Pecos Watermelon

The cantaloupe and watermelon in this area are well known for being extraordinarily sweet. God saw fit to only give us a few treats in the desert....our watermelons certainly are one such treat.

My mom went to the farmers market at this little country intersectino we call a town and came home with a watermelon that was about 2feet long, and about 3ft in circumference. It was enormous. So i peeled it down and cut it into cubes, bagged up 1gallon freezer bags full, and made deliveries to the neighbors. I still have more than half of it left.

So lemme ask you...anyone ever just eat watermelon for supper? Something wonderful about that ethereal crunch that gives you the explosion of cool, wet, sweetness when you bite into it.

I have some of that black Hawaiin Sea Salt, and a really nice bottle of balsamic vinegar. I think ill grab some goat cheese, and we will just have watermelon for supper tonight. Maybe grab a bag of arugula, toast some almonds, and make a little salad with the watermelon.

Any ideas? If i had a torch, id carmelize some of it. Carmelized watermelon, volcanic sea salt, and arugula are a wonderful combination of flavor.

yyyummmmmmmm (As I'm sitting at my desk at work eating a ham sandwich and stale chips)

Yes we had watermelon for supper many times when I was growing up. Usually on Sunday nights because we had a big meal at noon.

My great-grandfather grew watermelons for grocery. He taught my Dad to really love fresh watermelon. Mom craved it when she was pregnant. I LOVE watermelon! Eat it all season.

Lucky for me my spouse doesn't like it, so I get the watermelons all to myself!

Mom and Dad liked it with salt on it. Me, I like it just like God made it, except seedless.

Years back I lived in Texas and learned to love watermelon juice. Just pop those seedless innards into a blender, and poof, watermelon juice, if it is a good one, no need to even add sugar. Yum, Yum.

I have bought some really good watermelons this year. It must be a good year for them.
My kids put some in the freezer one night and they forgot about it. I ate it the next day when it was really hot outside.
It was nice of them to put sticks in it, made it very handy to eat.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

I've eaten watermelon for supper many times. I've been known to eat almost my weight in watermelon. Just love it straight!

My favorite fruit? It's a tie between a good ripe, crisp watermelon and a sweet juicy Fredericksburg peach. Mmmmmmm.
Love those Pecos canteloupes too!

a reply to: grandmakdw

yeah, watermelon in a blender is all the rage at the bars. "Watermelon Margarita".

Growing up it was called "aqua de sandia". You could get a small styrofoam cup of it for a dime. Now the aqua de sandia is $1.50 minimum. But the cups are bigger.

Borracho watermelon is another favorite. Just cut a hole in the top of the melon. Barely big enough for a bottle of liquir. Then stick a bottle of vodka in the hole and refrigerate. Itll take about a day for the vodka to drain into the melon. And it only takes a few pieces before the party starts to loosen up a bit.

Ive seen the same thing done with Sangria, and with a chardonnay. I think the vodka turns out better, though.

originally posted by: kaylaluv
a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

I've eaten watermelon for supper many times. I've been known to eat almost my weight in watermelon. Just love it straight!

My favorite fruit? It's a tie between a good ripe, crisp watermelon and a sweet juicy Fredericksburg peach. Mmmmmmm.
Love those Pecos canteloupes too!

My God woman...you have just said all the magic words. Fredericksburg peaches are worth the 3 hour drive to pick some up.

I've been in pickle mode lately. Save the rinds, peel off the dark green, and pickle the white parts.

Waste not... and stuff.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

I love melons. Watermelons are good. I found a video for getting watermelon juice. I haven't tried this yet but will eventually.

a reply to: yeahright

I've never heard of pickled watermelon rinds. What do they taste like?

a reply to: yeahright

I thought I was about the only one left who knew about watermelon rind pickles! My mom's grandma used to make them, and she'd opine about how good they were, so I dug around some and learned how to do it and surprised her one year.

But every time I mention it to other people, they look at me like I've sprouted extra facial features or something.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Cut the watermelon into chunks and dip them in chocolate.
I am not a big chocolate guy but can see how people might dig it.

I mainly go for watermelon when I am dehydrated and wash it down with a gatorade.

I can't say that I've done watermelon for supper per se, but I've had it for lunch on plenty of occasions.

And nothing beats that cold watermelon when you've been out in the heat. It hits the need to rehydrate button better than anything else.

originally posted by: Skid Mark
I've never heard of pickled watermelon rinds. What do they taste like?

Pickles.

originally posted by: Skid Mark
a reply to: yeahright

I've never heard of pickled watermelon rinds. What do they taste like?

Very sweet pickles.

Be careful too. The pickling brine is very attractive to certain kinds of ants. It's how we learned that we had a carpenter ant colony on our property ... we left the kettle out overnight and it was crawling the next morning.

Time to call the ant man!

a reply to: ketsuko
Good to know. I read somewhere that ants won't cross a chalk line and that they have an aversion to hot peppers or chili powder. I don't know if it's true or not.

a reply to: Skid Mark

They have an aversion to ant spray, i know that.

Ants can be a real pain. Kitchens tend to be facing the backyard, where outdoor eating and grilling are done (not to mention dogs and their food).

Amdro will kill the bed of any ant. And it does it extraordinarily well. I blame Amdro for the decrease in horney toads.

originally posted by: ketsuko
Very sweet pickles.

It depends on the recipe. I've had some that were closer to candied than pickled.

Here's a version with no sugar at all. The variations of pickled anything are almost limitless, and that's the appeal for me. You can customize it and get what you like.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Anytime I've seen ants in the house, I use Terro to bait the trails (out of the reach of pets). The ants carry the bait back to the nest and it kills them all. The ants will swarm all over it, so you've got to have the willpower to refrain from killing them all when you see them, but if you've got the patience, it works very well.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Not to mention the fiber content! Do you ever think of anything besides food? Just Kidding! I love watermelon, but man I hate the taste of a spoiled rotten one, they have to be just perfect or I will spit it out and don't ever throw up watermelon, that taste will linger for years.