d.i.y. frappucino: summer comfort food V

Make way too much coffee in the morning, and make it really strong. Freeze the extra in ice cube trays, then pop the cubes into a bag in the freezer. Add more every day. One fine day, or one not-so-fine day, toss coffee cubes in a blender with milk, soy milk, or water. Add a little sweetness or don’t. Add a little chocolate sauce or don’t. Add a little ice cream (sigh) or don’t.

Aren’t leftovers beautiful?

melon pops: summer comfort food IV

Once apon a time, my love for fresh foods nearly ran away with me, and I found myself with a large piece of watermelon—okay, half a watermelon—getting riper and over-riper by the day. I looked at it. I sighed that I am unable to eat half a watermelon in one sitting, or two sittings, and the texture was beginning to get grainy and disappointing.

So I did what any fruit lover would do, at least any fruit lover with a blender: I pureed the watermelon. (I have a fabulous blender. It liquefies the seeds.) After a cold glass of watermelon juice, I poured the rest into ice cube trays. After watermelon ice/sorbet came watermelon smoothies, then the watermelon popsicles. None of it tasted grainy, and every variation was better than the last.

There’s a giant watermelon on my counter, across the room…