Watermelon Aguas Fresca...

Watermelon Aguas Fresca or watermelon water. It is a standard in Mexico and Southern California. It is sold on street corners and in Restaurants. Aguas Fresca can be made out of any juicy fruit. Peach, Cantalope, Mango, any Berry or Watermelon. Watermelon Aguas Fresca or Agua de Sandia in Spanish literally translates to watermelon water. It can be made with a strong watermelon flavor or watered down. I made mine with about a cup of water. Some recipes call for up to 4 cups of water. Just taste it and decide. I boiled my cup with 1 cup of sugar, making a simple syrup to add to the strained juice.

            This beverage is so easy it is childs play...This is how we cut a watermelon fast at the restaurant...just cut off both ends then....

just skin down the sides, finished in a minutes time.... and cut into cubes...

put cubes in the blender and blend very, very well....

Like this, really puree it....

pour through fine mesh strainer, into a pitcher and repeat, until all the watermelon in juiced..

boil 1 cup of sugar with one cup of water, the sugar can be reduced, depending on how sweet you want your drink...

beautiful color....

 

then pour in the simple syrup you made ....

 

then squeeze in the juice of one lime or lemon....

then take all the rind and pulp and place in a bowl and go outside to the compost pile....look behind to make sure your chickens are following...this is Rusty and Daisy...

see? Not only do you have a cool treat on a summer day so does your chickens! This is Daisy taking a big gulp...

there is plenty for the Houdans and Java....

Rusty chased them away...(yep this is really what I do for fun, follow my chickens around)

 oh....This is where the old compost pile was...this spring squash, beans and potatoes started growing so I had to move the pile over a bit....

 

Watermelon Aguas Fresca...Perfect!

 

Cheers to Happy  !!

Mexican Chocolate Cheesecake...

I wish you could all have a bite of this! You would love it so much! The cinnamon is perfect in it...the hint of chili powder, you don't taste until the very end, and then you would only know if someone told you. The chili powder enhances the other ingredients. When purchasing the chili powder you want a Mexican chili powder. I used a chipotle powder. If you use your standard chili powder that you use in chili it has salt and garlic in it also. So nix-ay on that...

Mexican Chocolate Cheesecake

Crust
1 1/2 cups crushed chocolate wafer cookies
3/4 tsp  ground cinnamon
3 tbsp.  butter or margarine, melted
Filling
1 1/2 cups  chocolate chips
1/2 cup  whipping cream
3 pkgs  cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup  sugar
1/2 tsp  chili powder
1/2 tsp  ground cinnamon
1 tsp  vanilla
3 eggs
 

Method:

• Heat oven to 350ºF.  Spray inside bottom and side of springform pan with cooking spray. In small bowl, mix crust ingredients. Press in bottom of pan. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Reduce oven temperature to 300ºF. Cool crust 10 minutes. º
  
• Meanwhile, in 2-quart saucepan, melt chocolate chips and whipping cream over medium-low heat; stir until smooth. Remove from heat. In large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and the vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, just until blended. Stir in chocolate mixture. Pour filling over crust.
• Bake at 300ºF 1 hour or until edge of cheesecake is set at least 2 inches from edge of pan but center of cheesecake still jiggles slightly. Turn oven off; open oven door 4 inches. Let cheesecake remain in oven 30 minutes. Run small metal spatula around edge of pan to loosen cheesecake. Cool in pan on cooling rack 30 minutes. Refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight.
• To serve, run small metal spatula around edge of pan; carefully remove  side of pan. Cut cheesecake into slices. And serve. 

I found these great chocolate gluten free animal cookies to blend up into the crust. But you can use the chocolate wafers that come in a sleeve in the grocery store.

 

Blend the cookies to the amount of a cup and a half...

place in a bowl and add the cinnamon and the melted butter and toss together...

spread and press in the bottom of a springform pan...

before anything else, start beating and creaming your cream cheese. you will want to start with room temperature and then really cream it, scraping down the sides of the bowl often...

assemble the ingredients...

chocolate and cream melted is a genache ...

nice and smooth...and blurry...

add the sugar and cinnamon and chili powder and vanilla...

again really mix well, scraping down the sides of the bowl...stir in the eggs one at a time, always scraping down the sides of the bowl....

then mix in the chocolate.....scraping down the sides of the bowl...I know I sound like a broken record...but it is important...

pour over the chocolate crust...

place in the oven..bake for 1 hour....

perfect! turn off oven and let it cool in the oven with the door propped open for 30 minutes...

cool on a rack before putting in the refrigerator...best if made the day before...

 

serve with a sprinkle of cocoa powder and whipped cream....I also had some of the left overs with fresh raspberry sauce on it...Yum!

 

Cheers to Happy  !!