Mojitos!

Ohhhhh yes.  Let me love you.

I should probably back up.  This weekend I finally tried out a mojito recipe to put the lime mint in my garden to good use.  Not quite right that time, but I learned what I like.  Did some more searching, found a new recipe.  Made these tonight with guacamole and quesadillas.  New. Favorite. Cocktail.

There's a stand at the Thursday farmers' market where they're selling baskets of limes right now.  These limes aren't so pretty but they are really good and juicy.  Perfect.

Side note: I love the crazy stuff even at a tiny farmers' market like this one.  Here is a garlic blossom I bought for $1, which I was told is good as a garnish for salads or anything that's calling out for a fresh, garlicky taste. It smells delicious:

Back to the mojitos now.  The recipe I liked best is this one at FoodNetwork.com.  Fast and simple.  It says it makes four, but John and I each had "two."  Here's what you need:

About 12 mint leaves (lime mint! lime!)
4 tablespoons of sugar (you could probably cut this down according to your taste if you like)
6 tablespoons of lime juice (that was 2 limes for me)
6 ounces of light rum
Ice
Club soda

Get out your stepladder (or just climb up on your counter like a hooligan, as I do) and find that cocktail shaker you got for your wedding way up on the top shelf of your cupboard.  Don't keep it up there anymore. You'll be needing it frequently in the future.

Put the mint, sugar, and lime juice into the cocktail shaker and muddle up the mint with the end of a wooden spoon.  Add the rum and 4-6 ice cubes, then put the lid on and shake shake shake until you think the sugar is probably dissolved.

Set your glasses out and strain the liquid from the cocktail shaker into them.  Try to be fair.  Add club soda as you see fit, then two or three ice cubes.  Garnish with some more mint if you're feeling festive.  Otherwise, just try not to drink it too fast.