Wonderful Watermelon Cooler

Watermelons, while great for snacking, also make a fantastic beverage. Especially when it contains vodka...or rum...or tequila. Because they are so very watery (they are called watermelon after all), it's extraordinarily easy to drinkify them. A simple blitz in the blender will do, though I also like to strain out any rogue seeds and pulp. Add a few extra ingredients for flavor and you've got summer in a glass (or two...or twenty). There is so much juice in a single watermelon, you can make enough of this cooler to quench the thirst of all the adults at your next barbecue or picnic. (Or in my case, I used it to bribe the ladies in the front office of the orthodontist so they forgot to charge me the missed appointment fee when I accidentally missed my son's appointment because I haven't wrapped my head around the fact that I am no longer on a 2 month vacation and I actually have a life to live and things to do and a calendar to keep. And for the record, I think my evil plan worked....).







Watermelon Cooler

Try this most refreshing beverage at your next barbecue or picnic. Leave out the alcohol to make a kid-friendly version that tastes just as good...well, almost as good.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 15 minutes, plus one hour chill time
Yield: serves 12

Ingredients:

1 large watermelon (about 8 pounds)
2 cups vodka or white rum
1/2 cup lime juice
1/2 cup sugar (superfine is best)
10 mint leaves
Seltzer water or club soda

Preparation:

1. Remove rind from watermelon, cut the flesh into cubes and puree using a blender. Strain watermelon puree through a very fine mesh sieve into a large pitcher, discarding solids. You should end up with about 6 cups of watermelon juice.

2. Stir in vodka or rum, lime juice and sugar. Bruise mint leaves by squeezing them with your fingers, then add to the pitcher.

3. Refrigerate the mixture for about one hour, for the flavors to meld. Stir again then serve over ice with a splash of club soda, garnished with a slice of lime or watermelon.

Lush-ous Limoncello

Lest you think I'm a lush for all the alcohol-laden recipes I've been posting lately, it really isn't so...But I did promise you that I would post about how to make homemade limoncello, that beverage famous for making a fool out of Danny DeVito on The View some time ago. Evidently, he had been sipping it all night with his good pal George Clooney, and didn't have the good sense to sober-up before hand.

Produced in southern Italy, it is served mainly after dinner as a digestivo. Made from alcohol, lemon peel and sugar, it is so simple to make at home, and homemade limoncello often has a much more lemony flavor than what is sold in the market. It can be sipped on its own or mixed into delicious Lemon Drop Martinis, but it can also be used in recipes both sweet and savory. Giada de Laurentis has a fabulous Limoncello Cheesecake recipe, and Mario Batali uses it to marinate shrimp. I doubled the recipe and plan to give it as Christmas gifts, bottling it into small rubber stopped bottles I found at World Market. I will add a few recipes for my friends to try...that is if they don't drink it all first! The time to make this is now, so it will be ready to give in time for the holidays.

Limoncello

1 bottle of quality vodka

10 lemons

3 1/2 C water

2 1/2 C sugar

Peel lemons carefully, removing any white pith stuck on peel with a sharp knife. Pour vodka into a large glass container and drop in peel. Cover tightly with plastic (or use a large jar with a rubber sealed glass top) and let sit in a cool place for 10 days, swirling the jar every day. On the 10th day, make a simple syrup out of the sugar and water (bring sugar and water to a boil until sugar dissolves). Allow the simple syrup to cool completely then pour in into the vodka mixture and let sit overnight. Strain out the lemon peel and decant into smaller bottles if desired. Store for up to 1 month in the fridge.

Love in a Cup

Bleary eyed, I stagger into the kitchen much later than I should on a typical morning. I am NOT a morning person...never have been. My husband and children know this about me and try their best to ease me into my day, or else face dire consequences. As a result, I have two older children who set their alarms and know how to make their own toast for breakfast, and a husband who understands that a major priority is to make coffee, and quick!

Since springing into action is not my idea of a good time, I usually pad around, half asleep, with brush in one hand and coffee in the other, trying my best to help my children at least look half presentable. Sandwiches made, hair combed, teeth brushed, backpacks packed, hugs and kisses at the door...then peace at last.

I sit down to enjoy my splendid cup of Joe and the morning paper. Subtly spiced in the colder months with cinnamon, cloves and black pepper, and always topped with steamed milk, this will surely get me going....eventually.

Winter Spiced Coffee

1 T (organic, free trade, shade grown) coffee beans per cup of coffee (we usually make 7-8)

2 whole cloves

1/2 cinnamon stick, broken up

4 peppercorns

milk

Grind all of the ingredients in a coffee grinder until finely ground. Brew according to coffee pot manufacturer's directions. At the very least, if you are adding milk, heat it up. Even better is to buy a little milk frother from William's Sonoma and froth warm milk before adding it to the coffee. It tastes better and fresher than anything you can pay for at a local coffee house. And costs a heap less too!