Saturday, August 28, 2010

Watermelon juice & cubes

Had a large very ripe watermelon; wondering what to do with it. After we bought it the weather turned colder and rainy - no one wanted to eat watermelon anymore. It was a sort of sad reminder of summer passed.

This morning I noticed a sand dollar sized mold spot; I swooped it out of the way before they could notice.

I knew I had to act fast; once kids see mold the deal's off. I remember as a kid, my mother telling me "it's fine; just cut the mouldy part off" but I would have none of that; mould was horrific.

So this morning we had watermelon slices (cut from the other hemisphere) for breakfast, and I threw the rest of the flesh in the magic bullet. I strained the result and kept the juice. The pulp I threw on my sunflowers.

The juice was really good but very strong in flavor. One taster, whose tastebuds seem more sensitive than the rest of us, said she wasn't even sure how to react.

We refrigerated the juice. It's better cold and even better over many ice cubes; as they melt they dilute the flavor.

I made watermelon-cubes. I bet they'd be great with soda in an ice-cream float or just in lemonade or sprite. Also good in mango or calamansi juice. But the very best thing would be vodka over watermelon cubes. What an amazing afternoon cocktail! Add a shot of gin...