Make Your Own Watermelon Syrup

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Thoroughly scrub the outside of the fruit with a vegetable brush (this is particularly important if you're using store-bought produce . . . in which case you might want to peel the skin away entirely to avoid possible spray residues). Next slice the green globes into halves, then quarters, and finally inch-wide strips or cubes.

Some folks prefer to cut and use the entire melon—rind and all—or you can simply spoon out and save just the pulp . . . in which case your syrup will be a somewhat lighter honey-toned color. In any event, always be sure to hold the juicy pieces of melon over a bowl or dish as you work, to catch and retain every drop of liquid nectar.

Next pick all the seeds from the pink flesh (a job which can be called either horrendously messy or wonderfully messy, depending on your own particular psychological makeup). Set the little nuggets aside to dry—for use in next year's garden—and put the cleaned seedless chunks of pulp into as many bowls as you need to hold all the melon you've cut up.

Now you can proceed to extract the bulk of the juice from the chunks of fruit. And it doesn't matter how you do it: You can put the melon through a crank-type food grinder or mill, an electric blender (slow going, but the results are satisfactory), or—if you're lucky enough to own one—a vegetable juicer.

(Then again, if you happen to be attracted to a certain amount of old-time revelry, you might just pour the whole mess into a vat, take off your shoes and socks, and stomp the pulp into submission. This latter alternative, however, is not the most sanitary . . . and the end product should not be offered to friends or neighbors without due warning.)

Once the melon has been thoroughly ground, mashed, milled, or blenderized, pour the gooey mass directly into a colander, and press the liquid through the strainer and into containers . . . pots, pans, wide-mouth bottles, anything you have on hand. Chances are you'll need every vessel you can find. (A considerable volume of juice is required to make a supply of watermelon nectar. On the other hand, think of the poor fellow who manufactures maple syrup. The sap from his trees frequently contains only about three percent or less sugar, whereas melon juice tests out at nearly ten percent. So, while a producer of maple sugar usually needs a full forty—and sometimes as many as eighty—quarts of "starter" to make a quart of his or her finished product, you need only seven! You've got a head start before you even begin.)

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