Cantaloupe Drink Recipe (Agua de Melon)

I found this recipe at mexicanfoodandmore.com
Very refreshing on a hot day. It is like a snack and drink all in one.

I took a medium size melon and cut it into chunks and added it to a blender with one cup of water.

The recipe said you may use the seeds. Since only half my melon fit, I added half the seeds to taste before I made the whole batch.

I put this first half of blended melon in my 2 quart pitcher and added 1/4 cup of sugar and another cup of water. Filling the container to 1 quart. Taste tested and concluded not to continue adding the rest of the seeds. The shells of the seeds are not to my liking.

Now to the second blending of the other half melon without the seeds.

Again added one cup of water to blend.

Much smoother with a little foam at the top. Nice.

Poured that into the pitcher and added more water to make it a total of 2 quarts. Added another 1/4 cup sweetener. I added some Splenda. So it had half sugar and half Splenda in it. Mixed that up.

Poured some in a cup and I was very pleased. It tastes great. Very thick and I would recommend stirring the pitcher every time you pour a glass.

I know cantaloupes come in many sizes and a larger one may take more batches, more water and sugar besides more drink containers. If you have many people to serve, more drink is better. If you do not have the fridge space or more people to drink it A.S.A.P. Then You could dehydrate the extra or make Chicken Shish Kabobs with the melon being some of the ingredients. You can give your extra to a neighbor. Food for thought. Hope you enjoy this drink.

Updated note: You can strain the pulp and have a more liquid drink to serve over ice. Add sweetener to taste. It is very good to.

Coconut Popsicles recipe

I love these Popsicles. They are easy to make and the recipe is versatile. These instructions are for the six molds above. They hold an estimated 3 oz.

(1)You will need a can of coconut milk
(2)Shredded coconut ( unsweetened or sweetened) this is an optional choice. You can estimate 1-3 tsp. per mold and multiply by the amount of molds you are going to use.
(3)1 egg (optional)
(4)Sweetener of choice
Note: You may need a little water, or milk of choice to top off Popsicle molds.

Pour coconut milk into a medium bowl. Add shredded coconut to bowl. I used 1 T. per large mold and that was very meaty. I may do half that next time. Crack your egg and put the yolk and whites into the bowl. Now add sweetener. I estimated 1 T. per large mold. You can add more or less if you like.

Mix. Take a measuring cup with spout and pour equal amounts into all molds, until mix is gone. If there is still room in your molds add water or milk of choice to fill. You could take a butter knife and mix in mold if you like.

Put tops on and place in the freezer for a few hours. I estimate 4-6 hours. Then take out and place in hot water for 1-2 minutes to release mold or as I do, hold it with my hands to cool off and walk around, doing things as my hands warm and loosen mold. Eat it up. Fuzzy pic. It was one of the finished products. I am sure I was to hot and hungry to focus the camera at that moment.

The molds I have here were bought on Amozon.com

Sourdough Pancakes recipe and guide

I wanted to try some pancakes made with my sourdough starter and found this recipe. I forget the site.

Ingredients:

2 cups Sourdough starter at room temperature
2 T. Sugar
1 egg
 1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 T. luke warm, water

The night before using the starter take the sourdough starter out of fridge and let it come to room temperature.

I took out my starter and placed a cup of starter into my mixing bowl and added, 1 cup of flour and one cup of water. Then added one cup of flour and one cup of water to my starter and left them both out over night to feed.

The next day the starter was bubbly and room temp.

Ready to cook? Put your starter back in the fridge. Take the bowl of now 2 cups starter and add the 2 T. sugar, 1 egg,  1/4 cup olive oil, and 1/2 tsp. salt and mix well. set aside. (Note) You may need to add more water or flour if your batter is to thick or to runny.

In a small bowl  mix the 1 tsp. baking soda and 1 T. water. Only add the baking soda/water mix to the pancake batter just before you are ready to cook the pancakes.
When ready to cook the pancakes, fold in the water/ baking soda and mix gently into the batter.

Heat up your Griddle and add 1/4-1/2 cup of batter per cake. Cook 1-2 minutes or until bubbles form and you can slide a spatula under with ease. Flip and  cook 1-2 minutes or until spatula can slide under with ease. remove from heat and serve as you like.

Note: since I had been feeding my starter with the same ratio of water and flour my starter mixed with the rest of the ingredients was to runny so, I added another 1/2 cup of flour. I had much better results this way. If your batters are to thick or to runny do not be afraid to add water or flour to get the consistency that works best for you.

These pancakes are made with 1/2 cup of batter each. they look like Mc Donald's pancakes.

My son loves them and calls them Mc Donald's pancakes. There is no sourdough flavor that I could detect and my sugar free syrup was a great companion. When I have more time a like to heat up some blue berries with my syrup and pour it over my pancake.

As usual, leftover pancakes get cooled on a rack and put into serving size freezer ziplocks. Then they go into the freezer for a quick meal, another day.