WATERMELON GIN FIZZ

Blog reader I have to tell you that I’m most certainly a genius, but my clever ideas almost always come quite literally: a moment too late. I’ll think about an amazing way I “could have” or “should have” done something, but only having realized it after the fact, and typically only when it’s too late. They say hindsight is 20/20, but like really? Could I not think of these things just a little sooner?

You’re probably wondering what the heck does this have to do with a soda recipe? Well remember a while back when I made watermelon soda? Well did you ever think to pair it with Gin? Because I certainly haven’t until just recently. So all these times I could have been enjoying my watermelon soda with a little Tanqueray or Hendricks. I’m a disaster as best.

Conversely you could de-virgin your soda with you liqueur of choice. I’m sure this could work with vodka, rum, or Tequila (if you can drink it). Fun fact, did you know that Tequila is the only alcohol that isn’t a depressant? Yep, and if you drink enough of it you can possibly hallucinate. Don’t do that!

Hallucinations aside we know that drinking alcohol can pack on the extra pounds especially when you’re combining your drinking with a lot of food (hello summer BBQ’s we’re looking at you. Now I know that you’re not going to stop drinking, and eating because well you want to live your life, but you can make smarter choices that lessen the blow.

Watermelon has been said to be just made up of water and sugar, but it actually is a little more complicated than that. Come on let’s give these little guys a little more credit okay? They aren’t just big green water balloons for your amusement I have you to know.

Watermelon not only contains plenty of vitamins like vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B-6, folate, pantothenic acid, magnesium; it also contains citrulline “been shown to reduce the accumulation of fat in our fat cells.
Citrulline is an amino acid which converts into arginine with help from
the kidneys. When our bodies absorb citrulline it can take the step of
converting into arginine if so required. Citrulline, when consumed, has
the ability to (through a series of steps) block the activity of TNAP
(tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase) which makes our fat cells
create less fat, and thus helps prevent over-accumulation of body fat”.

Here’s my logic, if you’re going to putting your poor little kidneys and liver through all the work of processing the alcohol you’re putting into your body why not pair it with something that’s REALLY good for you? AND tastes like summer? I mean it’s a no brainer right?

Before I bore you to death with food and nutrition facts here’s the recipe! ENJOY xx

WATERMELON GIN FIZZ

serves 5 to 8

INGREDIENTS

5 cups
seeded and chopped watermelon

1 cup
of water

1
packet of stevia (or sugar, but could omit altogether)
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups of sparkling water or club soda

INSTRUCTIONS

Puree watermelon and water in a
blender.

Pour the watermelon puree into a fine
strainer set over a bowl.

Let it stand for a few minutes until the juice has
drained through. This is important because if you don’t remove the pulp it will look really cloudy, and really runs the whole aesthetic.

Stir the watermelon gently one or
twice, but do not press the puree or the syrup will be cloudy. This will yield
about 2 cups of watermelon juice.

Stir in stevia, lime juice and salt
into the watermelon juice until dissolved.

Serve individually by pouring 1/4 cup
watermelon concentrate with 1/2 cup sparkling water, and 1-2 ounces of gin (or alcohol of choice) in a glass. Top with ice
and a lime slice.

Serve as a punch:
This recipe could also make a REALLY great punch for a barbeque or
summer potluck, just simply multiply the recipe to suit your needs. Make
sure to pretty it up by adding fresh fruit like: lime slices,
strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and serve in super adorable mason
jars (like shown above). Feel free to add your booze of choice (or not you know if it’s like a kids party or something). Or if it is a kids party maybe double the booze, and keep the drinks on a high table out of their reach.

Hope you’re enjoying your summer blog reader! I know I am! Phewf who’s excited that the warm weather has finally shown up? I must apologize to you dearest blog reader I’ve been super busy exploring (which I would TOTALLY recommend that you do as well), so I haven’t had much time to create new recipes. I’ll try my best to keep Tuesdays packed fun things for you to read over the summer though blog reader.

Stay tuned as well for blog posts about my recent trip to Boston with Ford Canada (YAHOO that was fun) 🙂 I took SO many photos my little instagram account (@shortpresents) just couldn’t handle them all. Stay tuned.

Hope you enjoy this recipe. Please drink responsibly.

Short Presents

If you get a quick second it would
mean THE WORLD to me if you gave me a vote in The Coast’s Readers Choice
Awards for “best blogger”. Here’s the link >>
http://thecoast.secondstreetapp.com/l/Best-of-Halifax-2015-BOH15/Ballot/NewsandMedia