Watermelon Lemonade

Last summer my son was barely 1 years old and though he had an affinity for fruit he was still very much trying new flavors and deciding what he liked and what he liked even more. So now that summer has rolled around again and he is a big 2 year old he definitely has opinions on what he wants. These days most often what he wants is watermelon. Would I call my son a watermelon addict? Well according Merrium Webster's Online Dictionary, the definition of an addict is:

Definition of ADDICT

1

: to devote or surrender (oneself) to something habitually or obsessively 

Most of the time we think of addicts as those obsessively devoted to gambling, shopping, drugs, etc, but I would like to add an additional category. One who is habitually and obsessively devoted to watermelon; namely my son E. He eats a minimum of one watermelon a day. I bet you never knew that eating enough watermelon would turn your poop completely red like beets? Or that eating an entire watermelon a day would equal an entire package of diapers in urine?

He eats so much of it that I have gone to great lengths to buy shopping carts full of watermelons so that I do not have to frequent the grocery store every other day just to buy more. My last trip to the store I might have gone overboard and found myself with an entire counter full of watermelon. Wondering if E was going to be able to eat it all before it spoiled I was forced to take alternative measures to use it. And since it is smokin hot here and I also had plenty of lemons on hand I decided to make watermelon lemonade. I really love a tart lemonade and I really love a ripe watermelon...so why not combine the two! I knew it would more than likely turn out good but I didn't know it would be really good! By scraping out the watermelon into the drink instead of pureeing it in a blender you get a very unexpected texture to this lemonade. It's not a smoothy, but it's not straight liquid. Its perfect, and a little bit of watermelon dissolves into your mouth with each sip. Chill this lemonade and add to a glass of ice and you have my friends, a perfect refreshing summer drink to sip slowly pool side or to pretend you are sipping slowly poolside :)

Watermelon Lemonade

Ingredients:

1 cup lemon juice (about 7 lemons)

3/4 cup sugar

1 medium size personal seedless watermelon (about  cups with juice and pulp)

Directions:

Squeeze your lemons into a large pitcher and add sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Cut your watermelon in half and starting with one half take a fork and grate out the watermelon flesh into a large bowl that will catch the juice and pulp.

Continue with the other half of the watermelon. Once finished, remove any black seeds that happen to be in your watermelon. There is no need to remove any of the yellow white ones but if you want to you can also remove them. Add the watermelon juice/pulp to your lemon mixture and stir to combine. Chill in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Serve chilled with ice and a sprig of fresh mint.