Tequila by the Slice

A fellow baseball mom shared a recipe for this handheld cocktail in the middle of our summer season. So, so glad she did!

These adult "drinks" are light and refreshing on a hot day. Since I'm on vacation this week, they are top of mind (again!)

One tip: If you bring these to a gathering or party where children will be present, be sure to have some slices for the kids, too. This way you can avoid a little one taking a bite of "grown-up watermelon."

Another option: A friend added a drizzle of basil simple syrup when she recently served these. Also very yummy.

If you don't use a whole watermelon when you make this, you can use the rest for some delicious Watermelon Raspberry Rum Punch.

Mangia! Mangia!
Andrea

Tequila by the Slice
Inspired by KitchenFunWithMyThreeSons.com

1 seedless watermelon, quartered
Silver tequila
2-3 fresh limes, sliced
Coarse salt for topping

*Note: It is best to add the lime juice and salt right before you eat the watermelon slices. Doing so in advance makes the watermelon too salty.

Slice each watermelon quarter into 1-inch triangles. If you like, cut each piece in half to get smaller triangles.

Place watermelon slices on a large cookie sheet.

(Please pardon the drywall. Kitchen still a work in progress!)

Splash each slice with some tequila. Eyeball it. I used about 1/3 a bottle of tequila for a medium sized watermelon. Let sit 15 minutes. Turn over each slice and soak for another 15 minutes.

Serve each piece with a lime slice and some coarse salt.

To enjoy, drizzle with lime juice, sprinkle with salt and repeat!

Grilled Pineapple & Watermelon Salad

I do love to grill and to me, there is nothing tastier than grilled fruit.

With pineapples and watermelon in season, I figured why not? 

Watermelon firms up over the flames and gains a mellow flavor. The pineapple becomes caramelized and even juicier.

The result was so tasty I ate nearly half the bowl myself. This smoky sweet side dish is a great partner to some spicy blackened grilled chicken. 

The next time you fire up the grill, give this a try.

Mangia! Mangia!

Andrea

Grilled Pineapple & Watermelon Salad

1/4 cup olive oil 

1 small pineapple, outer skin removed, cored and quartered

5 thick watermelon slices, cut from 1/4 of a large melon

1 bunch green onions, trimmed

1-2 teaspoons fresh basil, chopped

Heat grill to medium. Brush both sides of each piece of fruit with olive oil. Brush green onions, too.

Place each piece of pineapple and watermelon on grill. Place onions perpendicular to the grill grates.

Cook for 2 minutes or until nice char marks appear. Remove green onions and set aside to cool. Lower heat if fruit starts to burn. 

Turn over fruit and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more. 

Remove fruit and let cool until you can handle it. Cut off watermelon rind. Dice watermelon, pineapple and green onions into bite-sized pieces. 

Toss fruit and onions in medium bowl. Sprinkle with fresh basil. Serve warm or cold.

Beat-the-Heat July 4th menu

A couple weeks ago a friend messaged me for July 4 menu ideas that were easy to make, didn't need the oven and would work well for feeding a crowd.

That got us thinking. Amy, Erin and I put our heads together and came up with some suggestions.

These recipes should satisfy your guests, earn you some rave reviews and keep your house cool so you can beat the heat and spend more time celebrating summer and our nation's independence. Happy July 4th to you and yours!

Mangia! Mangia!
Andrea

Main Dishes:

Brats! They're so Midwest. You can boil them in beer ahead of time and grill them last minute.

Turkey Feta Spinach Burgers. Change up the usual burger fare with these super-tasty gems.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork – 2 ways.If you have time to apply a rub and let your pork sit in the fridge overnight, tryNorth Carolina Pulled Pork in the slow cooker. If you want an even easier but just as tasty version, use a bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce and get cooking with this recipe!

Side Dishes:

Greek Quinoa Salad stays fresh in the fridge. It's a very complimentary side for grilled meat or a stand-in main dish for when your cousin's vegetarian girlfriend shows up unexpectedly.

Summer Salad with Berry Vinaigrette. Erin figured out a way to bottle summer with this recipe! 

Dessert & a Cocktail: 

Popcorn Marshmallow Bars. Get patriotic and add red, white and blue M&Ms to these treats.

Watermelon Raspberry Rum Punch. Grown-ups need a treat, too. This cocktail is refreshing, slightly sweet and oh so yummy.

Watermelon Pizza

We had friends over for dinner last week. The moms and four girls went to the pool first. Between pool time and it being nearly 100 degrees out, my goal was to keep it easy and to turn up the heat as little possible in the kitchen. So, Jeff smoked a beautiful salmon. I threw together a salad and pulled out the pasta salad I'd made the night before. For dessert, I thought it would be fun for Lucy and Penny and their friends Hannah and Sophie to make the watermelon pizza I'd seen in my latest Good Housekeeping magazine.

Aren't they all adorbs?

From left to right: Penny, Hannah, Lucy and Sophie hard at work making watermelon pizzas.

The girls loved making their "pizzas," but didn't love eating them so much. The "sauce" — made of cream cheese, ricotta and honey — was weird and I tended to agree. But they liked the berries and the watermelon itself, of course. In the future, I'd turn this into a fruit salad, cutting the watermelon into bite-sized chunks and mixing in the berries and a little mint. I bet they'd gobble it up.

Still, it was fun to watch and a great way to get kids involved in the kitchen.

XOXO,
Amy

Watermelon Pizza
Adapted from Good Housekeeping

1 seedless watermelon, cut into four rounds
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
16 ounces ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons honey
Couple handfuls of coconut, toasted
Variety of berries of your choosing -- blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries
Kiwi, optional but could serve as your "pepperoni"
1 bunch of mint, roughly chopped

Mix cream cheese, ricotta and honey together. Spread this "sauce" on your watermelon rounds. Next, sprinkle toasted coconut and top with berries and fruit. Sprinkle chopped mint.

Cut each round into quarters. Enjoy!

Watermelon Raspberry Rum Punch

When you are a mom of school-age kids, the end of summer is bittersweet. The start of school means an end to constant sibling arguing (yay!) and a return to hectic days ruled by schedules, homework, sports practices and lunch making (boo.)

All of this is worth celebrating.

Enter the Watermelon Raspberry Rum Punch. This fruity and frothy cocktail goes down easy.

It's the perfect drink to sip by the pool with a few other mom friends as you savor those last few days of summer break — or to celebrate the first few days of school and (at least for me) a chance to reclaim the house.

Mangia! Mangia!
Andrea

Watermelon Raspberry Rum Punch 

6 cups seedless watermelon, cubed
1 pint ripe raspberries
Juice of 1 lemon (or about 2 tablespoons lemon juice)
1 cup light rum or lemon or citrus-flavored rum
1 to 2 tablespoons sugar or splenda (optional)

Place all ingredients in blender. Blend or pulse until smooth.

Pour through strainer. Serve over ice with a garnish of small watermelon slices or a few raspberries. Drink and enjoy with friends.

Watermelon Lime Salad

We eat lots of watermelon in the summer. If I let him, my Sam would eat nothing else.

I decided to try using it in a salad thanks to all the magazines I see featuring the bright red fruit as the starring ingredient.

This side features what I had in the fridge the day I made it. I meant to add feta cheese to the recipe, but completely forgot about it. The kids were hungry and kept asking when we were going to eat, and I was rushing to get dinner on the table.

Turns out it tasted perfectly yummy. I added feta when I had leftovers for lunch the next day and yum! That was tasty, too.

Mangia! Mangia!
Andrea

Watermelon Lime Salad
Inspired by the many magazines delivered to my home

6 to 8 cups cubed seedless watermelon
1/2 a large red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
Zest and juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon ground black pepper, more to taste
Optional: Feta cheese, chopped chives, cold cooked shrimp

Place all ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine. Serve right away or let salad chill for bit in the fridge first.

You can turn this salad into a main dish by adding feta cheese and chilled cooked shrimp and serving it over mixed greens. No need to add any dressing.