37 Comments

Can I just say how wonderfully delicious your photos are?

You know, I can drool over an elaborate cake but what I actually enjoy making in the kitchen is exactly this kind of simple delicacies. Bravo ❤️🍈

Expand full comment
author

Thank you, Sinù! I love to bake, but I also love to prepare and eat simple, fresh food! Really appreciate your comment! ❤️

Expand full comment

Thank you so much for the sweet shoutout, Jolene!! The Honey Deuce sounds so tasty, I’ll definitely be trying it if I can find Chambord around here. It’s too funny that lemon/lime and mint are the garnishes of choice in this post, because I’m planning a lemon + mint cocktail recipe for my next newsletter 🤣 great minds!

Expand full comment
author

Excellent! Can’t wait to make your cocktail (great minds 😂) mint and lemon, so refreshing! 🍋 🌿

Expand full comment
founding
Aug 13, 2022Liked by Jolene Handy

I have never frozen melon balls, what a brilliant idea! Your presentations are always so lovely. I love the little tea glasses, and I'm sure people love visiting you! I know I would! ❤️

Expand full comment
author

Thank you so much, Pam, I hope you make them, they’re fun! If you lived closer, I’d invite you over! 😂❤️

Expand full comment

Beautiful post! We had melon balls too growing up and my mother would pile them into a carved out watermelon fashioned like a basket. Brought me back! Thank you!

Expand full comment
author

Thank you, Anne! Yes! The watermelon baskets! My Mom did the same thing, you just brought me back! 🍉 😃

Expand full comment
Aug 20, 2022Liked by Jolene Handy

I distinctly remember learning to make melon balls at summer camp one year as a kid, which is funny to me looking back because there’s not much to it! But I guess it’s a low-risk kitchen task for kids and those little balls look so festive🍈

I also like potato chips with drinks, but do you know what they usually serve here in Madrid with cocktails? Gummies! They usually put them out at weddings once the dancing starts and you have to storm the candy stand fast or all the good ones will be gone 😂

Expand full comment
author

I would never have guessed Gummies, Kiki! 😂

Expand full comment
Aug 24, 2022Liked by Jolene Handy

Haha right?! Now I want to do a deep-dive into the history of gummy candy and cocktails🍹

Expand full comment
author

Next newsletter! 😂 🍸

Expand full comment
Aug 17, 2022Liked by Jolene Handy

I didn’t know frozen melon balls was a thing. What a fabulous idea to savor some summer sunshine in the winter. Thanks for sharing!

Expand full comment
author

You’re welcome! ❤️ Here’s a how-to for long term freezing: https://www.hgtv.com/outdoors/gardens/garden-to-table/can-you-freeze-cantaloupe

Expand full comment

Deliciously beautiful ⚪️🟡🟠

Expand full comment
author

Thank you Stygi! Love the emoji-balls! 😄🍈 🧡

Expand full comment

You make melon balls look unbelievably elegant and delicious, Jolene!

Expand full comment
author

Thank you, Sarah! (Good lighting 😂)

Expand full comment

What a refreshing post, I have always loved melon balls too 🥰 I’ve never frozen them before though, that may just change 😁

Expand full comment
author

Thank you, Tracy! I hope you try and enjoy! 😃❤️

Expand full comment

Zowwie! (he said in an old-fashioned exclamation inspired by your clock). Like everyone else, we’re inspired by your frozen melon balls. We’ve just never managed to scoop them as perfectly as this. We both picture truckloads on the way to figuring it out. Beautiful photos!

Expand full comment
author

Thank you both so much! I love ‘Zowwie’! 😂 The trick is to do a 360 turn with the melon baller (one side is always kinda flat - but that’s the side we don’t photograph, right? 😉) Thanks again for your very kind comment. ❤️

Expand full comment
Aug 13, 2022Liked by Jolene Handy

Oh, the opening line got me hooked!!!!!!

Expand full comment
author

Jess! Thank you for sharing this! (writing confidence booster ❤️)

Expand full comment
Aug 23, 2022Liked by Jolene Handy

my pleasure!!!! (slowly catching up on my end!! ah, the rural life...)

Expand full comment

Makes me want a temperature rise up here... I so appreciate the connections you make in your posts! From melon balls to clock... yes!

Expand full comment
author

Ha! 😂 And we’re all yearning for your weather, Alison! Thank you for your comment, something you wrote me a while ago was very helpful to me in the zigging and zagging connections department, sending you an email. Hope you’re well. ❤️

Expand full comment

I have JUST returned from a 4 day hike! I look forward to hearing from you, Jolene!

Expand full comment

What a delightful post from beginning to end, Jolene! I often put melon balls in fruit salad, but it never occurred to me to freeze them or put them in drinks. Inspired--and perfect for summer! The story of the atomic clock is fascinating too. Now I want one, of course!

Expand full comment
author

Thank you, Ruth! I want one of the Ball clocks, too, they are kinda pricey, there are reproductions, but I want a real one, lol! They come in a variety of colors, too, just love ‘em! ❤️

Expand full comment

I love the idea of freezing the melon balls and using them as ice cubes. And thank you for that terrific background story on the atom-centric clock!

Expand full comment
author

Thank you, Vicki, I absolutely love the story, too. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall! Hope you get a chance to make the frozen melon balls. Something so easy, but useful and fun! ❤️

Expand full comment

Marvelous post! I feel cooler already! And love the Nelson clock .

Expand full comment
author

Thank you, Joan! That’s how I feel about these drinks, they just look so refreshing you instantly anticipate feeling cooler. I agree about the Nelson Ball Clock - I always loved it and then when I learned the story, I was even more smitten! ❤️

Expand full comment
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
author

Thank you, Amy! (Sorry about the cantaloupe)

Ooh, I bet the glasses are lovely, these are from Turkey, I also love the decorative tea glasses they use for mint tea in Morocco. How is Persian tea served? Is it black tea? I know with the Turkish tea it’s always black tea with just sugar cubes (or just plain) would love to hear, I’m a tea lover. Hope you’re well! ❤️

Expand full comment
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
author

Thank you Amy! I am definitely going to go there! Great idea about a tea post, have a great week! ❤️

Expand full comment
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
author

:)

Expand full comment