The Most Wonderful Day of the Year

This year, that would be July 6, the first day of my local fabric store's 50% off, two week long, Summer sale. I like to show up to the sale on the first day 15 or 20 minutes before the store opens, because often they let people in early and I've found if you wait until later in the day, the fabric you want is already gone. Last year, I (stupidly) forgot my list of Anna Maria's Drawing Room fabric for her Birdcage on a Chain quilt and I decided to come back in the afternoon to purchase everything instead of the few yards I could remember by sight. Of course by then, several of the fabrics were gone and I could only get a handful of the ones I needed. Natalie Chanin visited the fabric store in May, and was impressed with all the trims and buttons.

This past weekend was all about plans being thwarted. On Saturday evening, we were supposed to go to the local minor league baseball game and fireworks. I had babysitters (aka grandparents) lined up for the girl, because 16 month olds and stadiums do not mix. About 15 minutes before we needed to leave, the rain started and didn't let up until the morning. It hadn't rained here in over a week but had to start the evening of the 4th. And last night, we decided to go to the latin jazz concert and have a picnic supper on the grounds of the plantation beforehand. A couple of hours before the concert, a huge storm blew in and the torrents didn't stop until later in the evening. I was thankful no tickets for either event were purchased ahead of time.

Today, instead of being at the fabric store at 9:45am, I was on the way to the doctor's office for well visits for the kids. What rotten scheduling! I was so tempted to try and reschedule the visits, but I didn't want to put them off for another month, especially when I need to send updated vax forms into school soon. I managed to make it to the store a little after 11am (though toting two children to the fabric store is usually not my idea of fun), and the fabric I wanted was still around. The minimum cut for the sale price is one yard, so I picked up a yard of Far Far Away unicorns and an Echino bird print. Textile Fabric just started carrying Liberty Tania Lawn, and I really really wanted a yard of it, but even on sale it will cost me around $27 so I decided against the purchase.

We'll see how strong my willpower is next week...

Mint Patch, Part 2

There is another very important reason why we have a mint patch - mojitos. I can't think of a better drink for a warm evening.

We make ours with gin, as my husband will not do rum. Now that I've made them with gin for several years, the rum ones taste a little funny to me. I won't turn one down though.

I've tried several recipes, and the two below are my favorites. The first one - a regular mojito recipe where I simply replaced the rum with gin - is great because you don't have to prep anything ahead of time, as long as you have superfine sugar (also called castor sugar). I can find castor sugar locally at Whole Foods or Fresh Market, though any gourmet kitchenware/food store should carry it.

The second recipe is a recent discovery in Frank Stitt's new cookbook, Bottega Favorita. I was thrilled to see a mojito made with gin - he calls it a Southside - in the Cin Cin! and Cheers! chapter. When we lived in Alabama, we drove the hour to Birmingham as often as we could to eat at one of Frank Stitt's restaurants, Chez Fonfon. He owns three others, and I've eaten at Highlands Grill (we received a gift certificate here as a wedding present and it was the best present ever!) and the cafe side of Bottega. Not only does Frank Stitt make wonderful food at all four restaurants, he uses local Alabama and Georgia food purveyors and has done so for a long time. The Southside is delicious, but you do need to have simple syrup which is, of course, simple to make but needs to be cool before you use it.

Gin Mojito

serves 2

- 3 oz. fresh lime juice (about 3 limes)

- 2 Tbsp. superfine/castor sugar

- 6 sprigs of fresh mint

- 3 oz. gin

- seltzer or water to taste

1. In a small pitcher, combine lime juice, sugar, and mint. Stir and muddle the mixture until the sugar has dissolved.

2. Add the gin and stir until combined.

3. Fill glasses with crushed ice. If you want, you can run a wedge of lime around the rim and dip each glass into granulated sugar.

4. Pour cocktail (you may strain if you'd like) into the glasses and top with seltzer or water to taste. Garnish with a mint sprig.

Southside

adapted from Bottega Favorita by Frank Stitt; serves 2

- 4 lime wedges

- 2 oz. simple syrup (recipe follows)

- 2 oz. fresh lime juice

- 4 mint sprigs

- 3 oz. gin

- splash of club soda or water

1. Squeeze the lime wedges into a small pitcher or cocktail shaker, then drop the wedges in.

2. Add the simple syrup, additional lime juice, mint, and muddle with a spoon or muddler to bruise the mint and extract the oils from the mint and lime peel.

3. Add the gin and stir to combine.

4. Fill two glasses halfway with crushed ice; pour the cocktail evenly between the two.

5. Add a splash of club soda or water to taste.

Simple Syrup

The recipe for simple syrup is very basic - add equal parts sugar and water and heat on the stove until sugar is dissolved and mixture has thickened slightly. You can store extra in a tightly sealed jar in the fridge for several weeks, or if you have a tiny saucepan, you can reduce this recipe. If I find I'm not using my syrup up fast enough with mojitos, I make lemonade or limeade as a special treat.

- 2 c. sugar (I use natural cane which makes the syrup an amber color, but works and tastes just the same)

- 2 c. water

1. Combine sugar and water in a small heavy saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.

2. Simmer for 2 minutes, then remove from heat and let cool.

I think I'm going to make some gin mojitos this afternoon for our impromptu Memorial Day grill fest.

Mint Patch, Part 1

At the beginning of last Summer, my husband got a few sprigs of mint with roots from his mother and planted them so we'd have our own mint patch. Since mint grows very enthusiastically (to put it mildly), We chose an ugly and unused long strip of grass between our ugly driveway and even uglier backyard fence. My husband is a true Southerner - he was born in the South, grew up in the South, and comes from many generations on both sides of Southern born and bred people. While I often call myself a Southerner, it's only because my parents moved here right before I was born. My husband's favorite beverage is fruit tea, also frequently known as tea punch. There are a few food and beverages unique to the part of the South we live in - one is hot chicken, the other is meat and 3, and the last one is tea punch. While you may find these three in other parts of the South, you don't find them with the same frequency and intensity as you do here. I am a huge fan of all three, but while I only eat hot chicken at Prince's and meat and 3s at Arnold's, I will make fruit tea at home.

Most people associate sweet tea with the South, but I have never been a fan. It is just way too sweet. I like my tea, both iced and hot, nice and strong. I might like sweet tea better if it was just a little sweet, instead of the all too common sickening sweet. I feel the same way about lemonade; tart is much preferable to sweet. There is only one place I know of where I like sweet tea, and that is Interstate Bar-B-Q in Memphis, where they serve a wonderful peach sweet tea I've never seen anywhere else.

Fruit tea is basically ice tea with fruit juice added to it. There are so many variations of fruit tea. Some recipes use pineapple juice besides orange juice and lemonade. Other recipes call for the addition of mint while the tea is steeping, or extra sugar. My mother in law likes to add Mountain Dew to hers. I'm sure there are many other secret ingredients I don't know about. When I moved to Alabama almost ten years ago (the real South, I thought, as opposed to the South I grew up in), I was determined to figure out how to make fruit tea.

This is what I came up with:

Fruit Tea

I like fruit tea strong and if I have mint, then I absolutely want to add it, as it adds another lovely, nuanced flavor to the brew. I think the juice makes it sweet enough on it's own, but if you are a sweet tea fan then you may want to add extra sugar. You can also play with the proportions of juice to tea.

- 6-8 black tea bags

- 4-5 mint sprigs

- half of a 12 oz. container of frozen oj concentrate (I buy mine at Trader Joe's because there is no added sugar or high fructose corn syrup; your Whole Foods or natural foods store might carry a similar product but mine doesn't for some unknown reason - don't let me get started here...)

- half of a 12 oz. container of frozen lemonade concentrate (again I buy mine at Whole Foods to avoid HFCS)

1. Boil 8 cups of water in a tea kettle.

2. In a large pyrex or stainless steel bowl, add the mint and 6-8 tea bags. I usually tie or clip the tea bags together, so they don't fall into the bowl and are easier to remove later.

3. Once the water is boiling, add it to the bowl. Let the tea steep for the recommended time.

4. When the tea is ready, remove the bags and the mint. Stir in the oj and lemonade concentrates. Since you only use half of a container, you have enough leftover to make another batch in a few days. I find that fruit tea disappears quickly in my house.

5. Chill in the refrigerator, then pour into a pitcher.

6. Serve over ice and with a mint sprig.

I learned a neat trick at the Savannah Tea Room for making any tea decaffeinated. The caffeine in the tea leaves is released in the first minute of brewing. If you want to decaffeinate any tea, discard the water after a minute of steeping, then add new hot water. The resulting tea will be decaffeinated. I use this trick a lot since I don't like to have caffeine after my much needed one cup of coffee in the morning, and I also like to avoid any chemical process that decaffeinates tea or coffee.