Watermelon and Blueberry Margarita!

To me the Memorial Day weekend marks the official start of summer!  I know, by the calendar we are still weeks away from the official start but I have always been a summer lover and it sure is stinking hot here already.  With all of the thought about summer and the long weekend I started thinking about drinks that I could serve over the weekend and I remembered one that I had made last year but could not for the life of me find the recipe for it again.

Finally success!  It is a Bobby Flay recipe and it is a true summer time drink…beautiful juicy watermelon, ripe plump blueberries and fresh from your garden mint!  How could it get any better?  TEQUILA!!!!

Watermelon and Blueberry Margarita (recipe by Bobby Flay)

This makes enough for about 8 drinks…

Ingredients

1. 1/4 cup water
2. 1/4 cup granulated sugar
3. 8 cups diced seedless watermelon (1 pound)
4. 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
5. 1 3/4 cups blueberries
6. 3/4 cup lightly packed fresh mint leaves, plus 8 sprigs for garnish
7. 1 1/4 cups silver tequila
8. Ice

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, bring the water to a simmer with the sugar and stir over moderate heat until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute; let the sugar syrup cool.
2. In a blender, puree the watermelon until smooth. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a bowl and strain the watermelon juice, pressing gently on the solids to extract as much juice as possible. Discard the pulp.
3. In a large pitcher, combine the sugar syrup with the lime juice, blueberries and mint leaves. Using a wooden spoon, lightly muddle the blueberries and mint. Add the watermelon juice and tequila. Refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.
4. Pour the cocktail into tall ice-filled glasses. Garnish with the mint sprigs and serve.

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Melon Sorbet

Now with breakfast done, onto some fun treats to enjoy later! I had a large half of fresh watermelon sitting in my fridge and decided it was time for a fruity sorbet recipe. With my ice cream freezer bowl ready, I made this Melon Sorbet recipe from Alton Brown. It was really easy and so refreshing! Seriously, this recipe is so good, I plan on making variations with other melons like cantelope & honeydew... I'm also submitting this to Nik Snack's very first blogging event she hosting, Ice Scream, You Scream. What a great event to pay homage to Ice Cream... after all, July is National Ice Cream Month! Here's Alton's recipe for Melon Sorbet:
1 pound, 5 ounces diced watermelon, muskmelon or honeydew
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons Vodka (I used Absolut)
9 ounces sugar, approximately 1 1/4 cups

Place the melon in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Add the lemon juice, vodka, and sugar and process for another 30 seconds. Place the mixture into the refrigerator until the mixture reaches 40 degrees F; depending on the temperature of your ingredients and refrigerator, this could take 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Pour the chilled mixture into the bowl of an ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer's directions. Transfer the sorbet to an airtight container and place in the freezer for 3 to 4 hours before serving.

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