Recapping this week — the highlight was book club on Thursday night which you can read about here.  Kathy Hepinstall was a delight!  I wanted to make a special cocktail to celebrate the book’s main character, Polly, and I found the perfect sip from The Cocktail Club by Maureen Petrosky. It’s a “year of recipes and tips for spirited tasting parties.”  It just so happened that during the month of June, margaritas are the featured drink.  Strawberry-Basil Margaritas sounded perfect.

I bought huge containers of basil and strawberries from Trader Joe’s (I plan to make pesto with the leftover basil).

Recipe:

One cup of sugar

zest of one lime

10-12 strawberries, hulled and sliced

8 fresh basil leaves

2-2 1/2 cups of silver tequila

1- 1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed lime juice (about 10 limes)

Ice cubes

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and zest with 1 cup of water. Simmer over medium-high heat until the sugar is dissolved and strain the syrup into a clean container.  Let it cool completely.

Add the strawberries to a large pitcher.  Bruise or gently squeeze the basil leaves and add them to the pitcher.

Add the tequila, lime-flavored simple syrup, and 1 cup of the lime juice and stir.

I only used 2 cups of tequila and one cup of lime juice, but taste it to adjust to your preference.  I also took a potato masher and crushed the strawberries more.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Serve in glasses filled with ice.

It was refreshing and a perfect twist on the traditional margarita.

For next week’s breeze, I will have fun details to share from our neighborhood fish fry — including a fried shrimp recipe from my hero — Helen Corbitt!

Have a splendid Saturday!