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I’ve decided that I really need to start drinking more.

It all started last summer when I visited my Saucy friends at the Fancy Food show. I’d taken 2nd place in their cooking contest and they thought it would be fun if I came down and prepared that recipe for the crowd.

{Can you tell we had a blast?}

After we “worked” at the Fancy Food show, the Saucy crew took me out for a few drinks and a fun, delicious dinner. It was a scorching hot summer day, so when Kelly ordered a Lemon Drop I immediately said I’d have the same. This was unusual for me; aside from margaritas and mojitos, I really wasn’t one to order a cocktail.

I fell hard. It was the perfect balance of sweet, tart with just a slight kick from the booze. The sugared rim, chilled glass and all that lemony goodness! I began ordering them whenever we were out. I would ask Alan if he wanted to go to dinner early just so we could have a cocktail at the bar before dinner. Sadly, I’ve never found a place that was able to replicate that experience for me. I’m sure a good part of it was the atmosphere, in the same way that your dinner always tastes just a bit better when you’re surrounded with good friends and laughter. Mostly, however, most of the cocktails that followed have been merely mediocre (with the exception of a spicy concoction at ZENGO in Santa Monica; I’ve emailed for the recipe and will hopefully get the go-ahead to share it).

And so I’ve decided to try my hand at becoming a mixologist. My reasoning is that if I can create great flavors with food, coming up with great cocktail flavors shouldn’t be that much of a stretch. And it will be awfully fun in the process!

I’m easing into with my first one – a Meyer Lemon Margarita. Trader Joe’s had some meyer lemons last week and Andrea Meyers and I snatched them up. I’d originally thought I would make preserved meyer lemons or a meyer lemon custard, but then I remembered that I am, after all, a budding mixologist! I should use them in a cocktail! And since I already know margaritas pretty well, it wasn’t much of a stretch to just use meyer lemons in place of the limes.

If you’ve seen meyer lemons around but haven’t been certain what to do with them, this refreshing cocktail is a good place to start. And it’s a nice reminder that winter can’t last forever!