Cocktail Hour

      Weekends remind of the saying 'get back up on the horse.' Sometimes we fall off the horse during the week and by the time Saturday rolls around it's just the boost we need to get back up again. For this weekend's boost the strawberry gets naughty: hello, cocktail.

   I'm a big believer in making many small healthy choices throughout my day, building my way to the big picture of good health and peace of mind. Weekdays are very much dedicated to this philosophy. My job requires constant focus and critical thinking and for me that's impossible to achieve for 10 straight hours unless I've been keeping myself in tippity-top shape. But I also believe in indulgence and pure enjoyment; these two things are absolutely key to overall wellbeing and happiness, and I like to save them for the weekend.

   Sometimes that means butter on my popcorn, or french fries, or maybe it means meandering around the block with the dog instead of going for a run. This weekend, it means adding booze to my homemade juice.

   This is probably hugely offensive to some juice believers out there but oh well. I can't please everyone. But I think this cocktail will please you! And that's all I care about.

   If you don't have a juicer, have no fear. I'll explain in the recipe how to make the drink base with a blender or food processor instead.


   This drink comes just in time for Mother's Day- it's pretty, lovely and fun to be around, just like my mom.

Strawberry Lime Margarita

8 strawberries, hulled and quartered
1 lime, peeled (slice the ends off with a sharp knife and then peel the sides like you would a pineapple) and cut into quarters
2 ounces high quality tequila
1 ounce triple sec
Unflavored seltzer water

   Juice the strawberries and lime, running the pulp back through the juicer a few times to extract as much juice as possible. If you don't have a juicer, use a food processor or blender to achieve an extremely smooth fruit puree and then press the puree through a fine mesh sieve with a rubber spatula- you should end up with about 1/2 to 3/4 cup very thick juice, almost the texture of a smoothie.
   Place the juice, tequila and triple sec in a cocktail shaker half filled with ice. Shake and divide the drink among two 8 ounce glasses. Top off with fresh ice and the seltzer water. Garnish with half a strawberry or a slice of lime.
   Serves 2.