This week was my turn to host Project Pastry Queen. Its hard choosing a recipe from a cookbook where every recipe looks and sounds fantastic, especially as we continue to try more recipes and learn that Rebecca’s recipes are in fact just as tasty as they look and sound! There are some caramel brownies in the cookbook that I am dying to make but the end of summer is approaching (wishful thinking?), so I decided to make a practical recipe choice — Watermelon Lemonade. Locating watermelon in a few months will be tricky so I figured now would be a good time to try this one out!

I honestly didn’t read the recipe until after I picked it out. I assumed there would be watermelon puree but there’s not. Its basically a regular lemonade recipe with lots of chunks of fruit although the watermelon does break down the longer it sits! I served it immediately and ended up loading up my glass with at least 1/2 cup of watermelon and eating/sipping my lemonade with a spoon! Its delicious… a perfect summer beverage!!

Watermelon Lemonade
Yields: 12 servings

Sugar Syrup:
2 cups water
2 cups sugar

Lemonade:
2 cups water
2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
4 cups ice cubes
2 cups diced watermelon
Mixed diced fruit of your choice (such as apples, pears or strawberries)
1 orange, preferably organic, sliced into rounds
1 lemon, preferably organic, sliced into rounds
1 lime, preferably organic, sliced into rounds

To make sugar syrup: Combine the water and sugar in a medium saucepan. Turn the heat to medium-high and boil for 10 minutes. If you are planning to make the lemonade immediately, place 2 cups of the sugar water in the freezer or refrigerator while you do the rest of the prep. (The recipe makes about 2 cups syrup. When stored in a tightly sealed glass jar, sugar syrup keeps indefinitely in the refrigerator).

To make the lemonade: Mix 2 cups of sugar syrup, watermelon, lemon juice, and lime juice in a big bowl or pitcher. Add the ice cubes, diced watermelon and other fruit. Add the orange, lemon, and lime rounds. Stir well and chill until icy cold.

Source: The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather

This is a LONG over due post. Back in oh February(?) I was approached by the folks at POM Wonderful to see if I’d be interested in trying out a sample of their Pomegranate juice. Who says no to free samples?? I’m always up for trying new things although I haven’t actually blogged about any of them to date. A few days later an entire case of POM showed up on my doorstep!

I’d heard before that pomegranate juice is good for you but had no idea just how good it was for you until I read all about it in the flier they sent me along with my fabulous bottles of POM juice. Check it out for yourself on their website. It really is super juice!

So I had these grand ideas to make a bunch of different recipes with the POM juice and do a whole series on Pomegranate juice since they sent me a whole case of the stuff! The husband had a different idea though… before I knew it, he’d consumed almost the entire I case! I had one lone bottle left! haha. Is that an endorsement or what?

POM Fizz

8 oz Pomegranate Juice
2 cans (24 oz) of Lemon-Lime Soda
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
Crushed Ice

Combine juices & soda in a pitcher. Stir. Serve over crushed ice. Serves 4.