Everyone loves a delicious drink. Whether it’s alcoholic or not, a really good drink can make your evening. Turn your party into a paaaartay. Or perhaps make your Tuesday night feel like it’s already Friday. Or if your like me, you make yourself a cocktail in order to do the dishes.

freshly squeezed orange margarita: on the rocks

We bought a case of oranges recently, and weren’t eating them fast enough. So turning them into cocktails seemed only logical. I juiced 2 oranges, and zested one of them beforehand. Cut a couple wedges to save for garnishes as well.

Use your orange zest and combine with coarse salt or sugar. I like a combo of both. Be sure to be sparse with your zest or you’ll end up with really wet salt that won’t stick to your glass.

Using one of your orange garnishes, wet the rim of your glass and dip your glass in your orange salt, coating the entire rim.

Now onto the liquor. Any tequila will suffice, because for me, the triple sec makes the drink. I also like to fill my glass with ice and dump in the shaker. Other wise I end up making a drink much bigger than my cup. Which is fine. You just drink the rest from the shaker. I mean…..

In your mixer, you’ll add 2 parts orange juice (2 shots) and 1 part liquor. In this case, half your shot is tequila and the other is triple sec. My golden rule for making cocktails is less is more.  You can always add extra liquor if your drink isn’t strong enough. If you add too much to begin with, adding more juice or soda ends up throwing it all off and often your drink just isn’t what you intended.

With the lid on tight, shake. And shake. And shake. Then shake a little more. You’ve shaken enough when the shaker is really cold and now covered in condensation.

Pour in your prepared glass and garnish. Best served with a side of sunshine.