Oregon Transplant: Blackberry Mojitos

Cocktail time!

This might seem like a summery drink to you. I say, what better time to remind myself of summer than when the remnants of Hurricane Patricia are passing over our parts? Our weather has rapidly changed from a mild, sunny Indian summer to a soggy, gray, dreary mess. Our leaves had turned the most beautiful colors, and now the wind has selfishly knocked most of them to the ground. Luckily, the hubby and I went out the day before the weather hit and took tons of fall pictures around the area. I took a lot of photos, so I'm hoping to edit them and post about fall leaves this weekend. Maybe I'll edit them tonight with a Blackberry Mojito in my hand? Hehe :-)

All joking aside, don't save mojitos strictly for the summer. It's true, fresh mint is abundant during the summer. Plus, you can always find fresh blackberries. But people, my herb garden is still chugging right along. I have plenty of mint to spare. And there's this innovative concept of frozen fruit. Fruit frozen at the peak of ripeness and placed conveniently in the freezer section of your grocery store, ready for year-round consumption.

I see nothing wrong with using frozen blackberries to make the syrup that flavors this minty, sweet drink. And, bonus! You can use any leftover syrup to make my Mini Blackberry Swirl Cheesecakes!

You're welcome :-)

One of my favorite parts about the mojito is the muddled mint. Who would have thought you could get such a flavor by flattening and manically destroying a mint leaf? Certainly not I. You could always make a pitcher of these, so you only have to muddle one time, but I consistently muddle my individual glasses. What can I say? I love that mint flavor. And mint goes so well with berries. I've noticed if my mint recipes on the blog aren't paired with chocolate, they are usually paired with berry. Strawberry, raspberry...

Although, I just canvassed this summer's offerings and realized I was woefully short in the mint department. Wow, I kind of dropped the ball on mint this summer. I guess that just means there's more mint for my cocktails?

Definitely!

I do apologize if you read this in the morning, and consequently have to wait till 5 o'clock to try these cocktails.

Well friends, I finally heard back from my doctor on my MRI results. Actually, I really just talked to the nurse, who by the way, did not make me feel any better. I hate when they use tons of big words and medical jargon. If they are going to do that, I think they should schedule an appointment to go over the results with you. The nurse yesterday basically dumped a bunch of unknown words into my lap, and I had to figure them out on my own. Which entails the Internet. Which inevitably leads to any number of sites which proclaim you are going to die. For the love. Needless to say, I was feeling a bit anxious yesterday.

I'm getting ahead of myself. First, the diagnosis- I have a protrusion in my lower back. There's a marrying of my spine resulting in spinal stenosis. My doctor is recommending I talk to a neurosurgeon.

Of course, I hear the word "surgeon" and freak out. Until the hubby got home. At which time, he explained that it sounds like I might have a bulging disk or something of the like. He said most likely the neurosurgeon will just want to inject cortisone into the site to reduce the swelling and get it back into place. He said physical therapy would likely fix the rest.

My question is this- why can't the nurse just tell you that?? I felt much better after talking with the hubby, but just wished I hadn't spent most of my afternoon yesterday with my anxiety. Anyhoo, that's all I know now. I will know more after I meet with the surgeon. In the meantime, there's always mojitos to soothe medical anxiety. Thank goodness for alcohol. And mint!

Have a great day everyone!

Ingredients (makes 2):

20-30 fresh mint leaves

1 tbsp superfine sugar

1/2 cup light rum

1/2 cup + soda water

1/4 cup lime juice

1/4 cup Blackberry Syrup

ice

garnish- fresh lime wedges, blackberries (optional)

Directions:

1. In 2 (10 oz) glasses, place 10-15 mint leaves and 2 tsp sugar in each glass. Using a pestle (or similar instrument) muddle the mint and sugar together. Top each glass with 1/4 cup rum, 1/4 cup soda water (you can add more soda water if your drink is too strong), 2 tbsp lime juice, and 2 tbsp Blackberry Syrup. Stir to combine. Top each glass with ice, garnish with lime and blackberry (if using), and serve immediately.

2. To make both cocktails in a shaker, place all mint leaves and 1 tbsp sugar in a shaker. Muddle with a pestle. Add all rum, all soda water, all lime juice, and all blackberry syrup to the shaker. Shake well. Divide mixture between 2 (10 oz) glasses, top with ice, garnish with lime and blackberry (if using), and serve immediately.

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