Put the Lime in the Blueberry

Even though July is only halfway through, it already feels like a whirlwind month. Days after returning from New Orleans, I found myself on the National Mall for my first time seeing the capitol fireworks, then on the road again to spend a week at the beach.

Our family has been going to Litchfield Beach in South Carolina for 10 years, with a few gap years in between. We’ve reached the point where we know the area well enough to get around, yet always manage to find new treasures every year. This year, even though our beloved Piggly Wiggly was replaced with a Bi-Lo, my sisters and I discovered an awesome (and reasonably priced) yoga studio, Island Wave Yoga, to get our practice in while away from home, and I had time to reflect on my (lack of) hand-eye coordination during ruthless games of mini-golf and bowling.

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Though seemingly the only casualty at the beach was my cell phone (RIP), better outcomes of the week were my permanently blushing face and a stupendous cocktail to share with you all.

On Monday, Lu and Peter took me to their favorite restaurant in Litchfield, Chive Blossom. By the end of the meal, Lu and I had decided to re-create the delicious blueberry margaritas we had for everyone else–and let me tell you, making margaritas for nearly 10 adults can be quite the feat! Though we switched to regular (read: quicker) margs by the end, our first round with freshly-picked, muddled blueberries sure was a crowd pleaser 🙂

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Blueberry Margaritas (adapted from this recipe)

Serves 2

• 1/4 cup fresh blueberries
• 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) fresh lime juice
• 4 ounces (1/2 cup) reposado or añejo tequila
• 1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) Simple Syrup
• 1 ounce triple sec (or Cointreau if you’re feeling fancy)
• Ice
• Sugar/kosher salt mix for rimming the glass (the original recipe calls for straight salt, which we found a little too sour!)

1. In a cocktail shaker (or measuring cup if it’s all your beach house has) muddle the blueberries and lime juice until the blueberries are pulverized. At this point, I strained out the seedy parts and a lot of the skins leftover from the blueberries and tossed those out.
2. Add the tequila, Simple Syrup, triple sec and a handful of ice to the shaker. Shake it out for about 15 seconds.
3. Run a lime wedge around the rim of two glasses and swirl the rims through the sugar/salt mixture for the rim. Shake off any excess before filling the glasses with ice.
4. Strain the shaken margarita into the glasses (it’s ok if some of the blueberry skins get in!). Top with a sliced lime, sit back, and imagine you are seaside.♦