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A cool watermelon margarita to mark the end of summer

Recipe: Adult drink easily can be a kid-friendly refresher, too


Watermelon margarita
A refreshing way to mark summer's end.
(Photos: Kathy Morrison)

Too hot to bake, and the air's too yucky to be outside. Yet it's Labor Day weekend, the traditional end of summer. So celebrate with the ultimate summer fruit -- watermelon -- in an easy and very cool margarita cocktail.

Watermelon growers must have had a good year, because the stores and markets have been full of them. I snagged a big Vierra Farms black watermelon for a great price, but had to wait to break it down because my refrigerator was packed.

When I finally had some space available, I decided to turn one half of the melon into melon balls while collecting the juice for this drink, which I adapted from a recipe on the New York Times Cooking site. Watermelon is practically liquid, anyway, so that went pretty fast. I only had to watch for seeds, since this variety is a seeded one.

But alternatively you can cut the rind off a hunk of melon, chop it into chunks, toss the chunks into a blender, then strain out any seeds and the mushy solids. Do this ahead of time and the cocktail goes together quite easily.

Have plenty of limes on hand, since fresh lime juice balances the sweet melon perfectly.

Drink ingredients
Have everything ready before you start mixing.

A note on the liquor ingredients: The tequila plus Cointreau makes it taste like a traditional margarita. If you'd rather have more fruit flavor than alcohol, skip the Cointreau, but increase the tequila by 1/2 ounce and the watermelon juice by 1 ounce.

And if your kids want to join the party, a nonalcoholic variation follows the main recipe.

Watermelon margarita

Adapted from the New York Times

Serves 1

Ingredients:

Ice, as needed

3 ounces fresh watermelon juice

1 ounce tequila (clear or "silver" variety preferred)

1 ounce Cointreau (optional, see note above)

1 ounce fresh lime juice, rinds reserved

For glass and garnish:

Fine sea salt

Watermelon balls

Cross-wise slices of jalapeño

""
Cool, sweet and salty all at once. Put another
jalapeño slice in the drink for a spicy pop.


Instructions:

Prepare the glass by running a reserved lime juice rind along the rim of the glass, then dipping the rim into a flat saucer containing the sea salt. Put the watermelon balls and the jalapeño slice on a toothpick for the garnish.

Make the drink: Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. If you don't have a shaker (I don't), try using a clean liter-size reusable hydration bottle; the drink opening makes a decent strainer.

To the shaker, add the watermelon juice, tequila, Cointreau (if using) and lime juice. (If you want a spicy bite to your drink, toss a jalapeño slice into the shaker, too.) Shake to combine.

Add ice to the prepared glass. Strain the drink into the glass. Add the prepared garnish, and raise the glass in a toast to the end of this long, hot summer.

Non-alcoholic version: In the shaker with ice, combine 4 ounces watermelon juice and 1 ounce lime juice. Shake and pour into a glass with ice. Add enough sparkling water, lemon-lime soda or ginger ale to fill the glass. Garnish with melon balls, if desired.

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RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

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Garden Checklist for week of May 12

Get your gardening chores and irrigation done early in the day before temperatures rise.

* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions. This heat will cause leafy greens and onions to flower; pick them before they bolt.

* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters.

* Plant dahlia tubers. Other perennials to set out include verbena, coreopsis, coneflower and astilbe.

* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.

* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.

* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.

* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.

* Got fruit trees? If you haven't already done so, thin orchard fruit such as apples, peaches, pears, pluots and plums before they grow too heavy, breaking branches or even splitting the tree. Leave the largest fruit on the branch, culling the smaller ones, and allow for 5 to 6 inches (or a hand's worth) between each fruit.

* Thin grape bunches, again leaving about 6 inches between them. For the remaining bunches, prune off the "tail" end, about the bottom third of the bunch, so that the plant's energy is concentrated in the fruit closest to the branch.

* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier plants.

* Add mulch to the garden to help keep that precious water from evaporating. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch to 1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.

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