The Best Margaritas

Last weekend I hosted a small fiesta - a Mexican-themed birthday party to celebrate a friend. No fiesta is complete without margaritas and I was looking forward to trying Martha's recipe. My recipe was torn from the magazine so I'm not sure which issue it came from but it was printed in Martha Stewart Living sometime this summer.

These margaritas need some prep time since they start with a simple syrup (1 cup sugar and 1 1/2 cups water heated in a saucepan until the sugar is dissolved, then mixed with 2 cups fresh lime juice) and require time in the freezer. Before serving, the frozen mixture is scraped with a spoon until slushy, mixed with tequila (1 cup), and served (I doubled the recipe but didn't double the tequila and thought it was a perfect balance). Once mixed with tequila, the slushy mixture can be popped back in the freezer until serving time since the tequila will prevent it from freezing into a solid mass.

I served the margaritas from a large bowl using a ladle. The lime garnish adds to the festivity.

The clipping claims these margaritas are "nicer than margarita mix" and they are! Tart and tangy, my friends said these were the best margaritas they had ever tasted. In fact, so good that we didn't get a picture before they were gone ... and the group photo of our toast made us look like we'd all enjoyed one too many!

These margaritas will become a summertime entertaining regular at our house.