Meyer Lemon Margarita

Thirsty readers, I took a little jaunt to Florida in January to visit friends and family and to surrender to the embrace of all manner of luxurious relaxation. Whilst there, I stayed for a few delightful days with Valerie and Gray Thomas. In their back yard is a Meyer Lemon tree. It was laden with fruit. I could see immediately that there were simply too many lemons for my friends to cope with and being the concerned pal that I am, I offered to take some off of their hands in order to ease their burden. The happy result was that I took a large bag of these most delicious of all lemons back to my beloved Hoosier State. I squeezed the lemons and then froze the juice in some nifty large cube ice molds I ordered from Cardinal Spirits, a new craft distillery that is going up this fall here in Bloomington. Now, when I need some Meyer Lemon juice, I just thaw a cube and I'm all set.  To Val and Gray, I say, You're Welcome. 

I'm a rocks and salt Margarita girl. If you want to do a frozen concoction without salt, have at it.  I adapted the recipe from a cute little cookbook called The Surreal Gourmet, Real Food for Pretend Chefs by Bob Blumer.  A friend-at-the-time gave the book to me for my 30th birthday about a million years ago.  Here's a photo of the drink on our wonderful new patio, followed by the recipe.

If you don't know Val and Gray, or aren't lucky enough to visit them when their tree is bearing fruit, you can substitute regular lemons or limes for the Meyers. 

Meyer Lemon Margarita

2 ounces good Tequila or if you are adventurous use Mezcal

1 ounce Contreau (or Triple Sec if that's what you have)

1/2 ounce Meyer Lemon Juice (freshly squeezed or frozen fresh)

Ice - small cube, shaved, crushed...whatever floats your boat

Salt the rim of the glass of your choice by moistening the rim with a piece of citrus and dipping the glass in coarse salt. Mix all ingredients except the ice. Then, depending on how you like your drink, pour over ice in your salted glass, or shake with ice and strain into the glass. Garnish with a twist of citrus.