Falafel

Part of the "Too Chicken Poop to Try" I think I'm on number 4 at this point, I'm adding falafel. I read this recipe: http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/12/recipe-of-the-day-falafel/ and thought, I can do this! I have always had this pre-conceived notion that falafel was one of those out of reach foods for me to make. I get it at this greek place we go to... I think it's delicious. I even went so far as to buy a pre-packaged mix (that ended up tasting HORRIBLE). I was convinced that I couldn't make it by myself. SO- it's on my special list.... my, I'm afraid up front but am determined to give it a try list. LOL!

I am going to make this recipe soon & will definitly update as to how it all went.

If anyone tries this before I do-- please email me at diycookingnation@yahoo.com and let me know how it turned out!!!

Dehydrator

I am SO excited that my dehydrator is coming TODAY! First of all, I'm sitting on some strawberries that we haven't been able to get to through the week & I need something to do with them. I have NEVER dehydrated anything before in my life- BUT since my son is going to school next year I wanted to start making fruit leather, dehydrated fruits and veggie chips. I also didn't want to have to buy any pre-packaged stuff because they usually add a lot of salt and other ingredients when it should just be the fruit or vegetable without any additional ingredients added. I've never done this before--- so once I get it, I'll definitly let everyone know how it turned out!!

Microwave Air Popped Popcorn

A great DIY idea. I read this article a week ago by Mark Bittman http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/microwave-popcorn-minus-the-ripoff/ About how you don't need "magic" bags to pop popcorn in your microwave. I already had kernels that I had been popping on the stove- but I was tired of cleaning the pot, lid & the bowl I poured it in. Although oil popped popcorn only has 55 calories AIR popped popcorn has 35. I looked into buying a popcorn maker but then I remembered a rumor that you could do it in a brown bag. That article was what I ran into. This is what I did.

I bought the jumbo sized brown bags (in the grocery or dollar store) used for lunches.
I put 1/4C of kernels in the bottom of the bag.
I handle tuck all of my bags: http://www.origami-resource-center.com/brown-paper-bag.html
I stood the bag standing up and put it in the microwave for 2 minutes.

The first time I did this I ended up with a small quantity of popcorn that didn't pop AND I had burned popcorn. I didn't end up with burned popcorn when I cooked it on the stove with oil... so I tried it a second time.

The method that works is:

** Put 1/4C kernels at the bottom of a bag.
     Give it a handle fold
     Put the bag in standing up in the microwave
     Put it in for a minute
     Open the bag and pour out all the popped popcorn
     Reclose the bag with the un popped kernels and put it in for another minute- stopping the microwave when it stops popping.

In the end I ended up with all but 3 kernels popping- no burned popcorn, no oil, I used LESS than 2 minutes to pop it all and that is significantly less than if I did it on the stove, and I didn't have to clean any oily messes. In fact, I probably could have re-used the paper bag I used to do it!

DO NOT use staples to close your brown bag. It isn't necessary and that would scare me to death if you set your microwave on fire!

Portobello Mushroom burger with Sweet Potato Fries

So, tonight I'm going to grill a portobello mushroom cap (slight brush of extra virgin olive oil), grilled onions, baby romaine & fresh tomato and put all of that on my "burger".
I'm going to try a oven baked sweet potato fry recipe that I found here:
http://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/guaranteed-crispy-sweet-potato-fries-sriracha-mayo-dip/

I'll let you know how it turns out! :)

PS- I am almost in tears... for ME the sweet potatoes didn't turn out. It burned & stuck and before I could flip it over-- the sweat potato tore off the bottom just leaving a soggy sweet potato stick. Sigh. Maybe I did something wrong, but this recipe didn't give me my desired results...

Bolognese Sauce

I'm working on a new recipe. I've used plain ground beef.. I've used meatloaf mix.... and what I found was that a bolognese is wonderful because I can achieve the same wonderful- rich taste without having to have to brown tons of different meats (meatballs, veal, pork ribs, sausages).
So, tentatively, I have planned:

2 Large cans of Tutteroso tomato sauce
fresh Basil
fresh Garlic
ground beef
meatloaf mix
sausage that I will uncase and chop up
oregano

I'll let you know, once I play around with this-- how it turns out. :)

Deep Dish Stuffed Crust Pizza

I was born and raised on the East coast-- I knew nothing of this deep dished stuffed crust pizza... until I took a trip out to Chicago to visit a friend. Then I was introduced to Giordano's... As much as I love my NY thin crust pizza-- the deep dish stuffed crust pizza rocked my world! On my quest to make anything and everything I'm ever in the mood for I worked on nailing my deep dish stuffed crust pizza recipe and I GOT IT! Not, close-- I'm saying as exact as humanly possible without having worked there. Ok, here's what I do.

You need a deep dish pizza pan.

Preheat the oven to 475.

I make pizza dough in a bread machine & follow the bread machine's pizza dough recipe. It is really good. I make the 2lbs recipe and divide it in two when it is finished.

Use extra virgin olive oil and evenly coat the bottom and the inside walls of the pan.

I evenly roll out or stretch out the dough and make sure the dough comes over the sides (bottom crust).

Then I lay sliced mozzerella cheese on the bottom and then put in my filling.
Today I'm just going to take frozen spinach- defrost it and squeeze out all the water before putting it in. I've also taken bits of sausage and added it... but you can put whatever toppings you want in there.
Then take the second piece of pizza dough- stretch/roll it out on top of your filling and crimp it together with the bottom crust that you (hopefully) pulled up around the sides of the pan.
I make a couple of slits on the top crust to let steam out.
THEN I add tomato sauce- where I sprinkle oregano, basil, garlic, salt & pepper AND drizzle some more olive oil on
Last step- I top it with cheese- grated or shredded.

Bake that off for 30 minutes.

You'll love this one!

If anyone is interested in me posting the pizza dough bread machine recipe I use, feel free to email me at diycookingnation@yahoo.com and I'll be happy to post it!!!

ENJOY!!!

Chicken with Creamy Herb Sauce

So, tonight I'm making one of the first recipes I tried out at home BEFORE I went to culinary school-- to get practice in the kitchen. It's ok. I think more than it being awesome yummy, it brings back a lot of memories... Don't get me wrong- it's a good recipe. :)

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-with-creamy-herb-sauce-10000000438480/

I still have it in it's original copy-- a Family.com/Disney Online... Cooking Light recipe. :) (1998?)

I think I'm going to pair it with some wild rice & some green beans.
I defrosted a whole large package of chicken and will use the leftover defrosted chicken for my dinner tomorrow of the Amish Chicken Corn bake...

I'm also making a Vegetable Stir Fry Rice... I have Baby Bellas, green & yellow squash, red peppers, celery, onions, garlic... I think that'll be my dinner for like two days...

Tomorrow the family will have the Amish Chicken Corn bake and I will eat the veg stir fry, but also cook lentils (for pasta) and freeze the entire batch. :) I love cooking and putting aside to freeze... I've got pulled pork & beef barley soup frozen already from previous dinners this week.

Anyone had any success freezing rice?

Father's Day Dinner

At my husband's request I'm going to be making fresh pasta & a quick marinara...

Here are the recipes:

Pasta (thank you Lidia Matticchio's "Rich Man Pasta")

2C- Flour
9 Yolks (or 2/3C)
2T- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2T- Water

I basically do a slow kneed, plastic wrap it until I'm ready to use it-- bring it back up to room temperature & pass it through the pasta machine...


Marinara (mine)
I'm going to use extra virgin olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan (2T?), about 4 big cloves of garlic (minced).. I'm just going to sweat them before they start to brown &then add Tutterosso tomato sauce. I'll add some salt, pepper, fresh basil leaves (chopped), and some oregano... If I really feel fancy I'll throw in some marjoram... That gets stirred a bit so the herbs & garlic sort of settle into the tomato sauce. I'm actually NOT even going to be using a whole can-- because the pasta comes out so delicate, it doesn't even need sauce! A little butter and grated cheese are excellent on that pasta...

National FUDGE DAY!!!

I love fudge. There really is no two ways about it. I realized that fudge has a lot of history with me. I always associate fudge with my mom. She & I would go to PA and go see Bushkill falls, or New Hope, or Lancaster & I would ALWAYS get fudge as my "souvenir". I usually got rocky road... that was my favorite. If my mother would let me splurge & get a trio or flavors I'd branch out and get a maple fudge or something else... but, the rocky road was pretty standard. It almost always came in this little box, individually wrapped in parchment paper with a plastic knife. I would hold on to that fudge FOREVER. My theory as a kid was that I loved it so much I didn't want it to go away-- so I would literally eat it, a crumb at a time... I would save eating it in large qualities on days I really wanted to indulge, but usually it was my standard crumb. The fudge would last forever, it seemed. It would start to get hard by the end & I would generally make the decision to just finish it off instead of letting it turn to stone. I have to admit that every time I pass by someone or some store selling fudge I get this overwhelming excitement like "I gotta get fudge, gotta get fudge" but truth be told, I haven't bought any in years. I know that I can make it myself (well, first I need to buy a candy thermometer) but I could make it... I think this one goes under the heading of Too Chicken Poop To Try.... One day I will make it... I went to this festival this past weekend & of course someone was selling fudge.. They had blueberry cheesecake fudge & I thought, you know, that would probably be really good!!! I'm always fascinated with how many different flavors are available with fudge... the combinations are almost endless-- like ice cream...
I hope that one day, all these things that I cook and make at home for my kids-- they grow up having fond memories of things their mother made for them... all these yummy things... homemade pizza, homemade pasta, homemade ice cream... and who knows, maybe homemade fudge...

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/dummy-fudge-recipe/index.html

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/old-time-chocolate-fudge-recipe/index.html

http://cookiesandcups.com/key-lime-fudge/

National Lobster Day...

The only time I ever made a lobster... I wanted to impress a really nice couple- that my husband & I are quite fond of... and I decided to have surf & turf... Lobster & a filet mignon... Well, I had no experience with cooking a lobster & I think I did it all wrong. I tried to shove the live lobster into a boiling pot-- which, obviously- it didn't want to go in.. I ended up having to have the male guest shove the lobster in the pot & hold down the lid to keep from having it jump out. Yeah, as I type-- it's pretty gruesome... I think we all ended up feeling that there had to be an easier way to do this... only until this year did I realize that I should have probably killed the lobster first. Hm. (I should also note that mostly for health reasons, I've switched over to mostly a vegetarian diet-- although as I'm looking up vegetarian websites for cooking inspiration, I remember why I became a vegan many years ago- given how cruely animals are treated & slaughtered... BUT let me also say, this blog is NOT a vegan/vegetarian site- I, not my family, is doing this change in diet... )
Back to lobster though... I live in New England and I have YET to have a "lobstah roll." One of these days I'll have to try one... It's basically a lot of fresh lobster meat, with mayo & maybe some celery on a torpedo/hot dog roll... People love it around here, but like I said, I've yet to try it.
There is this restaurant that on Thursdays sells whole lobsters really cheap. I only got it once. They are chicken lobsters... they are small & mine had a lot of barnacles on it.. I was kinda grossed out...
My MIL usually makes a lot of seafood for Christmas eve & last year I helped her prep lobster tails. Those came out really good-- with butter... My husband doesn't really see what the big deal is about lobster... I enjoy it though... There is another local place that makes lobster pizza which I really like too...
Finally I'm reminded of my FAVORITE Simpsons episode where Homer takes home a lobster that he names Pinchy... Every time Homer looks at the lobster- he sees this loving baby... everytime his wife Marge sees it, she sees this hissing lobster... Homer treats the lobster to risoto & at the end he gives Pinchy a bath- only to have someone point out that he's probably cooking the lobster in the hot water... In the end, Homer is eating his pet... crying and not sharing Pinchy with the rest of his family...

Well, around here- there are rumors that you can go to the docks and buy lobster off the boat. Every time I try to look it up on the internet where to go-- where to park, I find nothing. If I ever go on that adventure in search for lobstah--- I'll definitly update everyone!!

The "Too Chicken Poop To Try" Series..

I'm not sure if I explained this before-- the Too Chicken Poop To Try series came out of all these dishes that I had a preconceived notion that it would be too hard for me to even attempt- so I would just get it at a restaurant if they had it... Things like homemade pizza, pasta, spaetzle, crepes, etc... I thought were out of my reach at home. Since I came to the epiphany a little while back, that the world is my culinary oyster and I can do anything that is out there that I love-- at home, with my own two hands... I keep thinking of things that I've been too chicken to make in the past and put it on my, let's say, bucket list of sorts. Things like, homemade pie crust (I've actually made this a few times, but I haven't made it in years--- again, too chicken poop to try, again... lol), falafel, eggs benedict, etc... are on my ever growing list. Things that I sort of blacklisted in my mind, I sort of trip over again and say- OMG, I was too scared to try this at one point... let me put it on my list. I will conquer it! At the very least, I'll give it a try. :)

If you have anything that you are too chicken poop to try, send me suggestions or recipes at diycookingnation@yahoo.com and I'd love to try it out!!

DIY slow cooker pulled pork (EASY)

A really great friend of mine made this for us one night when both families got together.. I begged her for the recipe. NOW my husband is so in love with the recipe that I has convinced at least 2 other people he knows that didn't have slow cookers to get one JUST for this recipe!!

I use about a 3# Pork Butt
1-2 Large Onions (Vidalia usually)
A 20oz bottle of specifically A&W root beer (I HATE HATE HATE root beer, but read the note at the end)
1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce
Hamburger Buns
(my friend also served this with her favorite coleslaw)

OK, in the slow cooker/crock pot... put your pork butt, slice your onions (dump those in too) and fill the slow cooker to the top with A&W root beer. Slow cook it on low I usually leave mine in over night-- I'm sure I don't have to leave it in that long... When the meat falls apart at gentle touch- strain out the entire mix into a colander. Pick out the bones and put all the meat and onions back into the pot. Shred (or I just really gently push the meat apart with a wooden spoon) and then dump as much BBQ sauce as you'd like. We use almost an entire bottle of BBQ sauce...

Serve it on buns... & add coleslaw if you like...
I've actually found the recipe on the internet... but it'll always be my friend Ms. Nicole's recipe! :)

Random Ramblings...

It's 7am. It's pouring outside. It's felt like fall for the past few days instead of spring/summer. Last night it was so cold- I pulled out the blanket I had put away from the winter & snuggled up with it. For tonight's dinner I already have the pulled pork cooking in the slow cooker (I'll post the recipe next)... I have some salad & the last of my sushi bowl in the fridge for my dinner. My kitchen is littered with all the "dry" goods that I haven't put away yet since I went grocery shopping late last night. Because I have so many meals already planned out, I'm so tempted to just snuggle in and have a cooking marathon & freeze everything-- except, my freezer is full :(
A friend on a group I run suggested to do a very easy recipe for my 3 year old son to make. You take an Angel Food Cake box mix that calls for water only to be added & instead, you add a can of crushed pineapple to it (20oz I believe). This would be great for him because he likes to "cook" and he loves to eat what he makes... LOL!
Of all the things I'm a little nervous about (although i shouldn't be) is the eggplant lasagna. I've never made a lasagna-- well, wait, I have... just with no cook noodles (which taste like poop if you ask me). Here is my mini rant of the day. Store bought dried pasta tastes like cardboard. It has absolutely no taste. The only taste you get is whatever else you've made-- a marinara, cheese, etc... It's like filler for your stomach. Once I started making my own pasta from scratch-- I felt like the best sauces I make are wasted on such an inferior product... ALTHOUGH that being said... I have two kids UNDER 4 so I don't always have time to make dough, let it rest & roll it out. That & the supermarket had a sale where each box of a Barilla was a dollar. I usually use a lot of egg yolks in my pasta dough that make it so delicate & delicious--- but I bet I'm putting in more than a dollar into the ingredients. :P
Well, that's my rant for the day.... and my morning ramblings... I haven't finished my coffee so my thoughts tend to be jumbled  before I finish...

National Peanut Butter Cookie Day!!

Here is the BEST peanut butter cookie recipe. I actually don't like peanut butter cookies because they tend to be dry & crumbly. These are, by far the best I've ever had.

1 1/2C- Butter
1 1/2C- Peanut Butter
1 1/2C- Sugar
1 1/2C- B. Sugar (packed)
3 Eggs
3C- Flour
1 1/2tea- B. Soda
1 package of Peanut Butter Chips

Cream the butter through the eggs... Combine it with the Flour & B. Soda... Fold in the PB chips.

350 oven (I forgot to write down the time- so you'll have to keep a watchful eye on the first batch to figure it out)

Menus 6-12-12

I've planned a bunch of things in the up coming weeks, here is a list of all the dinner ideas I have for my family:

Beef Barley Soup (+ homemade bread)
Hamburgers
Lentils & Pasta
Amish Chicken & Corn Bake
Black Bean Burgers & Rice Balls
Chinese Fried Rice (Vegetable)
Pulled Pork
Chicken with Creamy Herb Sauce
*Father's Day surprise of NY Style Coffee Crumb Cake
Chicken Riggies
Homemade pizza
Bolognese Sauce
Marinara Sauce
Eggplant Lasagna
Chicken Chili (modified- without the chicken)
Sushi Rice Bowl
Angel Food Cake with Pineapple
Ice pops/pudding pops (There is definitely going to be a chocolate banana pudding pop in our future!)

Amish Chicken & Corn Bake

I have a huge respect for Amish cuisine. It's hearty & stick to your ribs goodness. This recipe I got out of one of my many Amish cookbooks is SUPER yummy and a favorite at this household!

2C- Macaroni, cooked
2T- Butter
2T- Flour
Salt & Pepper
2C- Milk
1C- Chicken Broth
3C- Chicken, diced
2C- Corn

4T- Butter
1C- Bread Crumbs

In a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes (grease pan)

Melt Butter. Stir in flour & seasonings. Gradually add milk & chicken broth. Bring to the boiling point- stir constantly until thickened.

Mix together the macaroni, white sauce, chicken & corn. Pour into greased dish.

Stir bread crumbs into melted butter & sprinkle over casserole.


YUM YUM YUMM-O!

Don't forget to write to diycookingnation@yahoo.com OR post a comment if you try it out!!

Father's Day Breakfast

My husband is from NY and I know he LOVES NY Style Crumb Cake with coffee... so that's what I'm planning on making for him for Father's Day morning...

http://www.food.com/recipe/new-york-style-crumb-cake-americas-test-kitchen-360198

That's the recipe I'm going to try... will let you all know how it turns out!!!

6- 16-12 UPDATE: I can tell you that making this "crumb" topping took a VERY long time... It has finished baking... I can also tell you that the smell is AMAZING! I upped the cinnamon to 1 full teaspoon instead of 3/4tea. I haven't powdered sugar it yet or tried it... that'll be for tomorrow morning... :) I would NOT have been able to make this tomorrow morning before breakfast... It also took the full 40 minutes to bake.

Father's Day update: Ok, so we finally tried it. Here's the final feedback. 1. I think I made the crumbles too big & I would have pressed them down into the cake before baking it off. 2. The cake is a bit dry... the ones in NY are very moist. Overall I give it a B+ The flavor in the crumb I thought was spot on, but the cake lacked moisture and a little bit of flavor. Overall it was pretty good.

"Too Chicken Poop to Try" Part 3: Crepes

I had a lot of crepes as a child & as I grew up I would almost always order them at restaurants. When I got married I decided I wanted a crepe pan and there is stayed, unused because I was too chicken poop to try and make them myself. I thought it was too difficult and didn't even attempt it, until one day I gave it a try.
Here is the recipe I use:

2C- Flour
1/4C- Sugar
1/2tea- Salt
2C- Milk
2- Eggs
1-2T- Butter
Vanilla (or other) extract

The key to this recipe is trying to leave the batter alone for a minimum of a half hour- you could make this the night before too!

The hardest part of making a crepe is pouring it in the pan and swirling it around. Use a flat pan (you don't have to necessarily have a crepe pan, but you need one that is flat & a decent size- maybe an 8" nonstick pan), pour your batter in the middle-- off the heat, twirl it around until you've spread it out to the outsides of the pan. I use a rubber spatula to flip it over once (I usually like mine beginning to brown). Serve it hot-- with, gosh the fillings are limitless (fruit, jam, syrup, powdered sugar, butter, etc...).

DIY Bread Dipping Sauce

1T- Fresh Basil, minced
1T- Fresh Parsley, chopped
1T- Fresh Garlic, minced
1tea- Thyme
1tea- Oregano
1tea- Black Pepper
1/2tea- Salt
1/4tea- Crushed Red Pepper

Olive Oil & Fresh Lemon Juice

Ok, there are 2 ways you can do this. You can take all the above (minus the thyme) and put it into a food processor- mince it all, put it into a jar... leave it in your fridge and use a teaspoon full when mixed with Olive Oil & Lemon Juice.

You can make this all out of dried herbs & powders and keep it in a jar... it'll last longer AND it's easier to give as a gift.

I would try to use the fresh lemon juice as well as the olive oil if I'm using fresh herbs.

DIY Sausage Gravy

To go with those Buttermilk Biscuits...

8oz Sausage (out of casing)
2T- Butter
2T- Flour
2C- Milk (plus more as needed)
Pepper (if your sausage isn't spicy)

Crumble all your sausage and saute it. When it's done cooking, put it in a bowl. Don't drain the pan out.

Add some butter (2T) and begin to scrape the bottom of the pan. Add your flour and cook on medium heat until it's golden brown (about 3 minutes).... constantly scraping the bottom of the pan.

Add your milk, whisk to dissolve any lumps that developed and simmer it on low heat- stir it a lot.... until it becomes thick (about 20 minutes).

Add pepper (and salt if you really want it). If it becomes too thick, you can always add more milk.

Return the sausage crumbles back to the gravy & serve over delicious buttermilk biscuits!!

DIY Pecan Pie Filling!

Mix:

3- Eggs
1C- Brown Sugar
1C- Light Corn Syrup
1tea- Vanilla Extract
1/4tea- Salt
2T- Butter, melted
3T- Rum or Bourbon

2C- Pecans, toasted

Fill a 9" unbaked pie shell with the mixture, then add the pecans on top.
Bake 350 for at least 40 minutes.

(From my favorite farm, Sweet Berry Farm)

"Too Chicken Poop to Try" Part 2: DIY homemade French Fries

French fries, who doesn't love them? I can tell you whole heatedly the thought of making my own French fries scared the poop out of me. Frying... I hate it- I don't really want to mess anything up... I didn't have a clue how to make them. Seriously- it's so easy, once you do it-- you won't want to buy pre-made ones again.. in fact, if you're that much in the mood for fries, you'll WAIT until you can make them fresh again. They aren't hard to do- they just take some time to do.

Here's how I made them:

I used Russet Potatoes (they are firmer than Yellow Gold) and gosh, I cut them into match stick size (although last night I cut them and some looked like match sticks and others looked like steak fries... they all tasted good LOL)
After I cut them to desired shape, I put them in a bowl of cold water and left them in the fridge. Yesterday I did this after breakfast and just left them until a couple of hours BEFORE I wanted to make them. So, I would say about 4 hours before I wanted to serve them- I took the raw fries and put them on a cookie sheet wire cooling rack (not layered) to begin drying. I left them out for about an hour and then I took a bunch of paper towels and towel dried the fries as dry as I could and then left them out again before I started to try them.
So, it depends on how many fries you make and how big your pot is. Here is the key. You need to put a good quantity of a neutral oil in the pot (think vegetable oil- or another oil that doesn't have any strong flavor to it). I put mine on medium heat and fried the french fries in batches (you want your fries to be completely covered by oil) for about 6-9 minutes. You are basically cooking them, but they will appear raw still.. That's ok, remove the fries (they are actually safe to eat at this point, although quite mushy). Finish all your "pre-cooking" batches and then go back and re-fry them. This time you're going to make them crunchy. I turned up my heat to high at this point and it took me about 5 minutes per batch... you'll see them start to turn golden at this point. Cook until the desired color/crunchiness and I put my finished fries in a bowl with paper towels at the bottom (to catch any excess oil-- but usually there isn't much). If you want to toss some salt- do so WHEN THEY ARE HOT. Even if you don't want "salty" fries, I still recommend adding a pinch of salt over them.

Not, if they aren't sickeningly good enough when they are hot and freshly made-- keep your leftover fries--- THEY'RE STILL VERY TASTY THE NEXT DAY!!!

Watermelon

I bought a whole watermelon because it was on sale-- I cut it open a week later (still good, actually- great-- super sweet) and I'm wondering how many things can I put this in because I have SO MUCH! Cold watermelon slices are great, but I pureed it and made popsicles out of them (we've having them tonight after dinner) and I have a reserve of pureed watermelon on hand... what am I going to do with it? I'm thinking I'll make a watermelon based spritzer for sure & then... well, I guess I'm going to work on it!