I’ve got a good thing goin’ with my kid right now. She’s in a melon phase. She is so enamored with watermelon, that she recognizes it in its cartoon form in books, and begs for it at the grocery store. I buy 2 melons every week, and split them with her. One half of the melon gets scooped into tiny balls using a melon baller…(I only have one kid, so I HAVE TIME FOR THESE THINGS). The other half of the melon is all for me.
I’ve actually started a little thing with her, for better or worse. Are you ready to judge me? Camille is in the kitchen with me constantly. She has a few drawers that she likes to dig through, and she loves to stack up all of the sprinkle jars (and subsequently knock them over right as I step backwards with a hot cake coming from the oven, but: details!). Whenever I open the fridge, she comes running. I filled the bottom drawer of the fridge with cubed watermelon, cantaloupe and lightly-pickled cucumbers. She helps herself at all hours of the day.
Part of me loves that she’s feeding herself (independent woman!), but part of me knows that those two huge handfuls of watermelon right before dinner aren’t doing her any favors. What are your thoughts on my parenting strategy here? I would ask on facebook, but it appears it’s not acceptable to post such things during this season of politicking.
So, back to me. I’ve really been enjoying the other half of her melons. I’ve been pureeing watermelon with lime and mint. I’ve also been sipping cantaloupe-milk smoothies. I know that sounds a bit weird, but when I lived in Costa Rica, cantaloupe + milk quickly became one of my favorite juices. But when I stumbled upon this combination of frozen melon + salt, I stuck the landing like Simone Biles.
Does the salt sound weird here in this drink? It’s perfectly natural to me; I grew up salting my watermelon right alongside my Mama. And my Dad puts salt and pepper on his cantaloupe, so there’s that.
I was going to list a few types of booze I like to tip into this slush when it comes out of the blender, but the list quickly grew into my entire bar. There’s hardly a bottle not welcome here. Rum for sweetness, vodka to get the job done, gin for an herbal kick, whiskey for living life, yougetthepicture.
Switch up the melon type, add different herbs to the simple syrup, and get heavy-handed with the booze. The last few weeks of summer are upon us!
I was inspired to whip up a drink to celebrate summer because my sweet friend Sherrie is hosting a party today called #DrinkTheSummer. A group of women with incredible taste came up with some delicious-sounding drinks, and you would be wise to check them out and get yourself lit before pumpkin season starts. I’ll post all the links below the recipe.
Save RecipeIngredients
- 2 pounds cubed cantaloupe
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 small bunch mint
- 1 lime, juiced
- big pinch of salt (to taste, really..as salty as you can handle it)
- 3 shots alcohol (I used vodka this time)
Instructions
- Place the cantaloupe on a wax paper-lined baking sheet and freeze for 1-2 hours.
- Meanwhile, combine the sugar with 1/4 cup water and the mint in a small saucepan, and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. The syrup will turn a light green color because of the mint.
- Strain the syrup and discard the mint.
- When ready to serve, add the simple syrup, lime juice, salt, alcohol and cantaloupe to a high-speed blender. Puree until slushy!
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