As we gear up to bid farewell to our favorite season, I've been trying to squeeze in as much of these last "summer" joys as possible. Taking full advantage of what few remaining pool days, and fresh fruit salads, and BBQ tacos and drive in movie dates might be left to soak up before we shift into Fall.
A few weeks ago, at the beach with Kate I was introduced by her sweet friend to this water concoction made of boiled watermelon and mint that I was left craving for days after. Luckily I got my hands on this simple recipe thanks to Kate and spent a morning filling up two pitchers for our family to enjoy during the peak of a recently sweltering weekend. The boys loved it and the baby was a big fan too.
With a special perk being how incredibly well it pairs up with vodka. We spiked the last of what we had in the fridge by adding a splash of Titos, sparkling water and a little grapefruit juice for a refreshingly tart, semi sweet Sunday evening cocktail. It was fabulous, and highly recommended for anyone else with a creeping case of the "so long summer time" blues who might need a farewell season spritzer to lean on in the coming weeks.
3 cups of water
1/2 cup of raw honey
1 small bunch of mint
1 small seedless watermelon peeled and cubed
Combine the water, honey and mint in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Pull out the mint and discard once it comes to boil otherwise the syrup will go bitter. Let the syrup cool to room temperature.
While the syrup is cooling, puree the watermelon in batches, in a food processor or blender (I used a blender) then pass the mixture through a fine mesh strainer and discard the contents of the strainer (I skipped this step and it ended up just fine) combine the watermelon juice and the honey syrup in a pitcher, stir, serve over ice and enjoy.
*Stays fresh in the fridge for up to a day. I also squeezed in some fresh lime with each pouring because, well ... a little added lime never hurts.
