Coconut Milk: Two Delicious Ways

1. Hear Me out

2. I am a genius. (I’m telling the internet this because I just yelled it to Benny, who is currently in his office composing some civil war song to the stylings of Brahms with his headphones on. So either he’s pretending like he didn’t hear me or he really didn’t hear me. Could go either way.)

Let me explain some back story - There’s a so-so bar in Chicago called Butterfly Social Club. Yeah.. I don’t want to go to a bar called Butterfly Social Club either. The thing is, I was once tricked into going there with the promise of free drinks. Free drinks were had and I have to say, my drink was amazing. I would never go back and pay $12 for it, but I think about it every summer when I start dreaming of summer cocktails. The drink itself was mango-infused vodka with a spritz of mango juice (Big whoop really) but the kicker was the coconut ice cube. It was just the perfect consistency – silky, not icy but frozen, heart-shaped and so so sweet. Like a little mini coconut popsicle.

My craving for one today started with a craving for a milky coconut drink with mint and lime. I can’t get enough of tropical fruits with mint and lime lately and coconut sounded like it would be so refreshing and generally fabulous that I couldn’t help but start pondering the many cans of coconut milk that tend to find their way into my kitchen. (I never cook with it as often as I expect I will, but that doesn’t stop me from buying a can or two everytime I go grocery shopping. )

So, when I couldn’t take the suspense any longer, I opened a can and tasted it. It needed sweetening but it was light coconut milk so it was thin enough to drink without being gross. So I stirred in a little skim milk to thin it out even a little more and then added just enough sugar to get it tasting sweet.

Not the most appetizing thing you've ever seen, I know.

Now. I know it looks kind of gross but this is very Indonesian to me. It’s best to make a smaller glass of it than this, it’s not something you want to drink a ton of, as it’s pretty rich and somewhat milky.

Half of 1 Lime

2-4 Mint Leaves

Desired amount of Coconut Rum

Sweetened Coconut Milk

Bendy Straw (An essential in my world)

Then I remembered the ice cubes.

I filled up my favorite heart-shaped “party-time” ice cube trays (bought at a garage sale for $1) right away.

I must have discovered their exact recipe because good god, these things are exactly right.
I'll be using them in my mango cocktail tonight. oh yes.

my heart is melting. guk-guk-guk!