I had the good fortune of spending a week in Maui in January, and the highlight of my trip (yes, kind of. remember that it was a "trip" with two small kids--much different than a "vacation". But I digress..) was this killer mangotini that one of the resort restaurants crafted from fresh mango puree, vodka ,and peach schnapps. The texture of this liquid love was sublime--a slight thickness that made a deliciously viscous, yet light, cocktail. Even my husband (who is not a fan of "girly" drinks) thought it was a-mazing. So. I have been thinking of recreating it for nearly 4 months now, but honestly, I hate dealing with mangoes. The pit inside them is weirdly oblong, and as hard as I try, I always end up cutting it all wrong so that the precious fruit is sort of mangled and in odd-sized pieces. If you have cut into a fresh mango you know what I am talking about. But still, I was game for trying once the weather required such a refreshing beverage as this. Last week, as I meandered through Trader Joe's, I saw this.....

Hmmm....I wondered if this was good enough to skip the whole cutting mangoes, making puree, blah, blah, blah, and if we could head straight to the good stuff in short cut fashion. I gave this a try on Saturday night, basically requiring my friend to consume two of these with me, all in the name of research. She was such a good sport! They were good, but not quite what I wanted. Today, it hit 90 degrees here and I was fresh out of a pull-your-hair-out mothering moment post swimming lessons. I will you spare you those details, but it was probably my least favorite locker room moment of all time. I arrived home and decided it was time to open that second bottle of mango smoothie to try my hand at that coveted mango-tini once again. Success at last! Tonight I enjoyed a little bit of Hawaii at home. This was perfection, and minus the sunset and ocean waves, might as well have been the real deal. If you are searching for your summer house beverage (and an extra dose of vitamin C), look no further. You are welcome. Cheers!

Shortcut Mangotini
(makes 1 drink)

-2 shots vodka (hey--give Tito's Handmade Vodka a try. It comes out of Austin, TX and won a ton of awards..and it is way cheaper than my usual pick.)
-3 shots bottled mango smoothie--I loved the Trader Joe's variety, but go for Odwalla, Naked, whatever you have. The "smoothie" part is important. You need something a bit thicker than juice for appropriate viscosity (I really love that word, by the way).
-juice of half a lime (buy a real lime, cut it in half, and squeeze it. Put the other half in the fridge for a bit--you will be using it in a short while when you are ready for your second inevitable drink)

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add vodka, smoothie, and lime juice. Shake like crazy. When you think you have shaken it enough, shake some more. The icier the better. Strain into a martini glass. Send your husband the following picture and tell him to hurry home after his long day. He will thank you.