By I turned fifty-nine yesterday. April twelfth. Marvin gave me a card — handwritten, three pages, because Marvin does not believe in store-bought sentiments any more than Sylvia believed in store-bought challah. The card referenced our first date in 1980, when he took me to a deli on the Upper West Side and ordered pastrami on rye and I ordered the same and he said, "A woman who orders pastrami on a first date is a woman worth marrying." I married him two years later. The pastrami was excellent. The marriage has been better.
David called from White Plains. Rebecca called from Manhattan. Miriam called from Tel Aviv, where it was already the middle of the night, which tells you everything about my sister — she set an alarm to call me on my birthday because the Rosen sisters do not miss each other's birthdays, not even when separated by an ocean and nine time zones and the fundamental absurdity of Miriam living in a Mediterranean city when she grew up on the Grand Concourse eating kugel.
I made my own birthday dinner, because I trust no one else with the brisket, including and especially David, who once tried to help and added paprika without authorization. There are things I can forgive. Unauthorized paprika is not among them. Marvin set the table. He lit the candles. He poured the wine. We sat at the dining room table — just the two of us, which is rare now that the children are grown — and ate brisket and challah and talked about nothing important, which is the luxury of a long marriage: the ability to fill an evening with comfortable silence and small observations and the absolute certainty that the person across from you will be there tomorrow.
Fifty-nine. I am one year from sixty, which Sylvia would have considered old and I consider merely a data point. I have been teaching for thirty-seven years. I have been cooking Sylvia's brisket for longer than she cooked it herself. I have a new granddaughter and a blog and a husband who still makes me laugh, and if this is fifty-nine, I will take it. I will take all of it.
The blog is gaining readers. A woman from New Jersey commented on the brisket post and said it made her call her mother. This is, as far as I am concerned, the highest praise a piece of writing can receive. Higher than a Pulitzer. You can keep the Pulitzer. Make someone call their mother. That is the prize.
A woman from New Jersey called her mother because of something I wrote, and I thought: that is exactly the kind of moment that deserves a cold drink and a long porch and nowhere to be. This watermelon mint agua fresca is what I make when the evening is warm and the conversation is easy and I want something in my hands that tastes the way gratitude feels — bright and uncomplicated and almost too simple to be as good as it is. Sylvia would have approved. One blender, one strainer, no showing off. Here is how to make it.
Watermelon Mint Agua Fresca
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: None | Total Time: 15 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 4 cups chilled watermelon, cubed and seeds removed (approximately 1/4 of a large watermelon)
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 1 lime, cut into 8-12 slices then cut each slice in half again, divided
- 12 mint leaves, divided
- 8 teaspoons sugar, divided (use more or less depending upon the sweetness of your watermelon)
- Ice cubes
- Additional sprigs of mint for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Blend and strain. Place the watermelon cubes and water in a blender and puree until smooth. Place a sieve or fine mesh strainer over a large bowl. Pour the pureed watermelon mixture through the sieve, using a spoon to stir so that all of the watermelon liquids go through the mesh and into the bowl. Set liquid aside and discard watermelon solids.
- Muddle the aromatics. Divide the lime slices and mint leaves equally in the bottom of four 12-ounce glasses. Sprinkle 1 to 2 teaspoons sugar into each glass. Using a wooden muddler, press down on the limes, mint and sugar until all of the ingredients are muddled together.
- Assemble. Add ice cubes to each glass, then pour the pureed watermelon mixture over the ice cubes and stir to combine.
- Garnish and serve. Garnish with additional sprigs of mint (if desired). Serve immediately.
Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition information not available for this recipe.