Watermelon Sours in a Watermelon Keg

This post is a twofer. It is a mix of Friday’s 5 o’clock somewhere cocktail recipe, and a fun How-To tutorial on making your own watermelon keg. Sounds fun to me and brings a whole new meaning to throwing a watermelon bash! This is definitely on my two do list once I get back to the states. First lets learn how to make the keg…

Supplies

• Whole watermelon
• Apple Corer
• Shank and faucet

Directions

Prepare your watermelon by cutting a lid from the top and scooping out the fruit (save the fruit to use later to make the drinks). Use an apple corer to drill a hole just slightly smaller than the keg shank. Attach the shank and faucet and you’re ready to add your cocktail.

Ingredients

• 4 cups watermelon chunks, pureed
• 4 oz Alizé Red Passion, or any other fruit-flavored liqueur
• 8 oz gin
• 2 cups sour mix
• Sparkling rosé
• Lime slices, for garnish

Directions

After pureeing 4 cups of watermelon chunks, strain. Stir in your fruit-flavored liqueur, gin and sour mix. Chill. Add sparkling rosé before serving. Garnish with lime slice and enjoy!

• Source: The Food Network Magazine
• Recipe Yields: 10-12 servings

Salmon Baked in Foil

Sorry for being MIA the last couple of days, but there has been a lot going on around here. I finally recovered from my residual Mexico sickness, I am up to my ears in laundry, the Hubby and I just found out we are going to live in Singapore for 3 months, and since Lent has started I’ve been busy looking for new, easy and delowcious fish recipes. I sorta breezed over the whole living in Singapore thing didn’t I? I know, it’s pretty crazy. The Hubby has to leave in 2 very short weeks for work, and I am tagging along to reap all the benefits of living/vacationing in another country. Apparently the food over there is fabulous, so it should make for some great blog posts. I am super excited, but we have so much to do to get ready in such a short period of time. I have to fly back to Cali next week to drop off BooBoo Kitty with my uncle, who is going to generously take care of her while we are gone, The Hubby has to do our taxes before we leave and we have to prepare the house to be sorta on lock down. Don’t get any ideas crazy stalker/house robbers, we are having our friend stay here while we are gone, which means the house does not have to be totally cleared out of food and such, but I do have to hide all my secret drawer items

On a separate note, it is the first Friday of Lent, which means no meat is allowed on today’s menu. When I say meat, somehow that does not include fish… I guess it is just mammal meat. So today I opted for a delicious Giada salmon recipe and it is another one of her fish pockets, which I love. It is such an simple way to cook fish, plus the clean up is a snap.

Ingredients

• 4 (5 ounces each) salmon fillets
• 2 teaspoons olive oil plus 2 tablespoons
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tomatoes, chopped, or 1 (14-ounce) can chopped tomatoes, drained
• 2 chopped shallots
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Sprinkle salmon with 2 teaspoons olive oil, salt, and pepper. Stir the tomatoes, shallots, 2 tablespoons of oil, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper in a medium bowl to blend.

Place a salmon fillet, oiled side down, atop a sheet of foil. Wrap the ends of the foil to form a spiral shape. Spoon the tomato mixture over the salmon. Fold the sides of the foil over the fish and tomato mixture, covering completely; seal the packets closed. Place the foil packet on a heavy large baking sheet. Repeat until all of the salmon have been individually wrapped in foil and placed on the baking sheet. Bake until the salmon is just cooked through, about 25 minutes. Using a large metal spatula, transfer the foil packets to plates and serve.

• Source: Giada De Laurentiis
• Prep Time: 15min
• Cook Time: 25min
• Total Time: 40min
• Recipe Yields: 4 servings