Frozen Watermelon

That's right kiddies... it's my first food blog! Eeee! I'm pretty excited.

A friend of mine posted on facebook the other night that her new obsession was frozen watermelon. I am a big fan of all things cold, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. Even better... I'll get my monkeys involved. What child wouldn't like a watermelon Popsicle?

Items you'll need:

• Watermelon (preferrably from your local farmer's market)
• Bamboo skewers
• Kitchen scissors
• Large knife
• Cutting board
• Gallon-size zip-top bag
• Container

I bought a whole watermelon knowing that we would plow through it pretty quickly. So after I cut it in quarters, I cut off about a 2 inch slice.

*Safety Note: Put a damp dish cloth or damp paper towel under your cutting board to keep it from sliding around. This is especially helpful when your working with large, awkward pieces.

*Safety Note: If you place a paper towel so it is laying partially on your cutting board, it will soak up the excess juice from the melon and keep the top of you board from getting slippery.

Then, cut the slice in half. Make sure you don't cut too far past the white part of the rind. That needs to stay in tact so the melon doesn't flop around.

Next, cut the melon across in about 1/2 to 1 inch increments. Again, be sure not to cut into the white rind too far or the whole slice will fold open.

Then lay the slice on it's side and cut in 1/2 inch piece across. Cut from white to white.

This will give you the most uniform cubes possible from a round fruit. Now if you are on the adventurous side, go ahead and gently squeeze the sides of the melon and you can pick the whole thing up off the board and deposit your cubes in a container. Once all the inside cubes are out, you will see the odd shaped ones left. It's still good melon, just not a perfect cube. Use your knife to cut with the shape of the rind to release the pink flesh that's left.

After you have cubed the whole melon, now the fun begins. Carefully slide the watermelon cubes onto the skewer leaving enough room at the bottom for a handle.

*Safety Note: Use your kitchen scissors and snip off the pointy end so they don't poke their little fingers while they're helping or their tongues when it's time to enjoy.

I would recommend placing the fruit all the way to the top of the skewer.

We learned the hard way and the pointy end (that we didn't snip off) poked through the plastic storage bag. Putting the fruit all the way to the end should alleviate that issue. It made it a problem when placing the bag in the freezer. It had to be upside down so the juice wouldn't leak out the little pin holes in the plastic. You could also use a container instead of a plastic bag. Do whatever works best for you.

We waited about 4 hours to try our frozen treat. It was pretty firm, but had a nice slushy consistency. However, the next day we pulled them out to have another go and they were completely frozen and hard. It didn't seem to slow my monkeys down any, but I preferred them at the semi-frozen slushy state.

What delicious leftovers.

My little princess helper.