Fresh-squeezed Juice | 20something cupcakes

Add it to the bucket list: Host brunch with mimosa bar.

Unless you’re not into hosting, in which case you might change it to: Get invited to brunch with mimosa bar. It shouldn’t be that hard. I mean – you do know me, right?

The first ladies-only {more affectionately known as bitches} brunch I hosted became infamous because of the mimosa bar. It’s a brilliant concept, really. Everyone brings a bottle of champagne, and you provide the mixers. You can keep it as simple as buying a variety of juices at the grocery store, or you can be mental like me and make it all from scratch, like I did this second time around. The choice is yours, and I promise – no matter which way you go, everyone will be impressed. And happy.

I’m going to call this the holy-trifecta of champagne mixers: Orange-Pineapple Juice, Fresh Peach Nectar, and Strawberry Lemonade. I used three 1-quart capacity glass carafes that I was *so* excited to snag from work. Let me tell you – it’s a beautiful thing to now have access to every kitchen utensil or serving piece you can imagine!

This is my first post, so I figured I’d better give you something good.

It is winter afterall, and a very cold one at that. Many of my friends in New York and other parts of the country have been experiencing blizzards and snow days, and things aren’t looking quite so sunny even here in Sunny South Florida.

If I were snowed in and unable to go to work, I think I’d like a margarita. Pretend I am having a tropical mini-vacay. What better way to work yourself out of a winter funk?

Daniel and I made these margaritas a couple of weeks ago, after our longest run of 11.5 miles (we had been training for a half-marathon, which I actually got sick right before and could not run, but I’ll save that for another day). We got home, feeling amazing – but also ready for a drink. It was cloudy and rainy outside, but to me nothing sounded better than hot-tubbing it with margaritas in the rain.

The Perfect Margarita

(No measurements necessary. Really.)

A good pour of Patron

A good splash of orange liqueur (I used Patron’s version because it was on sale, but Cointreau is also great)

Fresh-squeezed juices of oranges, limes, and lemons

Combine them all in a shaker filled with ice to your tastes. I like to squeeze the juices all together first, and then add them to the liquors already in the shaker. (The first time I did this, I juiced all the fruit by hand – it’s possible, but I don’t recommend it. I have since gotten a juicer so I have a feeling I will be making these again soon.) I like to garnish with a lime slice and use a fun glass – a margarita glass is the obvious choice, but a martini glass also works.

I know, it sounds crazy…there isn’t much to it. But that’s what is so beautiful about it. I love the simplicity and the natural ingredients. And I hate sour mix. Hate it. Trust me, once you have it this way you won’t go back.

*I love this margarita as is but if you prefer a sweeter drink, you can easily make a simple syrup by boiling 1 part water with 1 part sugar for a couple minutes, and add some of that to the drink.

Cheers.