Margaritas

One of my newest obsessions is my electric juicer.  I have wanted one for a quite a long time and Matt and I finally purchased one.  I have been beyond excited to try out different recipes that call for lots of fruit juice! 

We really enjoy margaritas in our house and so needless to say we decided that margaritas would be one of the first things we would try to make using our new juicer.  I'll admit it, in the past we always relied on margarita mix from a bottle and actually liked what we were drinking.  But, using fresh lime juice instead of a mix turned that like into love!  The fresh lime juice definitely takes the margaritas up a couple of notches-we absolutely loved the simple, fresh taste of these.  Plus, I feel so much better knowing exactly what I am drinking-there are a lot of funny things added to bottled margarita mix!

Margaritas

Makes 4 margaritas

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup water

1 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (we used about 6 larger limes)

6 ounces tequila, divided

3 ounces orange liqueur (we used Grand Mariner), divided

ice

large grain salt to rim glasses (such as sea salt or large grain kosher salt)

Additional lime wedges for garnish, if desired

Rub a lime wedge around the rim of 4 margarita glasses to lightly wet the rims.  Set some salt on a plate or in a shallow bowl and dip rim of glasses into salt until all rims are lightly coated in salt.

Make a simple syrup by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar is completely dissolved.  Allow mixture to cool completely. 

Pour simple syrup into a pitcher with the lime juice. 

For each individual serving, mix ice, lime juice/simple syrup mixture, 1 1/2 ounces tequila, and 3/4 ounce of orange liqueur in a cocktail shaker and shake.  Pour into prepared margarita glasses and garnish with lime slices, if desired. 

Source: Simple syrup recipe from Confessions of a Foodie Bride