Frozen Strawberry Margarita
This frozen strawberry margarita recipe is EPIC! I absolutely love frozen margaritas. They always make me feel like I’m on vacation.
I have to say, I think this is the best strawberry margarita I’ve ever had.
It’s a bold call. But, I stand by it, and challenge you to make these strawberry margaritas and tell me something different.
Maybe you’re going to tell me I haven’t tasted enough strawberry margaritas. But, after years of working as a cocktail waitress in a Mexican restaurant while I was in college, I don’t think so. (It was almost a mic drop. But, it really wasn’t a great restaurant. I’ve learnt a thing or two since then.)
What’s the secret to the amazing flavor?
It is, of course, the combo of really good tequila, Cointreau, lime juice, maple syrup, and strawberries.
I’m also throwing in whole fresh strawberries with the tops and all.
Yep.
My niece and nephew are annoyingly (but kind of cutely) addicted to strawberries. And being the genius little wasps they are they are always showing off their knowledge of completely random facts smugly asking me ridiculous things like,
“What are the leaves on the top of a strawberry called?” (Do you think they got that piece of trivia from the apps they are scarily dependent on or from my sister who is a Wednesday-Night-Trivia-Group leader? (Oh, I wish I were kidding….but I am not.)
When they ask me, I always pretend I don’t know that they have told me 500,000 times, so they can triumphantly reveal the answer to the most asked question in the 7-year-old universe and scream out in unison, “A Calyx!”
Then I respond with my best poker-faced scowl, “Well, are the tops of strawberries edible?”
They always scrunch up their noses in a totally over-rehearsed way that only a 9 and 7 year old who think they know everything can do as if they have never heard me ask the question I have asked a hundred times in our ongoing strawberry game.
They are, of course, inviting me to prove my case and fire up the blender and make one of my famous (or at least in our family!) whole strawberry smoothies.
Because the answer is, Yes!
The leaves and stem of strawberries are edible. In fact, the calyx and stem of strawberries act as natural digestive aids and they make everything taste better.
Well, that’s not totally true. They do aid digestion. But, they are tasteless and blend into anything unnoticed. But, I told them they had magic taste powers so they would try whole strawberries, and I can’t really roll that back now or I would be proclaimed a dirty desperate liar by my brother-in-law who also fell for my line hook, line, and sinker.
So, next time you are grabbing for your strawberry huller or knife to lob off the best part of your strawberry because that’s what you saw some fancy chef on TV do or because that is what everybody mistakingly does, think again!
Be bold. Be reckless. Be mindful, and instead of adding yet another sad little unwanted Calyx to the compost or landfill (sorry worms) wash those whole strawberries and throw them in tops and all to your next smoothie, shake, milkshake, or cocktail.
You can’t taste them, and they have added nutritional benefit. And, it saves on prep time because all you have to do is wash your strawbs and throw them into the blender!
You can do it. Do it. You know you want to. You are curious.
You want to say you’ve done it.
Or you want to ask somebody at your next drunken party what a Calyx is…if you can remember that is what it is.
Or, you just want to prove me wrong and tell me you can taste it.
Or you are desperate to tell me that my margarita isn’t the best strawberry margarita you’ve ever tasted.
Yeah…it’s one…or all of the above.
Well, I really don’t care why you’re going to try whole strawberries blended into a margarita.
Just do it.
Scraps TV Show and Reducing Food Waste
I am on a mission to reduce my food waste by at least 50% this year, and you should be, too.
I was inspired to reduce my food waste while working with KitchenAid, Sur La Table, and Chef Joel Gamoran on the Scraps TV show.
Season 1 of the show aired on the FYI Network. You can watch all of the episodes from the first season there. Season 2 starts this fall on the A & E Network. So, catch up now.
For those of you who haven’t seen the show, Chef Joel travels around America in his traveling kitchen VW van called Pippy, and he cooks with various chefs, culinary stars, farmers, restauranteurs, and local food purveyors to utilize local ingredients and food scraps to make amazing meals.
The dinner party scene and the reveal of the ingredients to the guests is worth watching the episode for. It’s always the best part! The looks on the faces of unsuspecting diners…Oh…just gold.
The goal of the show is to highlight the issue of food waste and to show viewers how to utilize as much of the food as possible and not waste anything.
Food waste is an epidemic and has thankfully become a topical issue of interest with more food companies, growers, restaurants, schools, colleges, and non profit organizations supporting initiatives that reduce waste.
Scraps has some fantastic ideas for using food that would otherwise have gone into the landfill.
I connected with Chef Joel and the Scraps team through my relationship with KitchenAid. Joel is also a huge fan of the Pro Line® Series blender and uses it on the show to make many of the recipes on the show. So, it was really cool to be able to cook together and geek out over this blender and how much better it is than any other machine on the market. Yeah…we’re feeling pretty smug that we got in early and made the switch while everybody else is still using yesterday’s news.
It’s also cool for me to see how great chefs are using the blender to make amazing dishes that are different from what I make. I had a blast cooking with him.
He is possibly one of the nicest, most special people I have ever met.
You have to watch this show. It is fantastic. I just hope Pippy doesn’t break down. She is old….
How are you using food scraps? Leave a comment below so I can try your recipes.
Check out Season 2 of the Scraps TV show for awesome recipe ideas, and make this whole strawberry margarita and let me know what you think!
“The tops of the strawberries are good for you.”
I am telling myself this as I kick back my third strawberry margarita.
I don’t want to put more food waste into the landfill. Civic duty.
And, if you’re even thinking of making this recipe with lobbed off sad little strawberries I have to tell you before you waste your time cutting or hulling when you could be drinking: This frozen margarita tastes the same no matter whether you cut the tops off or not.
So, you’ll just be wasting the best bit of the berry, and contributing more waste to society.
This will not look good to your child who is learning all about food waste and how irresponsible it is at school today.
Oh! And I’ve used the lime rind in the salt to make epic lime salt to add to the rim of the glass for flavor fever. Double scraps triumph!
Set a good example. Be ahead of the curve.
Throw the whole thing in. I dare you!
*I am a paid ambassador for KitchenAid® blenders but my opinions are my own.
