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If you're looking for a healthy, and easy, treat, don't look any farther than watermelons.

Although we often associate watermelons  with light summer deserts, watermelons also make healthy, and delicious, juice.

Watermelons come close to being a perfect fruit; high in vitamins and antioxidants.

I usually use a melon baler to remove watermelon pieces so they can easily be tossed into desert dishes.

During that process, a good 16 oz of juice, along with left over smaller watermelon pieces, gets generated. 

Remembering the wonderful juice stands in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, featuring watermelon juice, I decided to make my own.

I pour watermelon juice, and some left over pieces, into a container and give it a spin in my blender.

You can add a touch of lemon and  ice to give it an extra cold texture; drink.

Not only will you be getting a lot of nutrients, but watermelon juice will quench your thirst, too!

Ever since my grandmother gave me a copy of "The Velveteen Rabbit" as my first English language book, I was hooked.

Well, she had help from Mom and Dad.

I can remember carrying my first baby toy everywhere; not a teddy bear but a stuffed pink-eyed nappy rabbit with a wind-up musical key on the back.

Misplaced it during our Pan Am flight moving to Lima, Peru.

In case you didn't know, even toy rabbits like to hop around from seat to seat, especially in a plane going through noisy turbulence.

Bad weather, too.


So I was charmed when I saw this bluebird blue cardboard box of "Annie's Homegrown All Wheat Crackers".

The packaging is a lot fun.

They have "no icky additives or pesky preservatives."

On one side they suggest things you can do with the box besides recycling - make into bookmarks, arts and crafts collages, color on the inside.

For cereal box reading aficionados, there's a "name that grain" game on the back.

And you don't open the box top, you "gently tug ears to open."

A cute gray and white rabbit in a yellow circle is the "rabbit of approval" they're totally natural.

There's a lot to recommend but the best part is how perfectly formed these bunny wheat crackers are!

Now I don't recommend adding them to soups so they can float, I found that a little disconcerting.

I have used them as cupcake and muffin garnishes, packed them in tiny bags for lunch treats, and given my best friend Annie, who also loves bunnies, her very own un-opened box.

Well, I was tempted, I was saving my very own box for later.

When I called to see if she had found the surprise with a note extolling how perfect the bunny crackers were, I fully expected to hear "thanks but you really need to get out more."

Instead she said "thanks, they were delicious, I've already eaten the whole box."

Can you think of a better recommendation?

First, let's get something clear.

Whoever "declared" at the beginning of 2011 cupcakes were "out"  is well - crazy. Cupcakes are still in, and I'll show you how!

Cupcakes are a busy person's best kept secret, especially if you're busy and still want to easily make treats for special occasions, or just want to make someone feel special.

I discovered the joy of cupcakes years ago when I sometimes had 8 kids dropped off at my house for the weekend.

To better be prepared, I started making muffins, brownies and cakes in cupcake papers and pans, then freezing them so I could easily defrost them later.

Cupcakes are the perfect serving size; can easily be eaten by hand and transported so they make great school event treats, and with a little magic, can be amazingly delicious.

And healthy. Yes, stay with me on that one.

1. Start with picking good cake mixes.

Some of my favorites include Krusteaz cranberry orange for a breakfast muffin or as a cupcake to keep a salad company.

Jiffy has a great little line of basic cake recipes you can use to quickly make only half a dozen cupcakes.

I'll show you how to easily beef them up in a second.

And speaking of amazingly delicious and healthy for you, Duncan Hines has a Triple Dark Chocolate Whole Grain Muffins that floors everyone I've served. Right - here's the direct link to Triple Dark Chocolate Whole Grain Muffins.

They're moist and taste like a brownie but are whole grain. Yes, I should have said heavenly, shouldn't I have...

2. To easily make a boxed cake mix better, substitute water for a fruit juice.
For example, mix Jiffy's White Cake Mix with pear juice from canned pears, canned peaches or canned pineapple, and a few tiny fruit pieces, makes great fruit flavored cupcakes.
 

Jiffy's Yellow Cake Mix with cranberry juice or lemonade is great for a refreshing summer picnic.

If you add a few nuts, they become a nice Thanksgiving treat.

3. Skip icing and think garnish.

Add a little lemon or lime zest, or a piece of fruit.

Kids love animal crackers.

Heck, I love animal crackers, especially these Annie's wheat cracker bunnies. Aren't they adorable?

If you insist on having an icing, make it a glaze by adding extra liquid and apply it thinly.

For a decadent chocolate taste without the calories, drizzle chocolate icing in a thin stream. Cupcake papers will keep it from dripping.

I've also dusted the top of warm cupcakes with confectioner's sugar, and used brown sugar on cupcakes with apple pieces and cupcakes with blueberries  when I wanted a little extra sweetness.

4.Dress up your cupcakes with theme cupcake papers. They're available in all sorts of themes and colors, including shiny silver and favorite childrens story characters. You can also spray your cupcake pans with baking spray to prevent them from sticking. I do that when I'm making lots of cupcakes destined to be devoured before they almost leave the pan.

5. If you're making a low cost or older cake mix - its ok, I know you still have one of those in your pantry, so do I - reduce the water amount called in recipe by about 1/3, or use a complimentary fruit juice, and add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to make the batter moist.

6. Freeze separately on a cookie sheet for half an hour. When hard to touch, store in freezer bag. Defrost. Add garnish - birthday candles count - and serve!

Cupcakes can easily become breakfast on the run, delicious companions to salads and packed lunches, and handy dandy deserts to make any occasion special.

I say cupcakes are still "in" in 2011!

Charlotte

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Summer is, among other things, blackberry time and I couldn't resist not baking something with freshly-picked wild blackberries.

Now in Missouri, you can easily start a feud - a serious, long-lasting, family wrenching feud - asking someone for the location of their  favorite blackberry patch.

You're on your own finding your blackberry supply but ensure they're fresh.

Taste test them on site, just to make sure.

After picking about a cup of wild blackberries, I washed them, sprinkled a tsp of sugar and let them sit in the refrigerator overnight.

When you're ready to make, put enough cold water in a glass so you can press the dough together.

Taking 4 pieces of pre-made, reduced fat crescent dough -  had to save calories somewhere - wet  fingers and press each of two dough pieces back together at the seam.

Spoon a tablespoon of blackberries in their sugar bath into each of the corners of the crescent dough.

There's no such thing as over-filling; the blackberries will reduce in size as they cook.

Check the back in case you do -  crescent dough will  leave holes on the back side of the turnover if you stretch it too much.

Fold the dough corner to the center into a triangle; cut at the fold line, then use a wet fork to crimp around the triangle turnover edges.

You can crimp the dough without water but after a few pats, the fork will stick to the dough.

Once each of the turnovers is sealed around the edges, you can brush with a beaten egg wash to give it a golden yellow look after it's baked.

Since I had every intention of eating these immediately after they were cooked, I skipped this step.

No point wasting a  perfectly good egg wash.

Sprinkle with water.

Then sprinkle a little layer of sugar over the whole turnover.

Cook at 400F in a pre-heated oven for 8-10 minutes.

No need to coat the baking pan; the turnovers won't stick.

An average crescent roll makes one blackberry turnover.

I'll bet biscuit dough would work, too, either pre-mixed or made from pre-packaged biscuit dough, rolled out so that it's not too thick.

Other fillings would work, too, not just apple but peaches, raspberries, blueberries.

That's my grandmother's Blue Willow plate, she also used them as her every day dishes. 

She used to shake her head when I told her they had become collectible.

Let cool for 10 minutes before biting in to them.

Even though the dough may seem cool, the blackberry filing will take longer to cool.
I didn't wait so I can attest to how hot the filing is only minutes out of the oven.

Would you like a bite?

Charlotte

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