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Cook This: Watermelon Slushy

Originally printed in the pages of Simply Family Magazine’s July 2017 issue. Never miss an issue, check out SFM’s digital editions, here!  article and photos by Carole Davenport Recently, I had the opportunity to join a Dallas girlfriend for a springtime road trip. Through wildflower-strewn Texas hill country we meandered down back roads, and stopped at every food truck we could find. We enjoyed some amazing foods, but the best of the best was the watermelon slushy I bought from a food truck at Chip and Joanna Gaines’ MAGNOLIA MARKET in Waco. Crisp flavor, refreshing coolness, and good old-fashioned watermelon-flavored delight through a straw! Mine was served in a mini seedless watermelon. It was so delicious, I couldn’t wait to get home and make my own! I hope you’ll give it a try too! It’s on my menu for a colorful red, white, and blue, 4th of July, backyard BBQ. I decided to try using a regular sized, well-chilled watermelon rather than individual, mini-sized melons because my guest list is large.

Ingredients:

  • Watermelon
  • ½ cup honey
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 2-3 tablespoons lime juice
  • Ginger ale or Rose’ wine (optional)

Directions

  1. First, stand the watermelon on the flattest, most stable end to ensure that it is balanced with no risk of tipping over. Then, take a sharp-bladed knife and cut the top off. (I wanted a hole large enough to easily insert my vintage ironstone serving ladle while I dished out the slushy into paper cups).
  1. Next, remove an inch or so of the fruit from the inside of the melon to allow for: room to work and the addition of more ingredients later. This will help keep the slushy from spilling over the edge once the immersion blender is inserted into the melon cavity.
  1. With the immersion blender on high, begin to slowly and gently pulverize the melon’s fruity inside, being careful not to cut into the rind or puncture it. Use the blender to scrape down the rounded sides, and turn the firm flesh into a mushy slush. It will take about 15 minutes for the watermelon rind bowl to be filled with juices.
  1. Finally, add ½ cup of honey into 1 cup of boiling water and stir until it is dissolved. Once cooled, add the sweetened water to the melon. You can also squeeze in a few tablespoons of lime juice to really make the watermelon flavor pop!
I kept the melon on a tray in the refrigerator until serving time. I also provided several additional flavor options such as ginger ale and Rose’ wine for my guests to add to their individual glasses in case they wanted more of a wine cooler. (This watermelon slushy is a great base for fancy cocktails too, if that’s your party style.) I found some fun, wide, paper straws for use in slurping our slushies. My watermelon punch bowl was a big hit with my party guests. I hope you and yours will find it equally delightful! about the author...Carole Davenport is a Montana travel writer photographer and content specialist on her blog https://divineviewtraveler.wordpress.com. She is co-authoring a soon-to-be-released cookbook #bitterrootfresh with her two daughters, filled with their original recipes and photographs.