Oh what that "yum" would have done to my validation-seeking heart on that day, and what it may have meant to his fans to hear it, too! It was the yum reaction not heard by hundreds of thousands of listeners of Kiro radio. Thankfully Chef Bridget Charters made her reaction twice as enthusiastic to make up for it.

All of that said, some people don't like grapefruit, and many more people can't enjoy grapefruit any longer due to medication interference. (I can't begin to understand the science but I do stand in awe that a little citrus fruit could have so much power.) This recipe is not for those people. This recipe is for the people like me, who nearly always have grapefruit peels in the driver side door of their car, and need only to hear "I'm making a pitcher of Palomas," to come speeding over. Hand to God, I'd drop just about anything to prioritize that invite.

This recipe is also for the millions of Mexican people for whom the Paloma, not the Margarita (yes, really!) is the national cocktail.

If you're not drinking Palomas yet it may be because you also grew up in a suburb with a small Mexican American population and one of the Mexican food chains with unlimited free chips and a sombrero to wear on your birthday (we never thought twice about that shared rotating hat on our heads!) And at that place, if they're on a Mexican chain restaurant menu at all, they're at the bottom of the plastic drink specials menu card and you got distracted by all the Cadillac Margs at the top. I've never gone to a Mexican restaurant that wouldn't make me a Paloma if asked, though, and I swear they respect me a little more after ordering it. I no longer know if my need for validation or this tart cocktail is the theme of this recipe post, so let's just get to the drink.

A Paloma cocktail can be made with either grapefruit juice or grapefruit soda, which as you know by now as one of my readers, is just a grapefruit syrup mixed with carbonated water. My recipe calls for fresh grapefruit juice, making this almost Greyhound/Salty Dog-like, and also carbonated water (Topo Chico if you can) and syrup- Orange Vanilla or Rhubarb Vanilla Bean is my go to, but other Simple Goodness flavors like Herb Garden and Berry Sage can be lovely as well. The salted rim is important to me, but you could add a tiny pinch of salt directly to the shaker to skip that step.

Serve these to everyone but Tom Douglas, and enjoy!

Paloma Cocktail Recipe

Makes 1

Ingredients:

• 2 cups ice
• Grapefruit juice, fresh squeezed
• Reposado Tequila- Teremana is my go-to for 100% organic agave
• Simple Goodness Orange Vanilla or Rhubarb Vanilla syrup
• Simple Goodness Floral Salt
• Seltzer- 1 to 2 ounces
• 1 lime wedge (1/6 of a cut lime)

Make it:

Combine the juice, tequila, and syrup in a cocktail shaker with 1 cups of ice. Cap and shake until cold, about 10 seconds. Rim a rocks glass with Spicy Floral Salt, using a wedge of lime to wet the side of the glass, then dipping the glass gently into a shallow dish of the salt. Add ice to fill the rocks glass, then strain in the cocktail. Top with the seltzer and stir once or twice gently. Finish with a squeeze of lime, and drop it in.