With my computer's hard drive still in malfunction state, and months of work on the verge of being lost forever, I decided to make myself feel better with a mojito. Beer has the reputation of being a drink to drown your sorrows in, maybe in a dim bar with sad, sad music in the background. A mojito is a little sunnier, a "hey, cheer up!" kind of drink.

Incidentally, I just watched Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, about Dorothy Parker and writers of the Algonquin Round Table. Aside from the nice flapper dresses and jazz that always plays in the backdrop of everyday life, I am in love with the twenties because people didn't think anything of having a drink in the afternoon. Even with Prohibition in full swing. If you must spend your afternoon slaving away in front of a typewriter, you might as well have a cocktail to ease tension and writer's block.

I didn't have gin or scotch in my liquor cabinet, but I did have Bacardi rum. (Hell, I don't even have a liquor cabinet.) And the ripe mangos on the windowsill were just begging to be pureed and mixed into a drink. Purists may scoff at adding fruit to mojitos, but I personally love new takes on classic drinks. I'm sure if Dorothy were a working writer in 2008, she wouldn't mind a sip.

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Mango Mojito

Makes 1 drink

10 mint leaves, plus 1 nice sprig for garnish
2 ounces lime juice
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons pureed fresh mango
Crushed ice
2 ounces good quality white rum, like Bacardi's
1 lime wedge
Club soda

Muddle the mint leaves with lime and sugar in a tall glass. Stir in the mango puree. Add crushed ice and stir in the rum. Throw in a lime wedge and top off with club soda. Garnish with a mint sprig and serve.