“I wish I could be behind the wheel for every stunt.” ~ Paul Walker
A while ago I posted some tasting wheels and it is about time for an update. Hope these two coffee tasting wheels help you enjoy your daily cup of jo.
Source: The New Black http://www.thenewblack.asia/tastewheel.php
“Many wagon-loads of enormous water-melons were brought to market every day, and I was sure to see groups of men, women, and children seated on the pavement round the spot where they were sold, sucking in prodigious quantities of this water fruit. Their manner of devouring them is extremely unpleasant; the huge fruit is cut into half a dozen sections, of about a foot long, and then, dripping as it is with water, applied to the mouth, from either side of which pour copious streams of the fluid, while, ever and anon, a mouthful of the hard black seeds are shot out in all directions, to the great annoyance of all within reach. When I first tasted this fruit I thought it very vile stuff indeed, but before the end of the season we all learned to like it. When taken with claret and sugar it makes a delicious wine and water.” ~ Frances Trollope (1780-1865) ‘Domestic Manners of the Americans’ (1832)
The last several years have seen the virtual disappearance of the watermelon with seeds and I am going to stand up and declare I miss them. I enjoyed spitting the black little slippery things out on the lawn at picnics. It was fun competing in target practise with my friends. It is an art, you know, to propel a seed with accuracy and speed. And it is a celebrated skill that kids these days are missing out on.
And while I am sounding like an old has-been, I am going to declare that seeded watermelon tasted better. Mind you, I have not been able to compare and have no proof, but I am certain that seedless watermelon is blander and drier. It is less colourful and less flavourful. Or maybe I’m just wishing for the “good ol’ days” when the grass was greener and the watermelon sweeter. And I am wishing I could teach my daughter how to spit a watermelon seed without it dripping down her chin like mine always did. 
This fun video below, on how to make a watermelon keg, popped up on social media recently and I love it. But I also knew we could do better than just serve plain watermelon aqua fresca from it. A little bit of “sin” makes it a lot better.
1. Mix the watermelon in a blender until smooth.
2. Muddle the lime, rum, sugar and mint in a pitcher.
3. Stir watermelon into the muddled mix in the pitcher. Serve individual glasses and top each with club soda. Garnish with a slice of watermelon or mint sprig.
“The nature of watermelons is generally rather chilling and contains a great deal of moisture... Their cleansing action you can discover for yourself; just rub them on dirty skin. Watermelons will remove the following: freckles, facial moles, or epidemic leprosy, if anyone should have these conditions.”
Galen (129-216 A.D.), Marcus Aurelius’s personal physician
“I found a photograph of you and me
Drinking sangria somewhere by the sea.
There’s laughter in our eyes and dreams in our hearts.”~ The Divine Comedy
It’s summer and time for a new, refreshing twist on the classic drink sangria. Take your classic frozen margarita and marry it with a fruity sangria and voila… Sangrita!
In Spanish, the word “sangria” means to bleed. While many people enjoy white sangrias, I choose to stick with red wine for my sangrias simply because it fits so “appetizingly” with the name.
Right now I have cotton candy flavoured vodka in my liquor cabinet, so that’s what I started to soak the fruit in. Then, knowing how well wine and chocolate pair, I added “Glad I thought of that!” Crème de Cacao.
I made this for my friend Rhonda’s pool party. (Rhonda, the CWS contributor of Rhonda’s Been Screeched, Bread Pudding and Hard Caramel Sauce & A Little Leftover Red Wine Jelly) The party was a reunion of good friends from our University of Waterloo days. None of us had changed a bit. Yes, none of us had changed a bit. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. The day turned out to be cool & rainy, so the pool was abandoned and we hunkered down indoors to chat and eat and drink. It was a great day. 😀
This fruity sangria is smooth and cool with a nice hint of chocolate. A perfect refreshing drink for a hot – or even a cool and rainy – summer day.
2 cups mixed berries
½ cup crème de cacao
½ cup cotton candy flavoured vodka
2 cups rainbow sorbet
1 handful ice cubes
½ bottle cheap & cheerful red wine
1. Let the mixed berries soak in the crème de cacao and vodka for several hours. Stir and when the berries are soft from absorbing the liquid put the whole mix in the freezer overnight. It will partially freeze into a slush.
2. In your blender, mix the sorbet, soaked berries, wine and ice cubes. Blend until smooth and serve.
Photo Credit: http://www.zazzle.com/of_course_i_get_vitamin_c_sangria_flask-256629057316362406
Update:
My good friend Faryl made up a batch. Here is a shot of hers. It looks so good! Thanks for sharing it Faryl.
For us Canadians, Thanksgiving is a week away and I have just the recipe to start the day, Sweet Pumpkin Martinis.
Irish Cream
Pumpkin Spice Whisky
Cotton Candy Vodka
Each month in 2014, I am sharing a calendar page that includes a CWS recipe. Here is May’s!
Click to open up the large version of the calendar page, then right click and save or copy it for yourself. Print it off for your fridge, share it with a friend, post it at your office… etc.
I just ask, if you use it in a document, please use the entire image, so Cooking With Sin gets the credit. Thank you. It is yours to enjoy!
Check out the story from the original recipe “Patti’s Classic Classy Cosmos.”
