Jesus loves winners

From swimsuit competitions to talent demonstrations, we are all well-versed with the traditions of the American beauty pageants. Women (as well as teens, girls, toddlers, and even babies) are compared and judged, the winner sometimes receiving recognition and prizes, with the most desired award being the ever-coveted “title.” The origins of modern pageants date back to none other than P.T. Barnum, who, according to the PBS American Experience, combined “lowbrow entertainment with the appeal of highbrow culture.” Movies have long since parodied the contests, but one of the best remains the 1999 film “Drop Dead Gorgeous.”

Set in the fictional town of Mount Rose, Minnesota, the film tells the story of a small community teen beauty pageant that pits one girl against another in hope of becoming the one to represent Mount Rose at the state level in the Sarah Rose Cosmetics Teen America Beauty Pageant. Gladys Leeman (Kirstie Alley) is a former contest winner and head of the pageant organizing committee for Mount Rose and will stop at nothing to ensure that her daughter Becky (Denise Richards) is crowned. However, Amber Atkins (Kirsten Dunst) brings real competition for the Leemans, and the contest takes a dark, but hilarious turn. So if you are into tiaras, eating disorders, and deadly serious talent competitions, you’ve come to the right place. This film has everything; guns, jocks, tap dancing in a morgue, a hand fused to a beer can… and of course murder - all punctuated with that quintessential Minnesota accent.

Our cocktail is inspired by the Sarah Rose Cosmetics State Pageant representative Colleen Douglas (Nora Dunn), who enjoys a margarita poolside at the pageant hotel. We call it the Mount Rose Margarita, and to glitz it up we included fresh raspberries and cilantro, which gives it just the right flavor to bring out your inner beauty.

“I can sum up our entire philosophy with this glass. I can look at it and say it's half-full, which in the beauty pageant biz means ‘where the hell's my waiter?’" - Colleen Douglas, State Pageant

Mount Rose Margarita

Ingredients:

2 oz tequila blanco

.5 oz raspberry syrup

.5 oz Cointreau

.5 oz fresh lime juice

Fresh raspberries

Cilantro

Instructions:

1. Muddle 4-5 raspberries with a few sprigs of cilantro and the lime juice and raspberry syrup in the bottom of a cocktail shaker.

2. Add the Cointreau, and tequila then fill with ice and shake for 20 seconds.

3. Double strain into an ice-filled margarita glass. Garnish with raspberries and cilantro.