This Vintage 2-Ingredient 'Breakfast' Is A Wickedly Boozy Way To Start Your Day

It's sweet, refreshing, a little boozy, and... perfect for breakfast? Sure, there is a time and place for when a little bit of alcohol makes its way onto the brunch table — think mimosas, bloody Marys, and carajillos — but this dish is not quite like those. The 1958 Kentucky Cooking Cookbook, by the Colonelettes of Louisville, Kentucky, features a recipe named Melon Delight. The only ingredients needed are a melon of your choosing and dry white wine. The directions state to tap and drain the melon, then scoop the seeds out with a spoon (if using melons such as cantaloupe or honeydew). The wine is poured and soaked into the melon overnight. The next day, the melon is sliced and served with a sprinkle of salt, which helps make the melon taste sweeter.

A similar concept is the alcohol-infused watermelon-and-vodka combination, often referred to as drunken watermelon. This also has origins tracing back to the 1940s, when it was a popular activity for groups to bring a whole watermelon to the beach and assemble it there. Rather than scooping a seedy center out, a small amount of the watermelon flesh can be removed to make space for a few cups of vodka. Alternatively, the watermelon flesh can be turned into juice, placed back inside the melon hull, and mixed with vodka and ice. While the Colonelettes Of Louisville must have been a fun group to have breakfast with, it's fair to say this recipe doesn't need to be reserved for only the first meal of the day.

Watermelon seems to be the top choice for this boozy snack — here's how to choose the sweetest one at the store — but other melons such as honeydew and cantaloupe are also fair game. If you plan on heading to the beach, these other melons are generally smaller and more transportable, but remember that mini watermelons also exist. To use up leftover watermelon, or any melon, you can make this treat even easier to serve by scooping the melon with a melon baller and soaking the balls overnight in the alcohol of your choosing. The melon balls and alcohol can also be stored in the freezer to create a refreshing frozen dessert. If the alcohol is too strong, fruit juice can be poured over the balls.

White wine and vodka work well for alcohol because they have a cleaner flavor that's more versatile alongside melon flavors, but a tequila blanco could also work. Another retro recipe that traces back to the 1800s is soaking melon balls in sweet and fragrant sherry wine before dusting them with powdered sugar.