I love gin. Especially in the summer. It's crisp, almost austere, herb-ness seems ideally suited for the deathly hot days of July and August when even a well chilled beer is too sticky to contemplate

Sadly, in a fit of well being I gave up artificial sweetners and HFCS in March and it turns out to be nearly impossible to find tonic water that doesn't have one or the other. My gin has been languishing in my freezer, chilled to the perfect syrupy consistency, while I pondered how to drink it. I wanted something that was not fussy, not hard to make, didn't get the gin all yucky with sweetness or egg or cream or anything else non-summer. I finally came across this recipe. It's a sidecar, one of my favorite drinks, made with gin instead of brandy.

When made with icy cold gin, this may be one of the perfect summer drinks.

WHITE LADY

• Two measures of gin
• One measure of cointreau
• One measure of lemon juice

I didn't specifiy what size measure you should use. I do 2oz, 1oz, 1oz but if you wanted to make a large amount and do 2 liters, 1 liter, 1 liter I would not stop you as long as you didn't mess with the proportions.

Add the cointreau first, the lemon juice second, and the gin last to an appropriately sized glass and swirl to mix. Garnish with a single mint leaf if you desire.

Source: about.com, whattodrink.com, webtender.com, and several others.