Cool Watermelon - How I Love Thee!

It's HOT!

I know I've lived in the South my whole life, and therefore should be used to the RIDICULOUSNESS that is July (and August) in Georgia; but it still gets me every time.

I should really move to a colder climate.

In lieu of packing up and moving all my earthly possessions to Antarctica, I bring you instead this refreshing summer "mock"tail (I hate that term, but can't think of another way to say it just now).

There's nothing more refreshing when it's super hot outside than crisp juicy watermelon.  That's exactly what I was looking for when I opened my fridge yesterday.  I had cut up a large watermelon earlier in the week, and we had been eating bits of it every day.  Yesterday, though, it had gotten pushed to the back of the fridge, and most of it had frozen.  As you probably know, when fruit freezes, its cellular structure becomes somewhat compromised (i.e. mushy and watery).  So much for crisp and refreshing.

I decided instead to puree the watermelon in my blender.  I put it in, seeds and all (even though it was a seedless watermelon, it still had those tiny little white seeds) and whirred it to a pulp.  Since watermelon is mostly water (and aptly named at that), it didn't take much more than a couple of good pulses to reduce it to a lovely reddish pink liquid.

I ran it through a fine mesh strainer to removed any of the seeds and to refine the pulp a bit.  I think I was finally left with about 8 cups of liquid.  To this I added a simple syrup made up of 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of lemon juice.  This served to slightly sweeten the juice, and to add just a bit of acidity. 

The end result was a mild, refreshing watermelon juice that was just the ticket on a 95+ degree day.  For a bit of fizz, I mxed it half-and-half with some citrus soda (Sprite, Fresca, Fanta Lemonade, etc.), which was delightful.  

If you wanted to make a more "adult" beverage out of it, you could mix it with a bit of rum and lime simple syrup for a watermelon daiquiri.  Or tequila and lime syrup for a watermelon margarita.  Or muddle it with some mint and lime simple syrup and top it with rum for a watermelon mojito.  The possibilities are truly endless.  And delicious. And inebriating.

Enjoy (responsibly)!