Thought hell would freeze over before a reality TV celebrity would take the White House? When life gives you stone cold lemons, make frozen margaritas.

This is actually a lemon-lime frozen margarita, and it’s my favorite make-at-home mixed drink – now more than ever. Aside from being so delicious and so easy to drink, it’s got a kick that will help take the edge off the looming apocalypse.

Perhaps you’re wondering why I’m talking about frozen drinks in November. Well, if you’re like me – and thank God you’re not, because let me tell you, it ain’t easy – that kind of fun drinking doesn’t stop just because summer’s over. Also, if you’re like me, your friend Erinn recently moved to Europe to apprentice as a jewelry maker, and you are now the proud owner of her barely-used Ninja blender. Plus, global warming or what? Here in Chicago, summer has never faded so gracefully.

This is a much friendlier and far more delicious margarita than what you’re probably used to. First of all, you can’t beat a good, homemade sour mix for stand-out deliciousness. But aside from that, this one uses both lemons and limes. The lemon juice tempers the lime’s natural bitterness, and moves the Margarita’s flavor profile toward the sweeter side. I got the recipe from my friend, Kevin, who got it from our mutual friend, Daniel, who read about it somewhere and tweaked up his own version.

What you need for 18 servings

FOR THE SOUR MIX

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 3 lemons)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (from 4 limes)
2 2/3 cups simple syrup (1 1/3 cups sugar + 1 1/3 cups water)

FOR THE MARGARITAS
1 3/4 cups sour mix
1 cup tequila
1/4-cup Cointreau or another orange-flavor liqueur
Ice
Orange wedge, cherry, or other fruit, for garnish

How to do it:

MAKE THE SOUR MIX

Stir all ingredients together. (Can be refrigerated for three days, or frozen for six months.)

MAKE THE MARGARITAS

Pour sour mix, tequila, and Cointreau into blender. Fill with ice. Blend until the consistency of a Slurpee. Garnish and serve.

Notes:

1. The juice has to be fresh. Bottled juice is a step down.
2. Don’t throw out the lemon peels. Once you’ve squeezed the juice, place the peels into a pot and cover them with milk. Bring to a boil. Cool to room temperature, then store (covered) in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning, remove the peels. The milk will have separated; stir it together vigorously. This mixture will keep for at least a week, tightly covered and refrigerated. Use as you would buttermilk, realizing that it will impart a lovely, somewhat muted lemon flavor. Perfect for cakes, blueberry pancakes, or French toast.
3. Once you’ve poured servings from the blender, if there’s any leftover, leave it in the blender and put the blender pitcher into the freezer. A couple of pulses will bring it back to a pourable consistency. If you leave it in there overnight, it will eventually freeze solid; in that case, let it thaw for a while (up to an hour), until you can pulse through it. In fact, you can make an entire pitcher of Margaritas days in advance, if you know you won’t be needing your blender in the meantime, and simply take it out to thaw about an hour before your party.
4. I do this in the Ninja, and let me tell you … that fucking thing practically does nuclear fission. It’s the dominatrix of blenders: you’re scared to death to turn it on, and yet you just can’t wait to find out what happens when you do. In a more typical blender, you have to add the ice a little at a time, and you’ll have a harder time pulsing through a pitcher that’s been in the freezer for a long time.
5. If you have a great blender and a good juice extractor, this is a very easy recipe. The more you have to muscle your way through any of this, obviously, the less easy this recipe this is. But the rewards are worth it.
6. Although most of the margaritas we know and love in the U.S. are made with limes, the very definition of the margarita allows for lemons.

Margaritas Congeladas de Danilo (Frozen Margaritas)

This content was not solicited, sponsored, or written in exchange for anything. The people who make the Ninja blender did not offer me a free blender if I’d make margaritas for them. I am pretty sure, however, that they sent American Ninja Warriors to my house to try to steal my recipe, but none of them made it past the rolling logs and salmon ladders that serve as the entrance to my building.

Keep up with us on Bloglovin’