Sometimes, I plan ahead. Like when I had leftover watermelon from the 4th, I thought huh--I seem to recall some spiffy recipes using watermelon in one of those cookbooks...and sure enough, one of the very first drinks in the Drinks chapter of Gourmet Today is the charmingly named Ladybug, which calls for frozen watermelon, vodka, sugar and limes.
So I lined a cookie sheet with plastic wrap, set out a single layer of watermelon chunks, and tucked them into the freezer. So far, so good! I figured I'd pick up some vodka and limes on the way home from work, since all I had kicking around was some gin...and although I had Rose's Lime Juice (which is pretty much limes+sugar), I wanted to follow the recipe as directed.
Well. You know that 100 degree, high humidity, record-breaking day we had the other day? The day where also my car's air conditioner AND our house's central cooling was broken? That day? I picked up neither vodka nor limes but by god nothing was going to stop me from making a drink with that frozen watermelon so Hello gin and Rose's Lime Juice, the able substitutes.
I dumped it all in the blender, ignoring the directions to let the frozen watermelon thaw for fifteen-twenty minutes, and fired it up.
Nothing.
Well, actually I got a little frothy gin, but the watermelon? Immovable and unblendable.
I tried again, and again, and again until my son pointed out that the motor was starting to smell funny, and finally I set the EFFING timer on the microwave for EFFING fifteen minutes, and stormed off to do something hot and sticky like fold the EFFING laundry. Isn't it weird how hot weather makes you swear?
When I tried it again I got a lot more gin froth, but finally, finally and ever so finally the watermelon started to move and blend and I got:
Spiffy!
Don't ask me why my blender makes short work of ice cubes but is a wussy blender with frozen watermelon chunks. That's a big mystery that probably won't get solved here. But I'm here to report that the Ladybug is DELICIOUS and should you too be practically perishing from the heat give this one a try--use vodka to be authentic but I can attest that gin works just fine, thanks! As for sugar + lime vs. Rose's Lime Juice, that's your call.
2 comments:
I missed this one! Looks oh so refreshing.
I made this drink right after reading your post. I made it exactly according to the recipe (partially freezing the watermelon cubes, using gin vs. vodka, and using lime and sugar vs. Rose's), but I was less than impressed with the results. The flavor was great, but I was hoping for more of a dacquiri-type consistency, the best I could muster from my blender was boozy, frothy watermelon-lime juice.
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