Grilled Tomatillo Margarita

On August 21, 2025August 21, 2025 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn beverages, ColumnLeave a comment

The margarita recipe I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon is one of my favorite summer beverages—and one I mix up throughout the year when I need a homegrown hint of summer in my day. I grow and grill the tomatillos in summer and then freeze the strained juice in cubes. They’re easy to thaw and combine with agave, lime juice, tequila, and Homemade Triple Sec for a fresh homemade margarita.

To grow tomatillos, you need at least two plants so that they can cross-pollinate. That produces a big enough harvest to create plenty of grilled tomatillo juice cubes and turn the solids into Grilled Tomatillo Salsa—and still have tomatillos to use. I include recipes for quick fresh salsa and hot sauce that use tomatillos in The Complete Guide to Pickling. I’m increasingly using one or two at a time in nightly meals too, like salads and stir-fries.
Learn to make a Grilled Tomatillo Margarita

Raspberry Shrub Mocktail or Cocktail

On June 26, 2025July 25, 2025 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn beverages, ColumnLeave a comment

Iced tea and fresh-squeezed juice are nice, but I like a little tang in my cooling, refreshing summer beverages—probably no surprise given that I’m the author of a pickling cookbook. When you open my fridge this time of year, you’re more likely to find several bottles of drinking shrubs and kombucha than jugs of iced tea. As I explain this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, I enjoy drinking shrubs as nonalcoholic daytime drinks and use them as cocktail mixers.

Think of drinking shrubs as homemade replacements for today’s highly popular flavored sparkling waters and hard seltzers. Shrubs combine fruit, sugar, and vinegar into a concentrate that you dilute to taste with soda water. This lets you make homemade sparkling water as strongly flavored, tangy, or sweet as you like. But the concentrate has many more uses. Pour a splash into iced tea or lemonade for bonus flavor, or mix it with alcohol for a craft cocktail.
Learn to make Raspberry Shrub Mocktail or Cocktail

Moroccan-Inspired Mint Tea

On May 16, 2025May 16, 2025 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn beverages, ColumnLeave a comment

My mom drinks lots of unsweetened iced tea in the summer, and there was always a jug of it in the refrigerator as I was growing up. But as I explain this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, it took a piping-hot month in Morocco for me to discover that hot tea could be as refreshing.

A blend of green tea leaves and mint creates this effect. An amino acid in green tea and the menthol in mint cause relaxing, cooling sensations, regardless of the brew’s temperature. Morocco’s indigenous mint is a spearmint variety known as nana, but the tea plant doesn’t grow in its arid climate. So it’s less of a stretch than you might think to prepare Moroccan-Inspired Mint Tea from fresh Montana-grown mint leaves on a hot summer day.
Learn to make Moroccan-Inspired Mint Tea

Grilled Tomato Bloody Mary Mix

On August 16, 2024August 15, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn beverages, ColumnLeave a comment

If you’ve been following the Twice as Tasty blog from the beginning, you might remember how the entire idea of writing a food blog started with my grilled tomato recipes, especially the bloody Mary mix recipe that I share this week column for the Flathead Beacon. The recipe has improved with every season as I fine-tuned a balance between chunky salsa in a glass and thin, overly drained juice. For a long time, I blended some tomato solids back into the juice, but this left slightly chewy bits and too many seeds. I’ve finally settled on using a large-holed colander to separate juice and solids and then pressing the result through a fine-mesh strainer to leave just the seeds behind.

This recipe has also evolved from one I jarred and sealed in a boiling water bath to one I prefer to make in batches from the freezer. The frozen juice tastes fresher, and it keeps the smoky tomato juice on hand for easy winter lunches like Tomato Juice Soup.
Learn to make Grilled Tomato Bloody Mary Mix

Homemade Shaken Eggnog

On December 28, 2023December 28, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn beverages, ColumnLeave a comment

Many cocktails have a season, with cooling beverages like mojitos in summer and rich or hot ones in winter. Eggnog has one of the shortest seasons—late October or November through the end of the year, if you’re buying it premade or seeking a house-made version at your favorite distillery or bar. Historically, it was seen as a holiday beverage because of its richness and warming spices and was sometimes even served warm. Today, manufacturers say it just doesn’t sell outside the holidays, even in regions with months of cold, snowy weather.

If you’re an eggnog fan, the best way to extend the beverage’s season is to make it yourself. But even if you only want to enjoy it on Christmas or New Year’s Eve, the main reason to whip up your own eggnog is all in the glass—a soft, rich flavor in every sip that bears little resemblance to the cloyingly sweet milkshake-style drink that comes in a carton.
Learn to make Homemade Shaken Eggnog

Norwegian-Style Gløgg

On December 29, 2022December 28, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn beverages, Column1 Comment

As many friends and family approach the end of the year with subzero nights and canceled flights, a stay-at-home New Year’s Eve sounds welcoming. Whether you’re keeping it intimate or filling the house with friends, the hot spiced wine recipe in my latest Twice as Tasty column can be casual enough for a cozy fireside chat or tasty enough for a countdown party.

Various cultures have twists on the basic idea of hot red wine in a mug. Some are simply warmed with spices, others are sweetened or boosted with stronger alcohol, and some have it all. My favorite version, the Norwegian-Style Gløgg I share in this week’s Flathead Beacon, falls into the third category, with the bonus of vodka-spiked raisins and crunchy almonds in the bottom of each cup. Fortifying the wine with spice-infused vodka and adding a bit of sugar makes it adaptable to all sorts of reds, including cheaper bottles or ones opened but then forgotten.
Learn to make Norwegian-Style Gløgg

Mega-Mint Mojito

On June 16, 2022December 28, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn beverages, ColumnLeave a comment

In my Twice as Tasty blog post and column for the Flathead Beacon last week, I shared Strawberry Shortcake with Lilac Cream, one of my favorite treats for early-summer celebrations (like Twice as Tasty’s 6th birthday!). But I must admit that I tend to drink my desserts rather than eat them. So I would include this week’s recipe on the celebration menu too. It’s sweet enough to count as dessert in my book but simple enough to mix up for a spontaneous party—especially if you have a bottle of mint simple syrup stashed in your fridge.

As I note in this week’s Twice as Tasty column, you don’t really need a recipe to make simple syrup. But if you’re a by-the-book kind of person, I break down the steps here, along with tips and tricks for keeping it light and fresh.
Learn to make Mega-Mint Mojito and simple syrups