The Mischievous Mixologist: The Broken Furnace Margarita

The Broken Furnace Margarita

(full pitcher, serves 4-8)

1 ½ Cups Leyenda del Milagro Silver Tequila

3 Cups Stirrings Simple Margarita Mix

(or make your own simple syrup and lime juice, to taste)

½ cup La Croix coconut water

½ Cup lemonade

Juice of two limes

8-10 dashes bitters

ice

We had a lovely Thanksgiving.  My sister hosted the whole family in La Crosse this year.   My brother-in-law was a true Thanksgiving hero.   Despite the fact that he was hobbling around from knee surgery the day before, and was still hopped up on pain medication, he somehow managed to brine and grill a 23 pound turkey.   Honestly, I don’t know how he did it.  Then again, he tore his knee reeling in a fish.   So really, nothing about him makes sense to me.  

Even without the gimp-grilled turkey, it would have been a fun time.  I didn’t have to host.  Everyone pitched in to make tasty side dishes.  The cousins had plenty of time to play together.  For reasons none of us understood, their playtime included setting up a haunted house in the basement, and using red paint for blood.   Fresh, wet paint, which they smeared on everything.   My favorite part was when we all went outside to play a friendly game of football, and nobody got shot by a deer hunter. 

When we got home the next day, I made enchiladas.    Maybe that was a somewhat odd choice for dinner, the day after a heavy holiday meal.   But we didn’t make off with that many leftovers.  Also, we had friends over.  We invited them for dinner, to thank them for having taken care of our cats.   And not just our cats, as it turned out, but also our furnace.  Which sometimes stops working.  Just long enough for us to call somebody to fix it.  Then miraculously starts working again.  

I don’t know what else to say about my furnace.  A furnace is one of those things that you have to talk about sometimes, if you own a home in Wisconsin.   You have to know how old it is.   You have to clean out its tubes, and change its filters.  Against your will, you end up learning about pressure switches, and motors.  Honestly, I can’t imagine a topic more boring than a furnace.    But like their high maintenance cousins -- the gutters -- you ignore them at your peril.   

This is a picture of our broken furnace.   Even the picture is boring. 

Less boring was the drink I concocted on the fly, to accompany our weird post-holiday Mexican meal.  And to express my gratitude that we have friends who are willing to come over on Thanksgiving, walk down into our dark and musty basement, and restart our furnace.     

The boring furnace is still broken, but the drink turned out pretty good.  The key to this drink is the addition of a little flavored seltzer, which gave the drink a tiny bit of effervescence, as well as the slightest essence of sweet coconut on top of the sour lemon-lime.  

Enjoy!  And muchas gracias!

Lemonade not shown, because it was already recycled.