Cheers, Irene

We have put everything inside, and all that's left to do is sit on the porch while we can, drink mojitos and wait for Irene. 

We harvested as many vegetables and herbs as we could,

including two kinds of mint.  The apple mint has big, pretty leaves, but I think the spearmint makes a better mojito.  Here's how we do it.

Mojitos

1. Make a simple syrup by putting 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water in a saucepan, cooking until it dissolves, which takes no time at all.  Then turn off the heat and throw in a handful of mint leaves, and let it sit for an hour.  The syrup can be refrigerated until you're ready to use it.  DON'T be intimidated by the simple syrup.  It sounds like too much work for a beverage, but it's easy and it's worth it.

2. Get a pint glass, and make yourself a drink.  (This will only fill your pint glass half way.  Double it if you want... a double...)  Add the ingredients in this order:

1 ounce mint-infused simple syrup
1 handful of mint leaves (I used 15, some were smaller than others)
(muddle, or stir)
Fill the pint glass half full with ice, preferably crushed, and stir again
1 1/2 ounces light rum
juice of 1/2 a lime
stir and serve

You can top off the drink with club soda or sparkling water, but we never seem to have any around, and don't really miss it.  You can also garnish with more mint or lime, but we think there's enough in there already, and don't need to be fancy.

Enjoy!