Honeydew Ice

"Women, melons, and cheese should be chosen by weight."

-Spanish Proverb

Goodness it's been hot here! These 80 degrees F. (27 degrees C.) days are getting to me.

I saw these loose recipe cards in a free pile at a church sale and I rescued them.

I'm glad I did, because this really hits the spot on a warm day. Not exactly a recipe, more of an idea, or a reminder. "Hey remember that you can blend fruit, add sugar and freeze and it will be delicious?" "Oh, right, I forgot, thanks for the reminder." That's sort of the conversation I had in my mind about this.

Perhaps this is as much as a recipe as Paula Deen's English Peas. There is much controversy (and humor) about the simple recipe. For me and my honeydew ice, I'll risk the mocking

Cutting up the honeydew

Call it ice, call it granita, no matter. It's a great idea for any fruit on a hot day. Especially since it's so easy. The last thing anyone wants to do in the heat is cook, or do any work for that matter.

Blending it up to a puree

I like to relax in the heat with something frozen and cold.

Pour in a shallow dish

A little alcohol involved doesn't hurt either. Imagine a shot of Midori Melon liqueur poured over this, man my mouth is just watering thinking about it. (I would indulge my craving, but alas, no Midori in the house.)

Wait an hour, scrape it up while it's still in the freezer

Or some Sprite can be poured over for a delicious slushy-ish concoction.

Wait a little longer, scrape it up some more and it's ready!

However you eat this, plain or with accoutrement's it's absolutely perfect on a hot day.

A great new book I bought for quotes from the kitchen

The quote about melons at the top of this post is from this book I recently purchased called A Commonplace Book of Cookery: A Collection of Proverbs, Anecdotes, Opinions and Obscure Facts on Food, Drink, Cooks, Cooking, Dining, Diners & Dieters, dating from ancient times to the present. It's a fantastic book filled with great food quotes, which I love since I start each of my posts with a quote. I'm really loving this book.

Quilted bowls with Fleur De lis and flower details are available at my Etsy Shop, House Of Lucien.



I'm still adding items to my Etsy shop. It was my plan to get the banner up at my shop, finish those type of details then announce it here and say something like, "O.K.! It's perfect! Everyone go look at my shiny new Etsy Shop! Maybe that day will come, but for now I'm still working on it. By the time I'm done I'll have well over 100 items and I'll have a beautiful banner. But I still invite you to visit. I am really proud of the items I offer, they are wonderful vintage housewares. I do free gift wrapping with fabulous ribbon, (I actually enjoy gift wrapping and I sort of collect beautiful ribbon.) And I'm happy to enclose a message from the sender to the recipient. I make it easy to send a gift to someone you love. (Or don't love, that's o.k. too.)






Honeydew Ice

This can be made with any fruit, really. Recently I've done this with strawberries (I strain it to remove the seeds after blended,) papaya (with lots of lime juice) cantelope and pineapple.  basically if I have fruit in the fridge, I blend it and freeze it in this manner. I just taste it after blending and add sweetner to taste.


Ingredients

One honeydew melon- seeds removed and cubed

1/3- 2/3 rds a cup (80 ml - 160 ml) of Honey - or you can use sugar if you prefer- the amount will be determined by your taste as well as how sweet your fruit is.

Juice of one lime

Shots of Midori Melon liqueur- Optional

Sprite- Optional

Directions

Blend the honeydew melon cubes in a blender till it's very pureed, a few minutes. Add the lime juice and honey (or sugar) (start with the lesser amount, then taste it and see if it's sweet enough for your taste, if not add more till it's as sweet as you like,) Blend well again.

Pour into a shallow container (I used a 9x13 pan) and place in the freezer.

After about an hour in the freezer, scrape it with a fork. 30 minutes later scrape it again. Keep scraping at 30 minute intervals until it's as frozen as you want it. Scoop it up in bowls and serve.

Alternately, scoop it up into wine glasses or another type of glass and pour either a shot of Midori, melon liqueur (or whatever kind of liqueur you choose)  over it, or you can pour sprite over it for a sophisticated kind of slushy.

If it gets too hard in the freezer, just set it out on the counter to thaw for 10 minutes or until it's soft enough to scoop.