Mid August and the livin’ is delicious! Sure, come November you’ll be all about turkey stuffing and gravy and such, but here in the summer sun, it’s all about instant gratification. Peaches and plums and sweet sticky goodness that you can eat out of hand. And watermelon! OK, that might take a little work, getting to the goods, but once you’ve cracked that shell…or maybe not.
Is there anything more disappointing than wrestling that big green “egg” to the chopping block only to find that the pink innards didn’t live up to the hype? So today we’re going to talk about how to make that never happen again. We’re going to learn how to pick the best watermelon in the pile…so pay attention!
Watermelons spend their time sitting around on the ground, and…just like us, they put on some weight. Only on them it looks good. That’s the point of the exercise. Look for the melon with the biggest orange (not white!) spot on one side. That means it’s sat there in the spring and summer sun storing water and making sugar. The bigger the spot, the more water it drank up. That’s your first clue.
Next: is the skin shiny? Walk on by. A ripe melon should be a dull green, not shiny.
Finally, look at the webbing that forms on the skin. That alone can tell you more than you ever thought you needed to know about watermelons.
But just to be fully informed, click here to read for yourself…
And now that you have the perfect melon, whatchagonnado with it? Sure, eat it, but how? Turns out that sweet sticky pink stuff can be culinary gold once you’ve gotten to the core of the matter. After centuries of eating the stuff no-frills and out-of-hand, and maybe spiked with a little sump’n sump’n, the folks in the funny hats (toques) have raised the bar and the limits…and now watermelon can be whatever you need it to be…sweet or savory, chilled or grilled, dressed with balsamic vinegar or paired with feta cheese, and…oh, what the heck…just go here and start slicin’!
TIP: it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get that BIG knife sharpened by Paul’s Hot Knives before you begin.
Next week we can discuss yellow summer squash and it’s prolific cousin…the green zucchini. And before you know it, it will be all about pears and grapes and apples and cool weather crops. And there’s still plenty of time for greens and root veggies. Here’s a preview of what’s still to come.
Of course, if you don’t really feel like cooking, you’ve got options…This week it could be Meats by Meez, or Taste of Puebla or A Season Chef, or a quiche Lorraine from My House Cookies.…and to wash it down, Pennsylvania Distillery, Two Locals Brewing, or 4Ever Juices.
In case you haven’t noticed, this year has been sort of quiet at the market…none of our usual madcap events…like Doggie Day or the LFM Bakeoff dessert contest. As you may have heard, our home base, the Lansdowne Landing, will be undergoing a complete renovation with an as yet unknown project start date, so rather than make plans that would then need to be cancelled, we’ve decided to wait for next year and to come back more fun than ever! So, stay tuned and stay the course. Or stop by and give us your idea of a fun event. We’re open to suggestions.
Unfortunately, our musician for the week had to cancel…and I’m working on a replacement that isn’t Skyler and me singing show tunes. We shall see…or hear.
Our Artist of the Week is Margaret Moran”s The Basket Tree. I’ve always held to the rule that table top clutter + nice basket = decor. And there isn’t a knitter worth their yarn that couldn’t use another.
Don’t forget to read all of the news in this week’s newsletter. Stuff is happening.
See you Saturday…
Terry B