Fall Margarita

We believe Fall is for Margaritas too. Sometimes it seems that it is such a summer cocktail but tequila is right for any season. It's fun too to use different ingredients.  For our Fall Margarita, we put together grapefruit juice, tequila and lime. We chose a "highball" glass to serve it in instead of a martini glass to add to the Fall look. And of course, Sal de Margarita rims the edge to enhance the flavors of the tequila and lime.

A Fall Margarita
Freshly squeezed grapefruit is one of my favorites because it cuts through the flavor of tequila.

2 oz of Tequila blanco
2 oz. fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
1 oz. fresh lime juice
1/2 oz. triple sec
1/2 oz. agave nectar
Sal de Margarita sea salt

Fill a small cocktail shaker with ice. Pour in the tequila, freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, lime juice, triple sec and agave nectar. Put on the lid and shake. Strain the cocktail into your Sal de Margarita rimmed glass and garnish with a slice of grapefruit.
Pour a layer of Sal de Margarita onto a small plate. With a slice of lime, wet half of the rim of the glass.(Rimming just half the edge with salt, lets you control how much salt you taste with each sip.) Dip the glass into the salt at a 45-degree angle and roll it from side to side. Be careful to not let any of the salt drip into the glass. 
TIP:  Take the grapefruit and lime out of the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature.
It is easier to squeeze citrus when it isn't cold.

A summer find

This tractor and gardener were one of my favorite "finds" this summer. I loved the setting of the 12-acre Powell Gardens in Kingsville, Missouri and all the many edible gardens (it is the nation's largest edible landscape).  But on top of all that, I discovered that the tractor, kneeling gardener and 12 other scenes like it were not "real" but actually built with LEGO bricks by sculpture artist, Sean Kenney. 

I liked the signage throughout the gardens too, such as the one near the kneeling gardener that points out "that gardeners have a longer life expectancy than average. That's because gardening is one of the best physical activities around, especially for mature adults."

It seemed only fitting that Sal del Mar's Very Veggie Sea Salt should be next to gardener planting seeds for the Summer and Fall harvest.

For more information on the Powell Gardens, go to www.powellgardens.org. Look for the Harvest Celebration & Antique Tractor Show on October 2-4.

A Postcard from New York...

Even the Tyrannosaurus at the American Museum of Natural History in New York likes Sal del Mar. It's available to "the big guy" and all who go the Museum of Natural History, where it is being sold in their gift shop.

It’s a Burro... not a Mule

We are showing off our version of Moscow Mule. We call it a “Mexican Burro.” We learned this version from a fellow customer, when shopping at Rumrunners in Tucson, Arizona, who told us how she substitutes the traditional vodka for tequila or mezcal to make her favorite drink.  

After experimenting ourselves, we like the mezcal, a smokier agave-based cousin of tequila.

Mexican Burro

2 oz. tequila or mezcal
1 oz. fresh lime juice
4 oz. ginger beer

Rim a cocktail glass with a lime and crust the rim with Sal del Mar by dipping into a plate sprinkled with Sal del Mar.

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice then add the mezcal and lime juice and shake until chilled. Pour into your prepared glass and finish with the ginger beer.  Garnish with lime.

Adjust the ingredients to your taste... more lime... more tequila.

And if you do have copper mugs, make sure to use them in place of a glass!

Summer shrimp night

This is a recipe I have been saving to post. It was photographed in "the winter" (note: winter in Tucson is not a snowy day) but somehow it didn't feel like a winter recipe.  

The flavors say summer to me so here it is. It is also very easy and the ingredients are so yummy, you can just dip the shrimp in additional sauce as you enjoy.

Coconut Shrimp (as told to me by Paula Hamilton)

Clean shrimp but leave on the tail. Marinate in a sauce made with:

1 cup of coconut milk
1 tsp of curry
squeeze of a couple of limes (adjust to your taste)
Sal del Mar
pepper
red pepper flakes
add some coconut flakes, too

Skewer the marinated shrimp and grill.  Keep aside some of the sauce to dip in for extra flavor. 

Serve over rice.

Stylizing The Dish

There is an expression that says, "You eat with your eyes first."  We love this gold and orange cloth and how it compliments the shrimp dish. It is a simple addition to the plate of shrimp but it is strong on feasting the eyes. We added just a sprinkle of chives too.

A memorable margarita

Margaritas are by far at the top of the list of everyone’s favorite drink. And with Memorial Day around the corner, I thought I’d post my favorite recipe... my old, standby... the Classic Margarita.  I like it because it isn’t the sweet, slushy concoction that some bars serve in that big bulbous margarita glass you can have to drink with a straw because you can’t lift it. 

Classic Margarita

2 oz. Silver Tequila
2 oz. Cointreau
2 oz. fresh lime juice
1 oz. fresh orange juice

Place ingredients in a cocktail shaker.  Add ice and cover. Shake thoroughly to chill the mixture. Strain into into your prepared glass with or without ice.

Garnish with lime slices and a float of 1/2 oz. Grand Mariner

To Prepare Glasses:

Moisten the rim of a martini glass with a cut lime
Spread Sal del Mar on a small plate
Dip the moistened rim of the glass into the salt until evenly crusted

There are a couple of secrets too:  

Make sure to use 100% silver agave tequila, use Cointreau instead of Triple Sec, because even though it is more expensive it has the necessary sweetness but a more elegant flavor; always use fresh lime and orange juices (adding the fresh orange juice and a float of Grand Mariner tempers the sharpness while adding character to its natural flavor.) And always shake in a cocktail shaker allowing the ice to melt giving your cocktail the right degree of frostiness. 

Let summer begin

We love all these photos from our travels to farmer's markets across the country last summer. The beautiful bounty reminds us of what is soon to come and we are full of anticipation of summer beginning. Remembering last summer's plates of sliced tomatoes that need only a pinch of our Sal del Mar gourmet sea salt.

Our new Sal del Mar "Very Veggie" sea salts: Ravishing Radish, Pin-up Girl Tomato and Endearing Corn will enhance all vegetable's natural goodness. They will make great hostess gifts to take to your Memorial Day BBQ. See them in our Shop.

Thinking out of the box

We think Sal del Mar gourmet sea salt makes the perfect teacher gift and one that any teacher will like (and most likely won't get two of).  Our hand-embroidered bags are works of art and there are many designs to choose from... a mermaid, palm trees, waves and ocean creatures, a margarita design, and our new design of Very Veggies.  See our  Shop for our design selections and to order for your favorite teacher.