Fave Summertime Food – Watermelon Love
One food which has always meant summertime for me is watermelon. Not only is it one of my very favorites to eat, the memories I have make it all the sweeter. My grandfather would bring home a watermelon from a roadside vendor and as soon as it was chilled he would halve the watermelon and we all sat around the bar eating with our own spoon. A few of us (raising my hand) would add salt to ours and once the watermelon was fairly empty and all that remained was juice, my Meme would hand out the straws and we would slurp up the watermelon juice.
The street I lived on growing up was a dead end with lots of kids around my age. An older couple was known for having a watermelon gathering every summer and the entire neighborhood gathered to see who would earn the seed spitting bragging rights for the year!
And lastly, my sweet aunt Dora would pick me up and take me to her house in the country. I thought they were the richest people ever because they had a pool! She would have ice cold dr. pepper (from the glass bottle) and the most perfect melon balls. Watermelon never tastes better than after a long day in the pool.
While we eat our fair share of watermelon over the summer, I thought I would try to mix things up a bit. Over the weekend Carly Jo was itching to bake something so we decided these watermelon cupcakes from Mix and Match Mama were worth a shot!
The recipe was super easy to follow and the cupcakes turned out perfectly. The icing, however, was a complete flop and we opted to add a little food coloring to some Pillsbury buttercream and cut our losses.
Only four cupcakes remain on Sunday night so my gut says they were yummy!
While this is not the greatest picture, my decision to use the remaining watermelon puree to make watermelon margaritas was a win! These 3 ingredient watermelon margaritas were so refreshing and just what I needed to end the weekend. I enjoyed two! Very light and not too sweet. I really think it would taste great as a non-alcoholic drink by replacing the tequila with sparkling water. Or check out this recipe for watermelon slushies!
Here are a few other Pinterest recipes I’m interested in trying!
Watermelon Salsa 
Balsamic Watermelon Feta Salad
Do you have a favorite food that reminds you of summer? Head on over to Katie’s blog to see what fun summertime food she is sharing! And be sure to linkup your favorite summer food with The Blended Blog!
What sweet memories of watermelon you have! Absolutely heartwarming and I can see why you’d have such strong emotions connected to this great Summer staple. I haven’t eaten any watermelon this year, isn’t that crazy? I used to eat a ton. It’s s refreshing. And YES to the watermelon margaritas, mmmmmmm!!! Happy Monday sweet lady!
xo,
Kellyann
Kellyann…for serious….the watermelon margaritas are soooo good!
YUM and oh so sweet and precious!! I literally just put watermelon in a dish to take to work and then I sat down to read your post and boom, look at all that watermelon goodness!! Have a beautiful day gorgeous!!
It truly is my favorite in the summer! Just so darn refreshing and I feel like I can count it as some of my water intake. 🙂 Hope you are all rested and raring to go this Monday!
Watermelon is the perfect summer food. I REALLY miss our watermelon patch this year too. That drink sounds divine too. I should try it.
Beth, it was incredibly refreshing and really think it would work with tequila or vodka! yummy
I’m glad your cupcakes turned out and that you had that back up icing! I hate to say that I am not a fan of watermelon haha! It’s crazy, I know, but I just don’t like the taste, but my husband will eat an entire watermelon in a few days. He loves it enough for both of us!
MeetTheShaneyfelts
Oh man I love watermelon ANYTHING! Yum! I think I need that drink right now – at 8:52am – at m desk….
My daughter made watermelon pizza with feta, basil and balsamic drizzle while she was visiting. It’s so good!
Wow, that brought back memories. My dad always brought home watermelon from roadside stands and we would eat ours with salt, too. He was always bringing people watermelons and leaving them on their porch.
And ice cold Dr. Pepper in a bottle! There’s nothing better!
Beautiful post:)
I bought a delicious watermelon yesterday and we ate a bunch of it last night. I’ve been meaning to try some watermelon juice with sparkling water as a drink. I loved your stories from your childhood. I had sweet visions in my mind as you were telling them. Such happy memories. Have a great week, Shelly!
YUM!! I’m pretty sure if I ate just ate watermelon cupcakes and drank watermelon margaritas all summer long, it’d be a glorious summer indeed!!
Watermelon and Feta?? How can that be bad?
We LOVE watermelon!! I’ve been wanting to try Shay’s cupcakes, too. I need to make them soon!
Not a watermelon fan. Who am I???
I’m not either! If I never had one again I wouldn’t be sad.
My kids love watermelon! Love that the store sells quarters so I can slice ’em up easily. That’s disappointing about the icing. Tell me more about the silicone cupcake wrappers- are they dishwasher safe?
My kids are obsessed with watermelon. They ask for it all year round actually. Too bad about the icing, but at least the cake was good. My favorite summer time food is strawberries and all the berries that are cheaper and so so good.
I am not a huge fan of melons in general, including watermelon but I do love your little kitchen sidekick!
How did I forget about watermelon?! Such a summer staple and sooo delish!
Love watermelon! My girls do to! Sounds like some fun childhood memories and you’re making some with your own kiddos now! That watermelon slush sounds so good!
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I love watermelon! We go through a big one once a week. I think we could go through even more but I only buy one 🙂 I loved your stories at the beginning. And I remember putting salt on watermelon with my grandpa. I also still will lightly salt my cantaloupe.
My family loves watermelon. I can take it or leave it but I bet I would like the watermelon margaritas! I loved reading your watermelon memories!
I LOVE watermelon! I wish someone else would cut it up though. That margarita looks delicious!
Your memories are the best. Drinking up the last bit of watermelon juice from the rind with a straw?! Wow, way to get your money’s worth. Love that.
Pinned the watermelon margarita recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Cupcake baker is a doll baby. Glad the results were tasty.
This has my mouth watering! I love watermelon and a watermelon marg sounds delicious!