Mango Mezcal Margarita

Last night, preparing for #JUNO2015 (aka the Snowpocalypse to end all snowpocali), I got home from work early, excited to spend the night in. I envisioned an entire night and next day of baking projects, board games, (backyard!!) snow angels, and wearing oversized clothing.

As I got off the train, I got a series of texts from Daniel:
“I’m at the coffee shop, wanna join?”
“The guys are going to the bar, let’s go there after”
“I think John and I are going to go take pictures at the bridge”

Excuse me, what? Who makes PLANS on a snowday? Not this lady, whose mother refused to drive her to friends’ houses in elementary school and would be forced to play board games and watch old family movies and play in the backyard with her sister (ya…tough life, I know). We glared at each other for about 10 minutes, me inching towards the couch, him trying out his new flash in anticipation of the photo excursion.

We ended up finding a happy middle: trying out Cook’s Illustrated’s crispiest potato recipe (ps did someone send me this?? It just appeared in the mail…) (it was only meh), watching a street photography documentary that’s been on the agenda for a while, and eventually getting inspired and going on a late night walk in our neighborhood. All while imbibing responsibly. These mezcal mango margaritas could totally make you forget the false blizzard fuss, or could inspire you to wander into the quiet, snowy beauty of abandoned Brooklyn. I stood for a full minute at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Flatbush. Come on, real blizzard or not, pretty cool. Fueled by margaritas or not, pretty cool.

adapted from Geeks with Drinks
makes 2 full drinks, with half-sized refills (aka 3 but who needs 3 drinks?!)

3 oz mezcal
1 oz tequila
1 fresh mango, cut into cubes (about 1 cup if you want to use frozen)
2 oz jalapeno simple syrup (recipe below)
2 oz Triple Sec, or other orange-flavored liquor
1.5 cups crushed ice

BLEND all ingredients together except ice until smooth. Add ice and continue blending for about a minute, or until you reach desired smoothie-y consistency.

Jalapeño Syrup

Bring 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar to a boil in a small pot. Stir until sugar melts. Add one jalapeño, sliced lengthwise. Simmer for 12 minutes. Take off heat and cover for 10 minutes. Strain. Let cool until room temperature. Keep in the fridge for a spicy kick to any cocktail!

Daniel’s “neat ice” kit. It theoretically makes a perfect cube on one side and a crushable cube on the other. This is why we cannot put vegetables in our freezer.