It’s so hot outside and I’m meeeelting—but not for long. There is a big jug of Mexican agua de sandia (watermelon water) in the refrigerator to cool me off. Simple to make, this irresistible, brilliant pink thirst-quencher requires a big ripe watermelon, a little sugar, a couple of sprigs of mint if you’re feeling fancy—and a blender. Oh, how I love my blender in the summer.

There is no hard and fast recipe as the proportions of juice to sugar are up to you. How much juice do you want—a simple pitcher full or a spouted jug big enough for a group? Know that nine pounds of watermelon yields approximately 8 cups of agua de sandia. Adding sugar depends on the sweetness of your melon and personal preference. Usually 1 to 1½ cups does the trick for this size melon.

Ripeness is key to the taste of agua de sandia. Selecting a good watermelon and cubing it for juicing is easy with the illustrated, step-by-step tips included in my May 25 blog entry, Sweet, Salty, Simply Summer: My Favorite Watermelon Salad.

When making juice, I always set-up a simple station and work in batches: 1) bowl of cubed watermelon; 2) blender for liquefying the watermelon and 3) a metal strainer set over a bowl or wide-mouth jug to remove any pulp. When completed refrigerate the juice for 2–4 hours or until icy cold.

Serve the agua de sandia in tall glasses with a sprig of mint—or not. (Although, I must say that this gorgeous pink drink with scented green mint is good for the soul on a hot day like today.)

I don’t know about you, but I’m heading out to a shady spot in the garden with a good book and glass in hand. And if I’m lucky, a cool ocean breeze with blow in soon. If not, another glass should do the trick.

Homemade guacamole is pure sunshine on a chip! There is nothing better on a blistering hot day, except maybe guacamole plus an icy cold beer.

Over the years I’ve fine-tuned my recipe for maximum flavor, texture and color. To my mind it’s a perfect balance of avocados, tomatoes, chiles, scallions, cilantro, salt and pepper— all pulled together with fresh lime juice. The secret to success is perfectly ripe avocados. Accept nothing less or you’ll end up with a bowl of flavorless goop.
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The bunny has come and gone. The family egg hunt and brunch is over. I, on the other hand have a truckload of green bunny grass to clean up and a dozen colored eggs left in the fridge.

Call me weird but the only thing on my mind at the moment is an egg salad sandwich.

I absolutely love them and the day after Easter–it’s my kind of “holiday”. The recipe is simple and delicious with a bit of Dijon mustard and green scallions for kick and crunch. The fun comes when chopping up the leftover eggs stained brilliant shades of blue, green, pink, orange and yellow. Edible confetti.

Easter egg salad has been a family favorite at my house since the kids were tiny. As toddlers, they dropped and cracked lots of eggs on their way in and out of the dye pots. When peeling the eggs, we all discovered the interiors were stained the same colors! What fun. From then on everyone began cracking and peeling the eggs and a tradition was born.

Today, Sammy kept buzzing around the kitchen waiting for me to whip up the egg salad for lunch. Silly boy. I put him to work.

Before he knew it, I pulled up the stool and handed him an egg to peel. Let’s make this together.

Here, let me show you how to chop the egg with a big, sharp knife. Don’t worry, I’ll hold your hand.

Place the eggs, mayo, mustard, scallions and salt and pepper in the bowl. Mix it up gently.

Now spread it all around the first piece of bread. It’s OK to slop it over a little.

“Here, Ma—I made you a sandwich—it’s the best one ever.” And so it was, for more than one reason.

Print out a copy of Easter Egg Salad Sandwiches for your convenience.

Colored Easter eggs make me smile.

I hide them in the in the grass for the kids to find on Easter morning…

…and in the trees for the pure joy of seeing their smiles.

We’ve cooked and colored dozens of eggs for our Beyond Wonderful photo shoots in the last couple of weeks. One thing is for sure: truly beautiful Easter eggs are more than shell deep.

I have a simple, no fuss way that consistently produces the creamiest, best-tasting hard-cooked eggs on the planet. No more flavorless overcooked, dry, green-tinged yolks. Yuck!

It’s easy and stress-free! I promise.

First, something I learned the hard way years ago: fresh eggs are not your friend here. They are totally difficult if not impossible to peel. Use the older eggs in your refrigerator or buy them three to ten days before hard-cooking.

Place your eggs—straight from the refrigerator—into a saucepan. Add just enough cold water to cover the eggs by 2 inches. Bring to a boil.

Remove them from the heat and cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid. Let the eggs sit 11–12 minutes. Drain.

Increase the sitting time if you’re cooking a large number of eggs.

Plunge the eggs into ice water to stop the cooking process. That’s it! You’re done.

Call the kids! It’s time to start dying and decorating these beauties.

When finished, store the eggs in the refrigerator up to 7 days. Peeled eggs should be eaten the same day although they never last that long around the Beyond Wonderful team.

Head to the kitchen! A basket full of colored, hard-cooked eggs means the most wonderful egg salad for sandwiches for lunch.

Happy Easter!

Print out my illustrated, step-by-step instructions on Perfect Hard-Cooked Eggs.

How can one little ol’ coconut cupcake give so much pleasure?

Could it be the irresistible cream cheese frosting thickly slathered over the top and sprinkled with strands of sweet coconut?

Or is it the small piece of moist, melt-in-your mouth yellow buttermilk cake hidden just below? Break it open and look at its soft buttery crumb… then breathe in the delicate vanilla scent.

How can this little bit of coconut heaven get any better?

A brilliant, celebratory candle and a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday do it for me.

And when tossing and turning just after midnight wondering if you should get up and indulge: do it! Go quietly without guilt. Scoop, lick and savor every last crumb. Being naughty is so much fun!

Print a copy of my Coconut Cupcake with Ultimate Cream Cheese Frosting recipes for your convenience.