Day Fifty Six: If Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemon Mint Juleps

On Saturday, we are hosting a Kentucky Derby party for about fifty people.  Ladies will don hats, men will dress in seersucker and we will take friendly bets on the winner of the Race for the Roses.

Of course, we will serve mint juleps...But not true mint juleps. A flavored one.  This is because a true mint julep consists of about five mint leaves, a pinch of sugar, bourbon and just enough ice to cool it all down.  And so, while there is lots of talk about people drinking mint juleps, few are brave enough to actually drink more than one.

So that everyone can enjoy a refreshing mint julep (or two), I also serve a flavored julep...one that is not quite so strong.  Martha has several recipes that look interesting, but I wanted to test out her recipe for Seventeen-Lemon Mint Juleps.  Sounds refreshing.

While looking for this recipe, I happened upon Martha's trick for squeezing lemons.  I could not take a photo of myself trying this trick, so here is Martha's photo:

Looks like something you'd like to try, doesn't it?

Well, I did try it.  And I'm happy to tell you it does work.  BUT, be very careful.  I won't give you the gory details of my mishap, but I will say this:  if lemon launching were an Olympic sport, I'd be going to London this Summer.

My seventeen projectiles lemons:

Mangled Squeezed lemons:

Bourbon stands ready and waiting to serve...

Completed juleps:

This julep recipe is sort of labor intensive, but holy Colonel Sanders are they tasty.  They taste like mint lemonade with just a little kick of bourbon.  We definitely have a contender for Saturday's party.  I'll let you know what I decide, right after I try out a few more recipes...