Licuado de Melon – Refreshing Watermelon Drink

It’s summer and time to enjoy the delicious taste of watermelon.  Looks like this summer is going to be a super hot one.  This watermelon drink is super refreshing and so easy to make.  You can make it the day before.  Serve chilled.  Thanks Céire!

• 1 small watermelon or half of a large one
• juice of 2-3 limes or more to taste, make sure to have some of the lime pulp
• about 1/4 cup honey, to sweeten
• up to 4 cups of chilled water

Cut the watermelon into chunks, discarding seeds.  Place chunks in a large sieve, over a bowl, and use a wooden spoon to press/mash fruit, extracting the juice.  Stir in the lime juice and sweeten with honey.  Serve chilled.

Mama’s Homemade Lemonade

I remember the first time I helped my Mama make lemonade.  First you should know, my Mama prepared 3 meals a day, set the table for each meal and the family ate together at the table.  She also squeezed fresh orange juice for our breakfast.  Need I say………Awesome Mom!  So, one hot Louisiana summer day were going to make homemade lemonade.  I remember saying, “That’s going to take a lot of lemons!”  I thought you would make it like orange juice….wouldn’t that have been tart!  We laughed and laughed  that day.  Those are the sweet memories you keep forever.  So on this Mother’s day weekend, I’m making homemade lemonade and thinking of my sweet Mama. 

1 cup sugar and 1 cup water:  Prepare a simple sugar syrup by heating sugar and water in a small pan. Continue to heat, till the sugar is dissolved completely. 

4 – 6  Lemons – (about 1 cup of juice)

4 cups cold water

While the sugar dissolves, extract lemon juice from 4 to 6 lemons.  You can use a juicer, but I use a use a wooden citrus reamer. Now mix the lemon juice and the simple syrup in a jar or pitcher. Add 4 cups of cold water. 

That’s it – very simple.   This makes a little over 1 quart of lemonade.  You could double the recipe easily.  I usually pour my lemonade into an old mason jar with a clamp closure – it looks vintage, keeps the lemonade very cold, and fits well in the refrigerator door.  A really neat idea – if you are having a few people over for a crawfish boil, cookout, etc., you could put your lemonade in individual mason jars with lids and keep them in a bucket of ice.