Monday, August 13, 2018

Lime-Scented Watermelon Juice

When my friend Ali was sick, she got on this crazy watermelon kick that was a little mystifying to me at the time. "What can I bring you?" you'd ask over the phone, and she rattle off some things and then say, "Did I already say watermelon chunks?" and you'd say, "You did." And then she'd lower her voice, like when your great aunt used to ask if this or that person was *gay*, and she'd say almost in a whisper, "Did I already say watermelon juice?" And you'd laugh and whisper back, "You did." When you brought her the watermelon, she would eat it in the style of a person in a movie about drug addicts shooting up: the frantic opening of the container, the shaky shoving of cubes into her mouth, the slumping over in relief, the sleeping of it off afterwards.

+ ice, and that's it
We theorized that it was the potassium she was craving, and maybe it was. And maybe it is the potassium that I am craving now, but I really can't say because when I drink this watermelon juice, I think of the word elixir. It is, very frequently, the only thing I can imagine eating, even though I do understand that "eating" is not really the proper description of sucking it down.

A watermelon lover.
It's cold and delicious and perfectly quenching and I feel great during and after the guzzling of vast quantities of it. Plus, it's dead simple, and you can even make it in a shitty blender without too much trouble, which I found out in our eensy Wellfleet rental, where I made lots of it.

College-bound! But first. . . the eensy Wellfleet rental. 
Please make watermelon juice. I'm sure it would be an incredible base for a cocktail, too, but as it is, it's like some kind of magical soul refresher. Which you need if it's a bazillion degrees out every second and you're busy pretending that your beloved (watermelon-hating) kid isn't about to leave home.


P.S. Do you need a great book for the end of summer? I cannot recommend this enough. I loved it.

Lime-Scented Watermelon Juice
We've been making this with and without a small handful of fresh mint leaves, but I think we've concluded that it's better without. You should try it both ways, though. This makes about 4 normal-sized servings, or 1 serving for a giant who is fee-fi-fo-fumming around demanding watermelon juice.

Ingredients
Enough seedless watermelon chunks to fill your blender, around 1/4 of a melon (if you've got a powerful blender, feel free to use a watermelon with seeds, which add tons of nutrients)
The juice and grated zest of 1/2 a lime
A large handful of ice cubes

Put the melon and lime juice and zest in the blender and blend a little to lower the volume (you may need to tamp the fruit down and/or add a splash of water to get it started). Once there's room, add the ice and blend until smooth. Guzzle.

19 comments:

  1. Where is Ben going to school (if you care to share)? I, too, have a man-child leaving for college (the one I was pregnant with when I first found your journal on BabyCenter), and he's moving moving to Texas this weekend. As in, not just going to college; moving to Texas. From Virginia. I'm in complete denial about the whole thing.

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  2. THE HAMILTON SHIRT!!!! (and thanks for the watermelon recipe) But THE HAMILTON SHIRT! I so love, that someone in your family, loves Ham enough to get a shirt. Are you all singing it constantly? I won't be cheesy and all a song lyric right here, you've heard them all. xo Love to you all. Hang in there if Ben has all ready left or is leaving within the next two week.

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  3. I moved my first baby into her dorm this weekend. Thank god she's still in the same town as me, though. Good luck, and thanks for this watermelon juice recipe! Sounds delicious.

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  4. Add some mint leaves to the blender. You're welcome.

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  5. We LOVE watermelon juice. We like the mint sometimes, and we also like it with basil or with cilantro! I just finished reading My Grandmother Told Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman. It seems like the kind of book you'd like (a bit of fairy tales, a bit of family, and a precocious protagonist).

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  6. Yummy! Thank you for sharing!

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  7. Wow...off to college! My son is too but he is commuting for now.

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  8. I can say this. That last year I was feeling like the only thing that was getting me through the unbelievable experience of preparing to take my eldest child ELSEWHERE and then LEAVE HIM THERE AND LIKELY NEVER HAVE HIM TRULY LIVE WITH US AGAIN was the knowledge that many, many other parents had done the same, and that they had not only survived but found a new normal that then apparently ended up feeling...normal...or something, because they were not talking about it all the time anymore the way I was. And now, a year later, I am taking him back there again, and all I'm doing is looking forward to the road-trip food (and to a night in a hotel all by myself), and hoping we can finish watching the second season of Dirk Gently before he goes. (And, frankly, looking forward to missing him a little, and to not having to hear That Tone that communicates how much more knowledgeable he is than we are.)

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    Replies
    1. Monica10:00 AM

      Oh, thank you for this!

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  9. Swistle, thank you for this. We take ours tomorrow and even though I’ve know logically all that you said, it really helped to hear it from someone who’s been there.

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  10. Shelley8:17 AM

    Ditto Lynette-thank you Swistle. We take our first grown next weekend, and I'm fine about it, I'm fine about it, I'm fine about it, then while trying to inspire myself in making supper I ran across one of his favorite recipes, a tattered and food-stained copy mind you, and I lost my shit. I am happy to hear from someone else that the new normal is manageable, and That Tone? Oh man, I am laughing now!

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  11. Allyson1:13 AM

    I'm taking mine in two weeks. To Berklee College of Music in Boston, which is, thankfully, a 3-hour drive away, and not the 5-hour plane ride away that U.C. Berkley, which she was also considering, would have been. But, oh, we just spent a lovely day together at a gathering that included many young mothers and their 5-year-olds and 2-year-olds and even a 3-*week*-old, and I kept blinking back the tears because I miss babies still, and I'm going to miss my almost grown girl even more.

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    1. Rebecca9:27 PM

      Hi Allyson- We take our daughter, Alli to Berklee next week also! We're in Seattle though, so sadly, it's very far! I'm dreading it already, but also so very happy and excited for her. What will your daughter be studying?

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    2. Allyson10:12 PM

      Carter's studying music education and possibly also songwriting. She's a vocalist, but she also plays piano, concert and baritone ukulele, and is learning saxophone and acoustic guitar.
      What is Alli studying? And how did your move-in go? I managed not to start sobbing until I got back into the car, so that's a win for me.

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  12. Anonymous8:26 PM

    Thanks, Swistle. So needed to read this! This is what I've suspected but have had a hard time truly believing. It's so reassuring to hear this from one who's been through it.

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  13. Just a few days ago we dropped off our first born for her second year of college. It was so much easier than last year... actually amazingly simple. I know this is the best place for her now. She is growing and learning and figuring things out on her own. She is taking 18 hours towards her nursing degree, working, fostering service dogs and being a wonderful busy person. I miss her, but it is manageable knowing how happy she is.

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  14. Lori Brenig7:57 AM

    I need a new book! Just finished Educated and the Female Persuasion. Any recs, please??? Totally off topic of course,

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  15. We miss you. Hope you are well and adjusting to this new season.

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  16. We made this all summer too, except with a pinch of salt and vodka.

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