In Search of the SkinnyGirl Margarita

I am on the list.

As soon as the Sigel's Liquor Store on Greenville Avenue in Dallas rings me up, I'll be among the first in my village to wrap my hands around the new SkinnyGirl Margarita. According to the landing page for Bethenny Frankel's fresh entry in the SkinnyGirl brand, this product is everything we love about a good marg without the guilt or the calories. This I have to taste, for we take margaritas very seriously in Texas, as does that big state to the West of us, California.

The site says there are only 100 calories per a full 4 oz. serving of SkinnyGirl Marg, with all-natural ingredients and no preservatives or artificial colors. It's said to be lightly sweetened with agave nectar and made from premium, 100% Blue Agave Tequila.

The whole concept of a margarita from a jar - well, a bottle, then - catches me perplexed. But I'm willing to give it a swirl because, gee, what if it works? I'm not one to drink this limey delight over ice, preferring the frozen splendor of tiny ice chips, tequila and Triple Sec that gang up with my good friend, sal, (salt, gringos) for an amazing ritual of tart, sour and sweet sensations when swallowed. I assume that's how SkinnyGirl Margarita is to be consumed - chilled over the rocks.

The first margarita I ever saw was by the sea in Puerto Vallarta, when I was a young girl on her first trip to an exotic world. My father was holding La Margarita for a toast, and I thought it the loveliest beverage I'd ever seen. It looked like liquid jade in the most delicate martini glass, almost the size of a sherry glass. I'll venture to say the drink I saw was not the product of a blender, nor was there any ice in the glass. Just a cool, glimmering concoction that had been carefully combined by hand, the limes coming straight from the market that day.

Was I allowed to taste it? Caramba, of course not, but I never forgot the cool look of it.

In Dallas, you can get yourself a good margarita, but the markup is dreadful, quite appalling, really. Who makes a good one? Lots of places, but here's a rule: If you're ever served one in a glass that's bigger than a beer mug, with an extremely wide bowl at the top, the marg will not be in good taste. I know.

One of my favorites, because it tastes fine and is priced to thrill, is at Monica's Aca y Alla in Deep Ellum. On Sundays, you can buy one for a dollar; limit 3 to a customer. Food to go with the marg is consistently good at Monica's, and the queso among the best around.

I usually take a marg with my order for the "Mexican Flag" enchiladas at Casa Navarro, too, because I love the way the marg looks when served. First impressions, and all that. To color the salt, the glass rim is dipped in some kind of blue beverage. The result? A tall, cool glass of green with a rim of blue at the top, ole! Maybe they got the idea from Mexican bar ware that features the blue rim. As a final gesture, the restaurant adds a straw in the glass, straight up, with half the paper wrap still on it, like a nod to the old soda fountain days. It's marvelous.

As long as the subject is lovely margarita today, here's a recipe that is unusual and beautiful beyond measure, thanks to the step of soaking the tequila in cactus fruit.

Rosy Rita (Warning: Plan well ahead)

Ingredients:
About 10 purple prickly pear cactus fruits (locate in Mexican grocery store)
1 bottle of good-grade tequila
Crushed ice
½ bottle (1 ½ cups) Triple Sec
Limes
Sugar
Directions:
1. Peel each prickly pear fruit and put them in a large glass jar. Pour in tequila so fruits are submerged. Seal and allow to sit for 3 days.
2. For one margarita batch, remove 1 prickly pear fruit and mash the flesh through a large-mesh strainer so you can separate out the seeds and discard them.
3. Put this strained fruit in a blender. Add ½ cup crushed ice, 2 or less shots of the tinted tequila (depending on your taste), 1 shot of Triple Sec (or more, depending on desired sweetness), and juice of 1 lime.
4. Blend until slushy.
(Tip: This foundational recipe may be too bitter, but it will be gorgeous in color, almost bright pink. Be prepared to cut back the tequila, add a little sugar or add more lime juice to even out the taste.)

How I found out about SkinnyGirl Margarita, coming soon.

Birthday Bliss

Jeanne and I have been ever so busy creating a brilliant life for ourselves, me in Dallas and she in Des Moines, so I completely allowed my birthday to sail by. With the house remarkably hushed now that the Young Collegians have gone back to their studies, there was no one to offer up a cake, cupcake or even a crumb of devil's food.

That being the reality, I forced it upon myself to dig around for an easy and chocolatey treat to mark the day, and I found it in the Chocolate-Espresso Lava Cakes recipe from Bon Appetit Magazine. I had to get a little creative - I didn't have instant espresso powder on hand, but I did have some of the Newman's Own Organics Espresso Dark Chocolate, so I grated it and used it instead. Didn't have whipping cream, either, as you can see in the photo, but when a dish is fudgy and oh so choco full of joi, the cream seems superfluous, mes amis. Oh, I spoke French, bon chance with that.

What I like about this recipe is, you get it all mixed up, find an ovenproof mug or ramekin to pack it in, throw it in the fridge, and then you think about what you want to do for an hour or two - try on hats, play with jewelry, just any old thing. Once you're wearing a party hat and a great pair of shoes, you hoist the dish into the oven, and you've got enchantment, as Blanche DuBois would coo.

I think enchantment for a birthday is ever so wonderful.
I have always depended on the kindness of candles.

(Photo: Birthday hat from my sister Mary and a Chocolate-Espresso Lava Cake in the Singing Wheat Kitchen, by John H. Ostdick)