice over top (do this to taste, I love lime so I ended up with one small lime's worth of juice in each). Pour in a shot (or two) of rum, top with soda water, add a mango garnish, clink your glasses together & enjoy!