Melon Ball Punch

Author: Divas Can Cook

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 25.4 oz Sparkling white grape juice
• 2 cups clear lemon lime flavored soda (I used Sprite)
• 1 cup lemonade (I used Simply)
• 1 small ripe watermelon
• 1 small ripe cantaloupe
• 1 small ripe honeydew melon
• fresh mint leaves
• 2 limes, sliced, plus more for garnish if desired

Source : divascancook.com

Cooking Tips : 

Cooking Can Be Easy! Try These Ideas!

Learning how to cook requires dedication, patience, and a willingness to eat the batches that aren't quite ready for prime time. Learning new techniques for cooking is a life-long learning experience and your education begins here. We've compiled a few tips to help you on your way to cooking success.

Find a dark, cool area in which to store herbs and spices. Moisture, light and heat can affect the flavor of your spices. Herbs and spices generally keep their taste and flavor for about one year. If spices are kept whole, they could stay fresh for up to five years. You must store them correctly in order to maintain their freshness.

To improve your level of convenience in the kitchen, one of the things that you can do is to freeze the excess sauces that you create, in ice cube trays. This will allow you to reheat them when you need sauce again and also to save money on the excess sauce that you kept.

After removing corn from the cob, scrap the cob with the back of your knife. Doing this will extract the "milk" from it. Drizzle the "milk" over the corn to add extra flavor.

Since you are going to be using a lot of sharp knives in the kitchen to cook your meals, you will want to maintain precautions at all times. Instead of simply putting your knife in the drawer, make sure that you put a wine cork on the tip to protect against cuts and scrapes upon use.

Ensure that your baked fish is moist and tender by cooking "en papillote". This is a French technique that refers to fish baked in a parchment-paper packet. Place the fish and vegetables of your choice in the center of a large piece of parchment-paper. Bring the edges of the paper together, crease them tightly to form a seal, and bake for 10 to 15 minutes at 450 degrees. The fish and vegetables steam in the packet, keeping them moist and tender, and creating a tasty, healthy dish. (Clean-up is just as easy - simply throw away the paper after eating!)

When your pasta is done and you are finished draining, pour some Parmesan cheese on top, which will give your sauce something to latch on to. This will make things much easier for you when you are creating your meal and allow you to layer the levels of your pasta.

For the moistest banana bread ever, peel and then freeze the bananas slated for the next loaf. Bananas placed in a covered container in the freezer will absorb moisture from the freezing process and that little extra "juice", goes a long way. Not only will your bread be more moist, it will also have a more intense banana flavor.

You want to cook healthier meals, and one place to consider with regard to changing your menus is in sauces and dressings. Rich, creamy dressings and sauces tend to be extremely unhealthy. You do not need to eliminate these meal-toppers entirely; simply learn how to make lighter, healthier alternatives. Healthier sauces and dressings can go a long way towards making your entire diet healthier.

You don't need to go out and buy an expensive gravy for your dish. Instead, save the juices that your meat creates at the bottom of your pan, and use that as the base for a nice gravy. It's a lot cheaper and can taste great. There are many different recipes available that use this juice to make gravy.

A granite surface is great for thawing frozen foods, usually taking less than half of the time necessary for typical counter top thawing because granite absorbs the cold (and heat) of items placed on top of it so granite literally "sucks out" the cold from your frozen foods. Granite is also an amazing surface for pastry preparation when dusted with a little flour. If you can't afford to redo your kitchen in granite, check out a granite dealer for scrap pieces or have a smaller piece cut and polished for a fraction of the cost of remodeling your kitchen.

There is an easy way to peel garlic. There are many tips and techniques for peeling garlic, but there is a simple way that doesn't involve any fancy gadgets. Take a rubber jar lid gripper and lay it on the counter. Place a clove of garlic on it and fold it over. Using a little pressure, simply roll the garlic clove around a few times inside the rubber gripper, and the skin will instantly be removed.

Although it may be a little bit more expensive, it is wise to get a high-quality olive oil. Just a small amount can help to bring out the flavor meat, fish, pasta, pizza, or whatever else you are making. Cheaper olive oils usually give food a less than desirable flavor.

If you find yourself with part of a loaf of stale bread, don't throw it away or feed it to the birds. Instead, turn it into croutons for a soup or salad by tossing cubes of bread with oil and seasonings and baking them until crispy. You can also turn stale bread into breadcrumbs for many recipes.

To sear a rib-eye, T-bone, strip or other steak to perfection even when you can't fire up the outdoor grill, flip a cast-iron skillet over and broil the steak in your oven. Heat the skillet in a hot oven prior to placing the steak on its surface, and cook to your preferred level of doneness.

Tenderize meat before cooking it. Especially tough portions of meat are best tenderized or braised, due to the stringy consistency of the meat. Identifying the correct cut of meat and matching it with the correct method of cooking can be very important, as you may end up with an extremely stringy "roast" steak.

The best part of cooking is that you can eat your mistakes. Don't be scared about trying something new. Even Julia Childs and Wolfgang Puck have made complete failures of dishes at one point or another. Cooking is all about learning and experimentation until you learn what works for you, so give it a shot!