Watermelon 2 Ways

I take absolutely no credit for these recipes.  The Watermelon Salad and Watermelon Mojito recipes are from Food Network and Martha Stewart respectively. This is about the recipes and what I learned.

A couple of weeks ago my neighbor invited us to her End-of-the-Summer BBQ party. I planned on bringing cupcakes because she and I had a conversation about them last year. When I asked her if I should bring a dessert and she said "No, there are too many desserts already."  Dang! Dessert is easy peasy. But when it comes to bringing a dish to a party I have to put a lot of thought into it. I was also unsure if we would be outside or indoors. After pouring through several magazines I came across the Watermelon Salad in the Food Network July/August issue. It looked bright and fresh. And nothing goes better with BBQ than watermelon. A few days later the host asked if someone could bring a fruit so it was a perfect choice. BTW I found out my neighbor is a great cook. She had the a lot of food and she made it all. I thought the pork & shrimp spring rolls she served were from a restaurant. I took one home and pulled it apart to examine the ingredients so I could try to make it myself.

Watermelon Salad

                                                                                                                Photograph by Antonis Achilleos

Directions

Bring 1/4 cup each sugar and water to a simmer in a saucepan. Remove from the heat, add 3 mint sprigs and steep 10 minutes. Discard the mint; add the zest and juice of 1 lemon and a pinch of salt. Toss with 2 cups blueberries and 3 cups cubed watermelon. Let stand 15 minutes. Top with chopped mint.

My Suggestions:  This is an easy recipe. However, I advise against tossing the blueberries and watermelon together. Some of the blueberries got crushed in the process. Toss each fruit with the simple syrup in separate bowls. I am also the type of person who tries to use the least amount of dishes as possible so I tossed the fruit in the glass serving dish. It made the sides of the bowl grainy and messy from the watermelon. I ended up having to use another bowl and washing another dish. So do not toss in the serving dish. The picture is also misleading. If you toss the fruit together the blueberries end up at the bottom of the bowl. Instead place the watermelon in the dish first and then put the blueberries on top. Gently shake the bowl to get the blueberries to fall between the watermelon.  If you want your salad to look like their picture save some of the lemon zest to sprinkle on top as well.

  

This is my salad. Lighting makes a huge difference between my photo and the one above. The batteries in my camera died so I had to post this pic even though it's not very good. It really did look better, I promise.

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Watermelon Mojito

Watermelon Mojito is a perfect cocktail for the summertime.

Yield: Makes 1
Ingredients

• 4 large mint leaves
• 1/2 lime
• 1 tablespoon superfine sugar
• 4 ounces seedless watermelon, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 3/4 cup), plus a small wedge for garnish
• 2 ounces white rum
• 1/2 cup ice cubes
• Directions
• In a heavy large glass, combine mint, lime, and sugar. Using a muddler, mash together mint and lime until sugar is dissolved. Add watermelon, and muddle until broken down. Stir in rum and ice cubes. Pour into an 8-ounce serving glass and garnish with a watermelon wedge. Serve immediately.

My Suggestions:  This recipe is easy too, but a blender makes it easier. I didn't have superfine sugar or rum on hand. But I did have Amaretto DiSaronno and simple syrup. (The simple syrup is 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup organic sugar.)  Simply substitute the Amaretto for the rum and the simple syrup for the superfine sugar. Assess how many drinks you want to make and adjust the ingredients accordingly. Blend all the ingredients in a blender and pour. Don't waste your time muddling. Spend your time drinking. 

These two recipes go hand in hand. They both require watermelon and mint. It also helps use all the mint if you had to buy a pack at the grocery store. I did not have any fresh mint on hand as I posted earlier that our drought conditions killed everything.  Note: I used 2 seedless watermelons for these recipes.

These recipes were shared at:
Happy Hour Projects

My Fry Day

Friday, July 8th.  I started out the day a good girl.  I drank coffee with fat free half-n-half and Truvia which is allowed on the Hcg diet. I took a shower and had a little prayer time and spoke with God about different things including the fact that my former best friend has not written me back the last 2 times I emailed her. We were estranged for 4 years and have been trying to revive the friendship albeit at a very slow pace.  I thought maybe she's sending me a message by not sending me a message.

Next I wrote down a list of places I needed to go for my errands.  I wanted to hurry because the heat has been unbearable the last few days. I went straight to the vacuum store to pick up some bags.  My next stop was Hobby Lobby to get a new paper trimmer because I finally figured out my trimmer was off by a couple of mm.  But here's where I veered off my list and I went into Mardel instead to look for t-shirts for my boys. The t-shirts were not there.  However, I found some good deals  for myself:  a leather check book cover and a silver bracelet for $10 each.

Bracelet has Corinthians 13:4 in-scripted on it.

Right next door was Hemispheres (fine furnishings). I had just heard a commercial on the radio that they were having a sale up to 50% off.  There was a possibility that I could afford something now.  No such luck - the sale was on rugs and everything else is still out my price range. But I lolled around Hemispheres because it is a whole different world in that store. This is the type of store that makes me oh! and ahh! and wish I could win the Lotto so I could buy all their furniture and bedding. As I neared the back of the store I heard the familiar sound of fountains. If you've never been to this store make sure you go to the back because they have it set up like a rich person's backyard with fountains running.  I used to take my kids there when I was feeling totally stressed.  Yes, I know it sounds ludicrous to take your young kids to a fine furnishing store, but the backyard set up was a great place for me to just sit and relax for a few minutes before I had to get up to stop my toddler from climbing into the fountain. Sometimes I could get them to sit on a swing with me for a while and listen to the sound of running water.

I finally made my way to Hobby Lobby and they were having 66% off summer stuff which made me look at stuff I wouldn't normally look at.  I was tempted to buy a giant pinwheel but I talked myself out of it. I used the 40% coupon on the paper trimmer and I got this cutest coffee cup planter for $6.40. I imagine that I will grow herbs by my window like Laura Calder but it probably won't happen because plants tend to die when I take care of them.

Cilantro after I re-potted them.  I now have dried herbs.

I looked at my watch.  Oops!  I gotta go.  On my way to Dillard's I impetuously took a turn into the Pier 1 parking lot with the excuse of looking for a birthday gift.  There I found the cutest tasting dishes.

I want to throw a tasting party just so I can used these mini plates and cups.  Again, in my imagination, I will be able to pull off cooking a variety of dishes that can be served at the same time and in miniature form. I can picture people laughing and loving the food and hear wine glasses tinkling.  Smiles, smiles, everyone. This is simply a fantasy to go along with the fountains and furniture from Hemispheres.
I found (of all things) stickers for scrap booking, but not a birthday gift. On my way to the car I looked at my phone and saw that my former bestie finally emailed me a response. It made me glad.  God is so good to me.  He knew I was feeling down and made my frown turn upside down.
Then I made my way to Dillard's for Lancome powder but I didn't read the fine print that the Gift with Purchase doesn't start until Sunday. I'll be back (in Terminator voice). When I walked out of Dillard's the heat enveloped me immediately and I was glad to have parked in the parking garage.  I got in my car and looked at the thermometer.

This is the temp in the shade.

I drove to Michael's and looked at my thermometer again and wasn't surprised to see the temperature go up now that I wasn't in the shade.

I had to take a moment to download this to Facebook.

At Michael's I bought Tim Holtz non-stick scissors using a 50% coupon. I then decided that I could not finish anymore errands because of the heat.  Oh wait! I have to go to to Costco to buy something I can eat on the Hcg diet.  I've been starving on this diet because I have nothing at home that I am allowed to eat.  Yesterday I ate lettuce and 2 slices of on-the-verge-of-smelling-bad-week-old turkey meat.  Yuck! And today at 4pm I still had not eaten anything except drank coffee.
I almost bought this scrap booking Eric Carle book at Costco because my son used to love this book. I still love it.

What made the heat so bearable while driving around town was the music they were playing on Sirius XM First Wave and 80s on 8.  They played "Black Celebration" by Depeche Mode, "Careless Whisper" by Wham!, "Kiss the Dirt" by INXS, "Hysteria" by Def Leppard, etc. These songs bring back memories to a time and space that I sometimes miss.

As soon as I got home I made my boys get off the computer and Xbox because that's all they've been doing the whole 4 hours I've been gone.  I did at-home physical therapy with my son and made him read a book.  But I did not do the eye therapy program.  I will have to make sure we do eye therapy for the next 5 days straight.

My husband came home and liked the coffee cup planter so much he is willing to go to Hobby Lobby to get the red one. But hubby isn't feeling good so he went to bed and I wasn't able to show him the goodies I bought.  I think the heat got to him.

Next day, hubby changed his mind about getting the red coffee cup planter.  If it's still there next week I might bring it home.  Hopefully, it will be 75% off.