The 4th of July In Which We Celebrate Great Britain and Walmart

It's high time for flag-waving and patriotic singing and chanting...because it's Independence Day holiday weekend, and you know what else that means.

1. Cookouts.
2. Fireworks.
3. Drinking (for some of course, not all).

These three things are in no order of importance, and depending on who you're talking to, one activity may take great precedence over the other two.  Some choose to celebrate our birthday by drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon and Budweiser, some choose to celebrate it by roasting hot dogs and hamburgers, and some choose to celebrate it by shooting off bottle rockets without their parents' permission...

That last one? That was my husband, mid-1980s, and yes, he burned himself badly.  He did not tell his parents and tried to soothe the burn with a milkshake from Burger King.  They eventually found out and yes, he got in trouble.  That, too, is what the Fourth is all about...doing things with your cousins/siblings/grandparents that your parents would NEVER give permission for.  Looks like I should edit the above list.

1. Cookouts.
2. Fireworks.
3. Drinking.
4. Getting into trouble with family members that were NOT your parents.

So. Let's get to the point of this post.

I don't usually celebrate Walmart.  In any form, on any holiday.  But, on a shopping excursion there recently, my niece showed me this:

I love pineapple and I love coconut. And I love them together as well.  This was a beverage that was too too hard for me to pass up.  Zero calories, also?!  Now, that is a bee-you-ti-ful thing.  Yes, I know, probably chockablock full of preservatives and chemicals that are really bad for me...but let's let that slide for right now.  It's America's birthday.

By itself, this is a nice, refreshing, tropical beverage.  But...as you should know by now, I have a hard time leaving any thing by itself.

So, here's my birthday gift to you, America!

I first attempted to mix the flavored water with a rogue bottle of ginger schnapps I purchased some time ago.  The schnapps were too syrupy, which made the drink too sweet, overall.  Then, I developed this concoction:

2 oz gin
Splash lime juice
Pineapple-coconut flavored water (fill the rest of the glass...adjust of course, depending on the size of glass)

I'd have garnished it with a lime wedge, but then I would have had to cut them.  Ain't nobody got time for that right now!

For me personally, this drink is delicious.  I'm already a fan of the floral notes of the gin (originated in England, so hurrah, Britain!), and the carbonated flavored water as a tonic replacement gave the drink a nice, fruity tropical twist.  The lime juice is a personal thing, as I simply like the lime tang.

So, there are you are.  When everyone else around you is guzzling Coors Light, Busch Light, and Lime-A-Ritas***...make one of these.  If anyone gives you a hard time about being un-American whilst you're drinking these, remind them that the pineapple-coconut water comes Walmart, and Sam Walton is about as American as it gets.  And not only that, but gin was birthed in England, a country we had to fight for our independence and is hence the whole reason we are celebrating this holiday at all!

Okay?

***The author of 'Be Food' would like her readers to know what she is not against PBR, Budweiser, Coors Light, Busch Light, or Lime-A-Ritas, per se.  She is simply employing an oft-used archetype for humor's sake.  Carry on.