Goodbye summer vacation, hello break of dawn.  The end of lazy mornings and fun in the sun has turned into waking before dawn to drag sleepy children from their beds and time spent on math, science and social studies.

The good?  Being able to grocery shop in peace, having time to run all my errands, and the house staying clean for more than five minutes.  The bad?  See above, in addition to the fact that the beginning of every school year makes me more aware of how each year means they are growing a little older and a little farther away.  Bittersweet.

Since I celebrated the beginning of summer vacation with a cocktail, I thought it fitting that I end it that way.  This refreshing tropical cocktail from Ina’s most recent cookbook, Back to Basics, makes it a tiny bit easier to face the end of summer vacation.  A Barefoot Bloggers pick-of-the-month from Veronica of Supermarket Serenade that combines mango, banana, lime juice and dark rum into a fun twist on the daiquiri.  The dark rum especially gives it that Caribbean taste that puts it over the top.  A perfect escape.

Mango Banana Daiquiris

from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics by Ina Garten

serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped ripe mango (1 to 2 mangoes, peeled and seeded)
• 1 ripe banana, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (about 4 limes)
• 1/4 cup sugar syrup*
• 1 1/4 cups dark rum, such as Mount Gay
• Mango slices, for serving

Place the mango, banana,  lime juice, sugar syrup, and rum in a blender and process until smooth.  Add 2 cups of ice and process again until smooth and thick.  Serve ice-cold in highball glasses with the mango slices.

*To make simple syrup, heat 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water in a small saucepan until the sugar dissolves.  Chill.