I think February is a brighter month than we give her credit for. The days are noticeably longer than they were in January (that 40 minutes makes a big difference).  My town in central Massachusetts got over 40″ of snow in the last couple weeks (and more to come) so the land is under a very thick layer of white. When the skies take a break from snowing and the sun does shine, it reflects blindingly off the snow (especially when you work in a barn surrounded by 8 acres of snow). And then there is the citrus. Beyond storage apples there are slim pickings for local fruit around these parts now, but the citrus is coming in hot. Clementines, oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, blood oranges, tangelos in mountainous displays. They are plenty brightening alone, but even more spirited served like this.

February Light – Citrus Cocktail

Makes 2 short drinks

I used a combination of grapefruit and clementine, but whatever citrus or combination would work. If you like a really spicy cocktail even more ginger could be added, or leave it out entirely if you are looking for something sweeter. Don’t bother with bottled juice, the taste is vastly inferior.

• 1 grapefruit
• 1 clementine (yes, there are two pictured above, but I ended up with more juice than I needed)
• 1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled
• 2 shots vodka
• 1 shot triple sec
• Ice

Juice the grapefruit and the clementine. Strain the juice to remove the pulp. Slice the ginger into 2 pieces and place each piece in the bottom of an old fashioned glass. Using a muddler or a wooden spoon, mash the ginger up a bit (but try not to make a ton of tiny pieces). Measure 1 shot of vodka and half a shot of triple sec into each glass.  Finish with 2 shots of the freshly squeezed juice in each glass. Stir to combine and add ice (I love giant cocktail ice cubes, but regular ice, icicles, or whatever else you have will work).