I had no idea how to mix a cocktail, but my architect friend introduced me to this badass diagrammatic cocktail book and I’ve always been inspired watching my cool older friends and bartender friends in Tokyo entertain me by shaking up cocktails. You know, that sexy cluck cluck cluck just before they serve you a refreshing beverage.  Hands down, I miss the Moscow Mules Yuki used to pour for me after a long day of work in his underground bar cave.

I think women who do it right look damn sexy, especially if they’re hustlin’ with 2-3 drinks at a cool party. As much as I aspire to be one of these hot women, I definitely didn’t look that hot making these…because I’m such a noob and had to Youtube everything as I made them. Anyway, I hope I’ll get there someday. Practice makes perfect. Thank God my mom (nor anyone else) saw  me, that summer’s coming, and I bought this awesome insulated cocktail shaker from Williams Sonoma and jigger from Surfas. Yes mom, those are my excuses to practice.

Firstly, in making cocktails, aside from getting a cocktail shaker, I highly recommend using a  jigger. A jigger is that metal thingamabob bartenders use as a measuring tool for mixing drinks. Thanks Youtube for teaching me how to mix cocktails.

Watermelon Basil Margaritas

Ingredients

Preparation Time

4 hours

Ready In

4 hrs. 15 min.

Serving Size

2

• 1 watermelon
• 1 oz gin
• 1 lime
• 1 bunch basil
• 1 bunch mint (optional)
• salt
• 3 C ice

Special Equipment

Blender

Cocktail shaker

Directions

Step 1.

Slice the watermelon in half, then quarters. Using one quarter, cut out 1/2″ x 1/2″ cubes. Freeze these cubes for about 2-3 hours.

Step 2.

Meanwhile, place the remaining watermelon chunks and ice into a large blender with ice and blend until pureed into juice.

Step 3.

To make margaritas, add 1 C watermelon juice, 1 tbsp  lime juice, 1-2 tbsp agave syrup, 1 jigger of gin and a handful of ice to a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously to combine. Sample a small amount and adjust flavor as needed, adding more watermelon juice for sweetness, lime juice for acidity, or tequila for booziness.

Step 4.

To salt the wine glass, pour some salt on a dish, encircle the rim of the cup with some gin, flip over the cup over the salt.

Step 5.

Pour the shaken cocktail into the wine glass, add the watermelon ice cubes, garnish with a sprig of mint and/or lime and serve immediately.

Since it WAS hot a few weekends ago and my mom was out of the country, I figured to take over (my parents’) house and throw a one woman party with cocktails. Originally, my girlfriends Tania and Christine were supposed to come over to  make cocktails together and talk about…. stuff… with some happy beats, but my schedule tightened and I felt like for the sake of getting my photography done as quickly as possible, I must focus and concentrate by myself to get the job done. Anyway, as stressed out as I was lately, nothing is more fun than drinking on the job, right?

I had no idea how to mix a cocktail, but I’ve always been inspired seeing my friends entertain their guests by shaking up some jazz. I think women who do it right look damn sexy, but I sure didn’t because I was such a noob. Anyway, I hope I’ll get there someday. I hope I can mix more cocktails for ya guys 😉 Yep, practice makes perfect. Thanks Youtube for teaching me how to mix cocktails. I definitely want to bust out more, so I’ll take any recommendations!

Ok, and BIG NEWS. AutoCAD is going to fly down to film me 06/20 in my own kitchen. I guess I’ll buy an apron for that…. 😉 This has truly been an amazing week.