Today I had a vacation day, which just happened to be the very same day the new Harry Potter movie opens. I believe the only proper way to celebrate that happy coincidence was to actually go and see the movie. It was quite good.

I also had more adventures trying to cook something from the latest issue of Martha Stewart Living. This wasn't quite as involved as the Grasshopper Tarts, but still makes me think that even though her recipes are good most of the time, she has a tendency to sometimes leave out key information...

I haven't had a pomegranate in years. Not because I don't like them, it just never occurs to me to buy any. But when I saw Martha's recipe for pomegranate punch, I decided I just had to make some.

Off to the store to buy pomegranates. The recipe says I need 5. She fails to mention any sort of size...which I don't think anything of until I get to the store and there are some normal size pomegranates and some which are very large. I opt for the normal sized fruit, and buy one extra...just in case.

Back home, I've got to start juicing pomegranates. Martha suggests a juicer or lemon reamer type of tool. I have one of those, no problem. I start hacking open pomegranates and start juicing. Well they have all these little tiny seeds, and the buggers tend to squirt when you're juicing. By the time I was done, the kitchen appeared to have a bad case of the measles. Ruby colored pomegranate juice spots were everywhere. And after juicing ALL 6, I only had a cup and 2/3 of juice. I was supposed to have 3 and 1/3 cups according to HER recipe. This is why I think she should have said what size the damn fruit needs to be.

I know this isn't a big deal...but the thing is, the punch is actually pretty good. In addition to pomegranate juice, there's some lemon juice and some mint, and served on the rocks it's all rather tasty. And I only made half the recipe because my pomegranates WERE TOO SMALL. So if I want more of this stuff I've got to go buy the giant pomegranates and juice those...and risk giving the kitchen another case of the measles, which I'd rather not do.

I think I'll wait and see if I still like the punch after a couple of days. And if I do, I'll have to weigh the juice craving against the time and effort cleaning pomegranate splatter off of every surface in the kitchen.