MardyRita? MardyTini? ORGANIC too?

I spent the first part of my adulthood in Fort Collins, Colorado, famous for three things: Colorado State University, Fat Tire (and other craft) beer (New Belgium Brewery is in Fort Collins, they were working out of their home once upon a time as I do now!.. and now look at 'em!) AND being the home of the #1 user of Cuervo Gold Tequila in the United States, at the local watering hole named "The Rio Grande".  

If you look at Lumigrate's logo, it means something: integration and the illuminating light of knowledge coming from bringing various sources together).  The Rio's logo is a margarita glass with a 3 in the middle of it surrounded by a circle; they have a posted and enforced limited of THREE.  And there's a GOOD REASON for that! Each one has three shots of alcohol!  

"The Rio" expanded to other college towns, Greeley and Boulder, then on to Steamboat Springs and Denver, and others. Interestingly, the day I posted this recipe, as I was making MardyRitas for a Bronco game gathering at a friend's house, one of the people there was from Boulder and thought The Rio was originally from there.  Nope! Many budding brands were underway in those years.  

And alcohol, in those years, at the University was encouraged and even purchased with some of our fees when living in the dormitory I was in, at least.  That one, critical year, when required to live on campus, changed my life in incalculable ways.  And perhaps is the biggest reason I have this recipe to offer you today. Several of my gal pals from growing up lived in the dorm, too, and most of us jumped in deep with the influence around us, having not been 'partiers' in high school or junior high.  

When my health started getting 'off track' in my early twenties, with symptoms I now understand but did not at all then, nor did the medical system I sought out (also paid for via my fees as a university student), intuition, common sense, or an integration of both told me to drop my alcohol consumption.  I knew it was not good for the immune system, I recall thinking.  And I began only consuming alcohol when out socially, and dinners out were social.  And often Mexican food.   

But it was, indeed, Fort Collins where The Rio Grande opened in the 1980s, in a little hole in the wall next to what had been a grand old hotel downtown.  The floors in the dining area were black and white tile, leftover from whatever had been in there before.  The bar areas tables were old cable spools, and the floors were indoor-outdoor carpeting and were so sticky from all the sloshed margs that your feet literally stuck to the floor! In the warm weather, the patio was a lovely reprieve from the heat, as it was in the shade of the building.  

I had a special pair of black shoes I'd wear there, kinda cute tennis shoes.  They were leather, and could be washed off as, inevitably, your feet got bathed in spilled strawberry or regular margaritas, rocks or frozen. Everyone kind of knew everyone a bit at other tables, so there was a lot of "rubbing of elbows", walking around carrying these stoppy but delicious drinks.  

With the strawberry margaritas, you risked ruining clothes if they were going to be stained by the red in those drinks, so you had to plan your clothing too.  They went on to create a "half and half," a blend of the frozen regular and strawberry, which was really quite tasty. Kind of like an adult Slurpee!   

From 1992 to 1994 I was the hub resource person for the university's health education programs, which included a phenomenol director for their drug and alcohol education group.  It was, like many things that came my way when the time was right, a critical piece in my education.  As were my friends who frequented The Rio.  I learned a lot from those years.  They ended up being The Top People in their professions, too, whether veterinary, air quality, or making more houses for people to live in, etcetera. They mountain biked.  They skied. They included me, and I got back after recovering from my health lapse (1988 "crash"), to become a high intermediate single track rider, downhill skier (which I'd been in high school), and the top female in-line skater for a few years there.  

As my career as an OT after graduation took me south from Fort Collins, through Denver for a few years, ....back up to Evergreen, then to Lakewood, and on to Colorado Springs and in 2004 the pinacle of my career move to Grand Junction,  ALMOST to the Utah border, where Grand Junction is the hub of the Grand Valley, and, I'd realize eventually, of health care reform in the U.S. (and North America going in that 'one world' planned direction, it appears), I was always on the lookout for what might be the NEXT Rio Grande.

At the time of my writing this topic, I thought Crossroads Wine and Liquor, plus their conjoined Finer Foods store could be "the next big thing"!  But alas, they were not able to stay in business.  But I wanted to give their owner, "Uncle Jerry" he would be called by many, credit.  So many relationships I've nurtured in order to get content and future funding, potentially, only to hit a dead end.  Hence, I say I'm on plan Z or maybe AA by now!  

This recipe can be adapted to be a MardyTini, you just make it a little stronger and put it in a shaker and strain out the ice and etc.).  

In general, here's how I make a MardyRita, which I've adapted from how the Rio made theirs as some of their original ingredients, as far as anybody 'cracked the recipe', potentially had sweeteners and colorings that are, by today's standards, not something you want to make your healthiest margarita out of.  Hence, the term "MardyRita".  

Forget the usual 'sweet and sour bar mix' that makes most margaritas 'have that yukky taste' --- look at the ingredients if you buy a mix.  Get to the basics .  If you want to use a mix, and often I do as a shortcut or for large groups, consider using the Lite version of Freshies' margarita mix.  

Sweet: Apple juice concentrate (preferably organic) is a wonderful liquid for the 'sweet', and it gives it a golden color. OR I like to use Blue Agave Nectar/Organic - Naturally Preferred is a brand I got at Kroger, where I do about 1/3 of my shopping. 

Sour:  Squeeze a lime and squeeze a lemon!  OR purchase bottled organic lemon and lime juice (again, foud at a new, large Kroger but other healthier stores should have it too).  I find using these bottled juices make it end up just not 'quite right', but for bigger groups, this is an option, as is Freshies' Light mix (which I prefer over the bottled juices from the store). Naturally, Rose's Lime Juice is the classic, but read the label and see if it's for you;  it's not for me.  This is the 'healthier' version.  

Tequila: Olmeca Altos -- they have a gold and a white.  "Top shelf quality for medium shelf price", I'd say.

Orange flavor: GranGala liqueur - same thing, high quality without the $$$ of Grand Marnier. Yes, no Triple Sec in a MardyRita, that would be an ordinary Margarita. 

They really encourage measuring 'jiggers', and I have to agree, though when in a hurry I just start guestimating.  But, use a jigger of each the tequila and the orange, and then I add a jigger of my 'secret' ingredient -- vodka! Again, quality matters! 

Vodka I discovered by accident one day, when a busy bartender was trying to make a MardyRita for me and got to the alcohol part and grabbed vodka out of habit and threw it into the prepared juices, so rather than starting over, she just added the tequila and Grand Marnier that the bar had, and it had that same 'head spinning' result that the Rio's famous margaritas had half a state away. The Rio put Everclear in theirs though, I believe. (Not kidding)  

So there you go!  MardyRita or if you want to shake it and strain it into CHILLED martini glasses, then it makes a nice MardyTini. You can do whatever you want with salt/sugar or a mix of both on the rims of the glasses after dipping them on another small plate with something liquid/sticky -- some people rub a lime around the rim and garnish with lemon, lime or be CREATIVE!  (I use pink salt that's a good healthy salt and organic sugar.  (NOT Himalayan, from Utah's old seas -- typically less toxins and that includes no mercury and aluminum traces in what I've learned to test in 2017/18).  

Sometimes you have to kind of pulverize it a bit more with a mortar and pestle or something similar you have at hand).  

"Quality over Quantity, and 'please drink responsibly'" if you choose to drink alcohol.  You can also adapt this to be a very good non-alcoholic beverage for those who prefer that.  

And haha, I walked into the Bronco gathering JUST as someone was saying "I'm doing a liver cleanse and I'm not really feeling well."  NOT KIDDING.    She wanted to  when she found out I also was a RioRita person from way back but we mixed up something that worked for her, VERY light on the ETOH and she actually started feeling better --- I am guessing she was having a die off of yeast and it was as much the sugar as anything but maybe there's some medicinal value in a good MardyRita.  ~~ Enjoy! Mardy