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By way of update, Michael and I had movers come Thursday April 22. The next day, I walked in graduation (I graduated cum laude!). We spent the weekend with my parents and his and then drove down to our new digs in the desert last Tuesday. It’s been mostly a blur since then.
Saturday, we were on day three of unpacking and I thought it would be best to have a break. In all the commotion of moving, we had totally spaced that Saturday was Kentucky Derby day! It’s tradition in Michael’s family to choose a horse and then no matter where we are, we all call his parents with our horse’s names and talk during the derby itself on various phones.
Last year, I chose a beautiful girl horse named Blue Bells who came in second, after which she promptly perished on the track. This year, I hoped to have better luck. My horse lived, so I counted that as a great victory.
I thought the Derby was the perfect chance to inaugerate my new kitchen by making some Derby snacks. Since I only had a few moments to plan, I decided to make some virgin juleps and cookies.
Mint Juleps are the traditional Derby drink. They are primarily made from rum, simple syrup, and mint, and are nicknamed “the mouthwash drink.” We’re not alcohol drinkers here, so I wanted something that tasted great without being too carbonated or sweet. Most of the virgin options called for coke or other soda and I’m just not a soda person.
Thus, I went very non-traditional. As appetizing as something nicknamed the mouthwash drink sounded, I opted to go for something that didn’t taste like toothpaste, and this fit the bill!
If you don’t like carbonation, you can use lemonade instead of sparkling water. I do NOT like carbonation because it hurts my mouth and throat to drink, but I thought the sparkling water was just right.
For non-derby time, I recommend making this drink sans mint. It was delicious!We think next time, we’ll leave out the mint in the drink and just garnish with it. Also, we think that making this with limeade would be fantastic!
- 8oz fresh strawberries, hulled
- 1 small tray of ice cubes
- 6Tbsp frozen lemonade concentrate
- ½c sparkling water (you can also use lemonade, or a plain soda of your choice
- 2 leaves mint for drink (optional)
- mint for garnish (optional)
- In a blender, combine strawberries, ice cubes, lemonade concentrate, and sparkling water. If using mint in the drink, add 2 leaves and continue blending until smooth. Garnish with extra mint and strawberries and enjoy!
- Makes 2 large or 4 small juleps.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
These were so yummy! Thanks for sharing!
Your recipes all sound so good! I just have one point of interest here. Mint Juleps are traditionally made with bourbon, not rum. I went to the Derby one year, felt that I had to order a mint julep, but could not drink it–I did not like it at all!