friday o’clock – pineapple pisco-jito

It’s Fleet Week here in San Francisco, which means two things: 1) jittery nerves from forgetting that the deafening rumblings are the Blue Angels, and not an attack, and 2) beautiful weather. It’s odd, but Fleet Week and Pride Week are always blessed with warm sunny weather.

And that means it’s time to raise a glass to the weather gods. Last week, I served this cocktail at our monthly Biz Ladies meeting. The Biz Ladies group is an awesome group of fellow makers and biz owners who meet once a month to spitball ideas, share advice, and well, just generally interact like co-workers. The group includes Samantha of Noteify, Kendra of Kendra Renee Jewelry, Sharon of Casa Murriguez, Alana of Etta + Billie, Marja of Lemonade Handmade Jewelry, Liz of 1.by.Liz, and Giselle, owner of Rare Device. Oh, and Steve was an honorary “biz lady” for the evening.

For food I used this recipe for short rib chili to make “frito pie”, and a jicama, avocado, and grapefruit salad.

Oh, and if you’re wondering why it is a pisco-jito …. I found some pisco at Trader Joe’s, and well, I just had to buy it. 🙂 I based the recipe on this one on yumsguar. It’s awesome because you can make it ahead of time, which is great for the muddling-intensive mojito.

Pineapple Pisco-jito

by the pitcher-full, makes 8 drinks

• 2 cups Pisco (or rum, if you’re feeling traditional)
• 1 cup mint leaves
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 lime, in quarters
• 1/2 cup lime juice
• 1 cup club soda
• 4 pineapple spears

1. Using a wooden spoon or muddler in a bowl, crush the mint with the sugar and lime quarters until the sugar starts to dissolve.

2. Add half of pineapple and crush into mixture

3. Add 1 cup of the club soda and stir until the sugar dissolves completely.

4. Strain the mixture through a coarse sieve into a pitcher.

5. Stir in the lime juice and rum. ** You can chill the mixture now, and serve it later**

6. Fill glass with ice and add a mint sprig to each. A

7. Add chopped pineapple to glass.

8.  Pour the mixture over the ice, top each glass with club soda and serve.

Serves 8.