Happy Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is the perfect holiday to kick-off my favorite season – Summer.

 As I’ve been planning my festivities for the holiday weekend, I started remembering the first time I enjoyed a Margarita.  I had just turned 21 and my Mother and I were visiting her friend in Southern California and a group of us went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant…. I had recently moved to California from New England and had no clue how to read the menu or what to order.  Fortunately, for me, the cute guy next to me, ordered both a drink and dinner for me.  A frozen Margarita and a Chile Rellano….Yum, I was in heaven.  For years, that was my standard order.

 At a friend’s 40^th birthday party, I had a great margarita and found out it was a recipe from his Mother-in-Law who had spent a lot of time “perfecting” it.  The recipe is so easy a kid could make it….oops probably not a good idea…kids shouldn’t be using an electric blender.  Anyway, this recipe is just like a Hop, Skip and Go Naked, except instead of equal proportions of (straight from the can) Lemonade, Vodka and Beer, you use Limeade, Tequila and Triple Sec.  It's even better if you use a good quality tequila like Patron, which I first learned about it from my sister-in-law.  She was at a little Mexican restaurant in Tahoe and on each table they had a few fresh flowers in what she thought was a very pretty “vase”.  She inquired about purchasing one and found out it was an  empty Patron Tequila bottle.  If you are unfamiliar with Patron, check it out, the bottles are blown glass and beautiful…I have quite a few of these little “vases”.

Lately I've been thinking it might be time to try a little lighter blend.  I’ve been experimenting and having a variety of results.  Some had potential but the amount of work involved is just not worth it.  So now, I’m using my tried and true recipe with a twist.  Instead of a frozen drink, I’m using a larger glass, making a regular size drink with crushed ice and then adding sparkling water.  This is not to say, I am giving up my favorite completely, but for just a light refreshing drink, I’m really enjoying this version.

Hope you enjoyed my little travel down memory lane….and maybe you will reflect about your first margarita on this wonderful and festive holiday.

Salud

Please feel free to leave your memories or comments.

The Best Book(s) of 2012

Have you ever read a book that you enjoyed so much that you wanted to tell everyone about it?  I read two of such books in 2012 and have decided that every January, I will post one or two titles for the prior year if I feel I read anything that was truly exceptional.   Originally I thought only one book could qualify and then realized it was only fair to have both a fiction and non-fiction category.

My choices for 2012 are:

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20  by Tina Seelig

That's it.....

Do you have one, two?  Please leave the title and author as a comment. 

If you have to go back over your book list for the year, then the book was not exceptional. It has to be one that would come to mind immediately if someone asked you:  What was the best book you read in 2012?

Happy Reading.