The search for a unifying element between Rachel's periodic mixology tutorials and Farm Aid is complete. And the answer is? Fresh Mint!
How was this serendipity achieved?
On tonight's show, Rachel strove mightily to redeem the mojito from mass mediocrity in part by crushing a delicious helping of fresh mint leaves into a glass.
Meanwhile, the organizers of Farm Aid, the annual concert to benefit American small farmers, posted an article on its website called Raise a toast to family farmers! How your drink choices can support them.
In it we find this advice:
"Be your own family farmer — grow your own herbs for use in drinks! (Oh, I guess they'll be handy in cooking too.) Mint's probably the most common one (what's a mint julep or mojito without it?), but basil, thyme, rosemary and other herbs can be delicious too. Muddle them, add them to your shaker, or just use them as a garnish to take your drinks to the next level."
Fresh Mint! Again! Eureka!
This years' Farm Aid concert takes place tomorrow at the LIVESTRONG Sporting Park in Kansas City and features---whoa!-- Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, Jason Mraz, Jakob Dylan and more. A whole lot of Farm Aid video goodness can be sampled here.
(Mojitos not included.)
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I'mma make that nun a mojito. Nuns love mojitos.
My father and I were watching the show tonight together. He had left to get something from the kitchen, and when he returned, he took one look at the TV [then showing the cocktail moment] and said, "What the f*ck is she doing? Well, I guess she can do whatever she wants and both of us know we'll still watch it."
A delightful family moment. Accompanied by a delightful family drink, I suppose, although no one in my family drinks. We eat. We're Jews.
[To be blunt].
Mojito's are great drinks! If your parents and your visiting Aunt are near Malibu then send them to Paradise Cove Beach Cafe for a great Mojito. They use fresh mint and limes and fresh sugar cane juice and you can't beat the view. And thanks - I always enjoy your show!
Yum yum! Cheers!
Rachel......the Mojito formula needs to be patented!!! I went straight to the maket tonight after watching the show and got the rest of the ingredients and I AM BLOWN AWAY!!!!! I have never reacted to a show this way before but you are my girl!!!!! I LOVE THE MOJITO ......I am calling it "The Maddowjito." You go Rachel!!!
Perhaps next time you can indulge the audience in one of my oddest experiences; a basil margarita made with cucumber vodka. Or was it a cucumber margarita with basil vodka..?
Next Saturday there is an Oktoberfest up here in Honesdale PA. You should come up and throw back a few pints of German beer with us and see what "Real Americans" are like. This is the Alabama part of Pa. You might find it interesting. At least you can have some fun also.
hope to see you
your friend and frustrated liberal DAN
That's the nice thing about family farmers, they encourage others to grow their own food. They're not hyper competitive like "you should only buy our produce." And they share their methods.
Oh and,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_R6YpLpV90
"Nuns love garnish." Oh, Rachel, I love your cocktail moments...I wish I drank. But what's with the comment about Canada being cold? It was over 100 F just a couple of weeks ago. It's crazy-hot up here!
We were aghast at that too, then found out her mom is from Newfoundland where the heat? ... not so much. The Maritimes are having a crappy summer according to our son in Halifax.
My friends and I have a favorite summer cocktail...vodka, 7Up, lemonade and fresh mint. Make a pitcher and call it a "cracktail". You can't just have one because they are so refreshingly delicious!
Another similar approach is lime juice (whether you squeeze it or buy a bottle at your grocery), coconut rum, and some lemon-lime soda.
thank you! i'm not really a dinker...but i'll definitely will have to try making my own. i've had the same wild mint patch in the yard since i was a wee one.
absolutely gorgeous out, but be prepared for the rain this weekend. i think their calling for wader weather by sunday.
Rachel, for your aunt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Jrh_uuPmd0
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Jrh_uuPmd0
Cheers!
Rachel, with your aunt being Canadian, she can go down to Cuba herself and drink mojitos. Also, with her being from Newfoundland, she'd probably be drinking screech rum, which does not come in white.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newfoundland_Screech
We have plenty of local mint farms up here, what should be enough to clear the nation's sinuses. Just sayin'.
I have a sort of mint farm by accident. I decided one windy day to mow over the small mint patch behind my house with a side discharge lawn mower. I had no idea mint can take root from the tiniest of cuttings! Now it's not just my yard, but all my neighbors have mint popping up everywhere. At least it smells good when you mow!
oops ;-)
I came here to say the same thing, Samiam. Once you have mint, you always have mint. Same with lemon balm too. I planted that about ten years ago and I'll never get rid of it. Smells good when you mow, so does the parsley!
It's the same with blackberry and raspberry bushes. (Yes, those cute and tasty little berries you buy by the pint from your city grocers.) Planted irresponsibly, left unmanaged and unattended, they become annoyingly invasive.
But they do NOT smell good when you mow them. They DO dull your mower blades.
We just love your cocktail moments and we've tried to recreate many of them. The mojito sounds great, but I can't drink rum. Any suggestions for me?
mojito is good, but I give you dirty bong water Rachel.
1oz chambord raspberry liqueur
1oz blue curaco liqueur
1oz amaretto almond liqueur
1oz spiced rum
1oz sweet and sour mix
By the way, the reason for so much sugar in that drink is that sugar helps to release juice-- both from mint and from the lime.
Just an FYI...
PLEASE stop mixing drinks on TV! Honestly, we suffer through a beer or vodka commercial every 5 minutes and have a hard enough time keeping young people from rotting their brains before they're even fully formed. We don't need more proselytizing for alcohol, especially when there are so many better uses for that valuable air time.
I absolutely, completely agree. Thank you!
i think if young brains are watching maddow then they are hardly rotting their brains elsewhere.
It's for grown ups. People who just drink to get drunk don't bother spending five minutes making a cocktail. Have you ever seen Rachel Maddow make a cocktail with vodka? Nope.
I don't think any of the cocktails she's made would be popular among young people since they actually taste like alcohol (as opposed to candy). Vodka has no flavor or smell, which is why it's popular among people just drinking to get drunk.
Alcohol doesn't rot your brain. It doesn't kill brain cells.
I actually returned to this show (and poitical discussion) b/c I saw this cocktail clip. I had given up news for awhile and then I saw this lighter side of her. Its nice seeing Rachel Maddow relax a bit and not stress out over the news. Seeing her relax helps me relax and put things into perspective. Drinks are fun, especially with good company.
Please DON'T stop making cocktails we can't stop doing everything because there's someone out there that abuses it.
I love Rachel. She's got so much going for her: she speaks truth to power, she's brilliant, she's drop-dead gorgeous, and she's so incredibly cool under fire. Despite all these things, when her Cocktail Moments come on, I change the channel.
Yep. Two too many commas.
To each their own. I like seeing this side of her. It makes her more accessible.
I tune in for the cocktail segments as well as the moments of geek, not that I don't watch the rest of the show but these segments make the show fun.
Mmmm...mojitos. They go well with another wonderful green herb, too.
I was looking at my Whiskey and Spirits For Dummies book over the weekend and it had the same exact recipie that Rachel uses for a Mojito...now I know where she got it...lol
testing
Can we change the name of the segment to the Moment of Drink? See what I did there? HA! I love these moments; the why you don't eat the garnish is bookmarked on my phone so I can lecture people at the bar humorously.