[1] Watermelon sticks are easier to eat than wedges (photo © The Girl Who Ate Everything).

[2] Viva Signature Cloth Paper Towels are the best-absorbing paper towels (photo © Viva Paper Towels).

Watermelon slices are typically served in large triangle that require two hands—or a knife and fork.

Such a juicy fruit may be delicious, but it’s messy. We use Viva Signature Cloth Paper Towels to hold with the wedge, instead of a napkin.

But we discovered this trick from The Girl Who Ate Everything: Cut sticks instead of wedges.

The smaller sticks, 1-inch square, can be held with one hand, and the smaller size diminishes the amount of juice rolling down.

Just eat several sticks instead of one wedge!

Click the link above to see how The Girl does it, or watch this video from The Watermelon Board.
 
 
VIVA SIGNATURE CLOTH PAPER TOWELS

For years we’d been brand-loyal to Bounty Paper Towels as the best-absorbing.

But move over, bounty: Viva Signature Cloth Paper Towels are absolutely the best-absorbing (thanks to reader Laurel for introducing us to them).

Viva makes three types of paper towels. Make sure to buy the Signature Cloth.
 
 
> Watermelon History

> Watermelon Tips

> Watermelon Recipes: Desserts, Drinks, Salads & More

[1] Just add tea leaves to sparkling water. It couldn’t be easier (photo © In Pursuit Of Tea).

[2] A wonderful book for a tea lover. Find it on Amazon.

Our last recipe was for summer cocktails, but if you prefer a mocktail, try this sparkling tea recipe.

The cold-brew tea recipe came to us from the artisan tea purveyors at In Pursuit Of Tea.

They got the idea from Timothy d’Offay of Postcard Teas, London’s finest tea store and a must-visit for tea lovers.

Tim published the recipe in his book, Easy Leaf Tea: Tea House Recipes to Make at Home (photo #2).

If you like this sparkling tea, get the book to check out Tim’s other drink recipes.

In Pursuit Of Tea says, “With good tea and good bubbles, you get a surprisingly complex, almost beer- or champagne-like drink.

“It tastes refreshing and sophisticated, like something you’d pay [a lot] for at a nice restaurant—except you made it at home for the price of a Pellegrino (or a Gerolsteiner, if you want to get crazy).

“Choose a bright, aromatic tea. [We used] a spring Darjeeling 1st Flush harvest from the Jungpana Estate, one of our favorites, though a snappy green or silky white [tea] would also be delightful.”

Bonus: zero calories!
 
 
RECIPE: SPARKLING ICED TEA MOCKTAIL

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. OPEN the bottle of mineral water, pour out a bit (or drink it from the bottle) to free up some space for blending in the tea.

2. USE a funnel to add the tea leaves to the bottle. Reseal tightly and gently turn upside down oncey, to mix.

3. CHILL in the fridge for 4 hours. Strain and serve in wine glasses.
 
 
> Tea Glossary: Tea Terminology & The Different Types Of Tea

> The History Of Tea

We use weekends to try new cocktail recipes.

Restaurateur and chef Art Smith made these summery cocktails on a recent episode of his show, “Healthy Comfort,” an IGTV Show.

We give them both a thumbs-up.

Should you happen to have blueberry vodka or cucumber vodka, certainly substitute them for the plain vodka in the recipes.en
 
 
COCKTAIL #1: CHEF ART SMITH’S BLUEBERRY LIME SMASH

Ingredients For One Extra-Large Drink

 
Preparation

1. FILL an Old Fashioned glass with cracked ice, to chill. Purée the blueberries in a blender or food processor.

2. MUDDLE in a mixing glass the simple syrup and four of the quartered lime wedges. Press to extract the juice without forcing the rind from the lime.

3. TRANSFER the ice from the Old Fashioned glass into the mixing glass, add the vodka and shake. Pour the entire drink with the ice into the chilled glass and garnish with 4 lime quarters

 
 
COCKTAIL #2: CHEF ART SMITH’S CUCUMBER-MINT FRUIT COOLER

Ingredients For 1 Pitcher
 
For The Cucumber Juice

 
Garnishes

Use extra amounts of the previous ingredients as garnishes. You can make a pick with grapes and kiwi, for example. Chef Smith squeezes some additional lime juice onto the drink.

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the cucumbers, grapes, kiwi, mint, lime juice and water in a blender. Blend until puréed (super-smooth).

2. PLACE a fine-mesh strainer over a large bowl or pitcher. Pour the purée through the strainer into the bowl/pitcher. Press on the pulp to extract as much juice as possible. Discard the pulp.

3. FILL a pitcher with ice and pour in the cucumber juice. Mix in the cup of chilled vodka.

4. GARNISH the glasses (Old Fashioned) as desired and serve.

[1] Chef Art Smith’s summer cocktails: Blueberry Lime Smash and Cucumber Mint Cooler (photo © Chef Art Smith).

[2] Frozen blueberries (photo © Our Harvest).

[3] Seedless cucumbers. See the footnote below for the types (photo © Markus Winkler | Unsplash).

[4] Fresh spearmint (photo © Good Eggs).

*Seedless cucumbers have tender flesh, with a thin, edible peel and tiny or no seeds. Some stores sell them as a burpless cucumber, European cucumber, hothouse cucumber or seedless cucumber.

We love these summer rolls from the California Avocado Commission. It is adapted from Thai summer roll recipes.

Made with gluten-free rice paper, rice noodles, lettuce and pickled vegetables, it is light and refreshing: great summer fare.

You can make a lunch of them, snack on them, or serve them with summer drinks: iced tea, lemonade, frozen cocktails…plus wine and beer.

The recipe makes 12 spring rolls, which can be cut in thirds or sixths (photo #1) for bites. We can easily eat two whole rolls for lunch.

If you don’t want the spicy sambal condiment, you can use peanut dipping sauce.

You can also add chicken or shrimp—or substitute either for the avocado.
 
 
RECIPE: CALIFORNIA AVOCADO SUMMER ROLLS

Ingredients

 
Ingredients For The Pickled Vegetable Mixture (3 Cups)

 
Ingredients For Sambal Paste (1½ Cups) — Photo #3

 
Preparation

1. MAKE the pickled vegetables the day before (or longer): Place the carrots, green onions, and cucumber in a heatproof bowl. Combine the vinegar, sugar, water, coriander, chili flakes and bay leaf in a saucepan. Bring to a boil.

2. POUR the vinegar mixture over the vegetables and allow to cool for 2 hours at room temperature. Refrigerate for at least 12 hours to pickle.
House Sambal:

3. MAKE the sambal (we purchased a jar of it sambal). If making from scratch, combine all ingredients in a commercial blender. Process on low speed for coarse texture.

4. ASSEMBLE: Working one at a time, moisten a spring roll wrapper with water until it’s pliable and easy to work with. Place 2 Bibb lettuce leaves on the wrapper, 1 inch from the edge closest to you. Layer on 3 avocado slices, 1 tablespoon of Thai basil, 1 tablespoon of mint, ¼ cup pickled vegetable mixture, and ¼ cup cooked rice vermicelli.

5. STARTING with the edge closest to you, tightly roll the spring roll. Trim ¼” off each end, then cut into 6 equal pieces. Repeat with remaining spring roll wrappers.

6. PLATE each roll (6 pieces) standing up, and serve with 2 tablespoons of the sambal.
 
________________

*If you can’t find Bibb, you can substitute Boston lettuce, but the leaves are larger. You can also use red or green leaf lettuce, which are also larger leaves and will need to be torn to size.

†A large avocado averages about 8 ounces. If using smaller or larger avocados, adjust the quantity accordingly.

‡Thai basil has notes of anise and is slightly spicy. It works well with Southeast Asian recipes. If you can’t find Thai basil (best place is a farmers market), use conventional Italian basil (a.k.a. sweet basil) and add a few fresh mint sprigs to the recipe. However…since the recipe above already includes mint leaves, you don’t have to add more mint.

‡‡Xanthan gum is a common food additive used as a thickener or stabilizer. It binds ingredients together so they don’t separate. Many dressings, sauces and other products use it to prevent separation and increase the thickness of the product.

[1] Avocado summer rolls (photo and recipe © California Avocado Commission).

[2] Slice avocado wedges (photo © Love One Today).

[3] Sambal sauce (photo © McCormick).

[4] Carrots are julienned, then pickled overnight with scallions and cucumbers (photo © Juniart | Panther Media).

[5] Spring roll wrappers also called rice paper wrappers, can be purchased at any Asian food store or online (photo © Three Ladies | Amazon).

[1] Open-face Caprese sandwich for breakfast or brunch (photos #1 and #4 © Stella Cheese).

[2] Mozzarella, tomatoes and basil are the components of “everything” Caprese. Check out the recipes (photo © S Vario Photo | Panther Media).

[3] The same concept turns into crostini for snacks or cocktails. Here’s the recipe (photo © DeLallo).

[4] Thanks to Stella Mozzarella for the breakfast sandwich recipe.

August is National Sandwich Month.

Usually, we head to our Sandwich Glossary and pick a different type of sandwich each time we make one.

Go beyond the everyday tuna or grilled cheese to something more celebratory, bánh mì or a Croque Monsieur?

With the beautiful summer tomatoes at hand, we’re adding them to every type of sandwich.

Here, an open-faced sandwich for breakfast or brunch—although you can have one any time.

Think of it as a variation of Eggs Benedict or a sophisticated Egg McMuffin.

If you’d rather have a more conventional sandwich, make a:

 
And check our:

 
 
RECIPE: CAPRESE BREAKFAST & BRUNCH SANDWICH

Ingredients For 4 Open-Face Sandwiches

 
Preparation

1. THINLY SLICE the tomatoes and mozzarella. Lightly toast the English muffins (this can be done while you continue prepping).

2. POACH the eggs: Add a few inches of water to a cooking pot and bring to a light simmer. Add the white vinegar and swirl lightly.

3. CRACK the eggs and slowly guide them into the swirling water. Allow them to cook for 2-3 minutes (the whites should be firm but flexible when removed).

4. REMOVE the eggs from the pot with a slotted spoon and carefully air-dry them on paper towels.

5. TOP one side of the toasted English muffins with a slice of mozzarella, tomato and poached egg. Add the basil, and lightly drizzle with balsamic. Garnish with a grind of black pepper.
 

MORE CAPRESE RECIPES

It’s more than salad. How about Caprese sandwiches and pasta?