A good stiff drink

Moving to a new place has taken E and I, once again, to make-new-friends territory. It's a weird place to hang, especially once you become an adult and you no longer play little league, sell Girl Scout cookies, or become BFF with that new girl in class in a heartbeat. Add to that the lack of a full time job (one of the fastest and easiest ways to meet peeps), constant weekend trips home to RI, and many family visitors and you have some real obstacles in the creation of a Jersey social life. Luckily we have at least built one very strong relationship that is guaranteed to last... with our Netflix account.

The number of DVD's E and I watch has blown to epic proportions since our move to Jersey (oh, maybe that's why we don't know anyone!). We're all up to date on just about every movie released in the past few years and have moved on to TV land. Our latest endeavor? Dexter. We're in the middle of Season 3 now, so as the IHCC spins into this week's theme, Movie Night, I found myself with a new challenge. E and I tend to watch our DVD's just after dinner, so we very rarely eat anything besides the occasional scoop of ice cream while we turn into couch zombies. Having done ice cream already for the Spice Caravan theme, I didn't want to start repeating myself. I could have gone to the show for inspiration, but all anyone ever eats on Dexter is donuts and T-bones. That doesn't really fit into my late night snack menu. So alas, I had to think of the only other thing we consume while watching movies late night. When all else fails, go with booze.

Take a fridge full of mint and key limes, a bottle of rum, and a TV show shot in Miami and you'll inevitably arrive at the mojito. Luckily, Mark Bittman's Minimalist Article on the subject of cocktails will offer anyone without real bartending skills the advice you'll need. I bartended my way through college, so I have full faith in my mixology skills (although no one called it mixology then!), but I love the way he explains that a lot of what bartenders tell you is crap. Nobody needs to memorize all of those recipes and fancy names to make a good drink. It doesn't matter if you drink something trendy, or something "authentic", or whatever other noise they give you at the bar. Drink what you like. Me, I like these. They're killer (bwahaha!).

Mojitos (sort of Mark's way)
Ingredients:
ice
rum
mint leaves
lime wedges
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

Preparation:
Bring 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar to a boil over medium high heat. Add a handful of crushed mint leaves. Cook, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Cool and transfer to a glass jar. This can keep in the fridge for several weeks.

To mix your drink, fill a glass with ice. Pour in 1/4 c. rum, 2-3 teaspoons of mint sugar syrup, and several lime slices, squeezed. Top with a splash of soda water if desired.