How to make honeydew milk—to totally gross out Georgia Straight's music editor Mike Usinger with

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      Things that I love, Mike Usinger hates: Björk, public transit, and melons.

      So it brings me great pleasure to find a way to taint something he loves—Avalon Dairy milk—with something he hates.

      Sure, I could crank up my Björk playlist while he drinks his beloved Avalon egg nog on the SkyTrain, but the fine folks at Avalon have given me an even more brilliant idea.

      As a joke a long time ago, I had once asked Avalon if they could come up with a flavour for honeydew milk. I love all melon varieties: watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew. And, accordingly, Mike hates them all.

      Not expecting them to take me seriously, they actually responded with a solution, believe it or not.

      Here's the recipe they sent. It's a recipe for milk tea, which is appropriate since melon-flavoured drinks and food (including soda, cakes, chocolate, and buns) are popular in numerous Asian countries, such as Taiwan and Japan.

      It's a two-parter—and three parts, if you want to make a frozen version.

      The honeydew syrup is actually delicious just with milk alone. I made the honeydew bubble tea without the pearls but I didn't take a photo because the colour of the milk didn't change to a light green and just looked like a glass of milk (you would need food colouring to do so.)

      Anyhow, enjoy. You can be sure Mike won't.

      Honeydew syrup

      1 medium honeydew (around two to three pounds, cut into chunks)
      1 1/3 cup simple syrup

      Process honeydew in a food processor or blender to make a purée. Once everything is all relatively smooth, strain through a medium sieve twice.

      Mix juice with simple syrup and place in a glass jar. Depending on how much juice you get, you should go for a ratio of 1 cup juice to 3/4 cup simple syrup and try it first before adding more simple syrup. The amount of simple syrup should be adjusted according to the sweetness of the fruit.

      The syrup can keep in the fridge for three to five days.

      Honeydew bubble tea

      1 cup black tapioca pearls (optional)

      2 green tea bags

      3 cups milk

      Honeydew syrup

      To make with pearls: In a large pot, bring 10 cups of water to a boil. Add tapioca pearls and boil until plump (about five minutes). Cover and reduce heat to a minimum. Simmer for five minutes. Drain tapioca pearls and set aside.

      In the meantime, bring two cups of water to a boil and steep two bags of green tea. Place in the refrigerator until cool.

      After the tea cools down, mix with milk in a large jug or pitcher and sweeten with more syrup according to your preference.

      To serve: place two to three tablespoons of tapioca pearls in a glass and top with honeydew milk tea. Drink with an extra large straw.

      Honeydew popsicles

      Pour honeydew milk into popsicle molds. Add chunks of honeydew for added flavour and texture. Freeze and enjoy.

      You can follow Craig Takeuchi on Twitter at twitter.com/cinecraig or on Facebook

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