Pitcher Mojitos

Al and Cathy came over for dinner last week - it was a hot night and we decided to eat in the screened in porch, mojitos seemed like the perfect thing to serve with the appetizer "everything" cheese ball I made (click here for that post). I've never made them before because I felt like there was going to be too many steps, but I was wrong - these are easy and simple to whip up, and making them in a pitcher meant we weren't making one at a time and could enjoy seconds with no hassle.

you'll need:
1/2 cup white sugar (note: I used raw natural sugar)
36 fresh mint leaves, plus more for (optional) garnish
3 limes, quartered
1 cup white rum (ok, ok, I added more than this)
1 liter club soda

directions:
Muddle sugar and mint leaves together in pitcher until leaves are well broken down. Add limes and muddle until limes are juiced. (note: I used a potato masher to muddle - basically "muddling" is just smashing it all up!) Stir rum into sugar mixture, add club soda and stir. Serve over ice and garnish with additional mint leaves if desired.

note: I added at least another 1/2 cup of rum (there wasn't much left in the bottle after using the 1 cup as listed). It was a little strong but tasted good! If you stick with the 1 cup I would probably not add as much club soda so it doesn't get too watered down.

I found the recipe here.

Julie's Key Lime Pie

I'm finally starting to wear people down - I'm constantly reminding (reminding is sort of a nice word for it - I'm a little bossy about it really) people that if they make any yummy recipes or fun crafts then please send me the info and pictures so I can blog it...there are days I don't have time to share so the more guest bloggers I can get the better! So Julie sent me pics of the pie she was making to bring to a party we were all attending later that day, she thought I might like to share it with you guys. Yes! I've never made key lime pie and after tasting this one it I knew I wanted the recipe, seems pretty easy and it's really good.

She followed a recipe she found online,  didn't change anything other than she used limes from a neighbors tree instead of key limes - don't know how it would change the flavor but it's really really good this way! Thanks for sharing, Julie!!

I don't have a juicer, this would certainly make juicing easier tho!

graham cracker crust in a 9" pie plate

mixing together the filling - it takes 3 cups of sweetened condensed milk! no wonder it tastes so good...

Julie texted "remember to have a drink while baking"haha!

Ingredients:

1 9" prepared graham cracker crust
3 cups sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup key lime juice
1 Tablespoon grated lime zest

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350'
2. In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk, sour cream, lime juice and zest. Mix well and pour into graham cracker crust.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 5-8 minutes, until tiny pinhole bubbles burst on the surface of the pie. DO NOT BROWN. Chill pie thoroughly before serving. Garnish with lime slices and whipped cream if desired.

Julie's notes: grate a tablespoon plus of lime zest, add some to the pie mixture and then after pouring into the pie crust add more zest on top for garnish before baking. Very scrumptious and yummy for the tummy :). And it's EVEN BETTER the next day!

recipe found on allrecipes.com - click here for the original recipe.

Honey Lime Dressing

We were invited to a friends house for chili the other night and I was asked to bring a salad - I don't usually have salad with chili so I wasn't sure what to make but then I thought of a chopped salad with sort of mexican flavors and searched online for an interesting dressing. I found this one from Self magazine back in 2003 and it is so good. My friend said this is the best salad I've ever made :), guess that means this is a keeper recipe!

It's very easy to put together with just a few ingredients:

Honey-Lime Dressing
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro (or more to taste)
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
1 tsp chopped jalapeño pepper (use canned for less heat)

Toss all salad ingredients in a large bowl. In separate bowl, mix dressing
ingredients. Pour dressing over mixture and toss again. Season with salt
and pepper to taste. Makes 4 servings.

I used bottled lime juice and doubled the recipe; the cilantro really adds a lot of fresh flavor so I wouldn't skip that. Put whatever ingredients you want in a large bowl - my salad was shredded romaine, fresh corn (frozen, thawed or canned would be fine), tomatoes, sliced jicama, and avocado - toss with the dressing right before you serve it.

 

A good tip for when you are measuring out honey is to spray the measuring cup first with non stick spray - then the honey will slide right out.