How to Prepare, cut and enjoy a Watermelon

It's summer and one of the fruits that are linked to summer fun is watermelon. It is a refreshing fruit that is 92% water which makes it the number one picnic fruit for those hot, days anywhere. A long with being one of the most refreshing and thirst quenching fruits watermelon is known as a great fruit to add to your everyday food consumption just for all of it's health benefits.

You can actually eat the whole watermelon from the rind, the exterior shell, it's sweet flesh and the seeds. If you have a seedless variety there is nothing to worry about but with a seeded watermelon and the black seeds, i suggest you play the 'spitting seed' game instead, especially where smaller children are concerned.

The 'spitting game' can be both entertaining and fun as well as a way to get the young ones to sit down and eat. Just set a small bucket lined with a plastic bag on a sheet of newspaper (for any stray seeds) and tell them to aim at the bucket, make it a contest to see who can get the most seeds in the bucket by the time they finish their slice or some fair number.

This 'spitting seed' game can also have a time limit.

How to select a good watermelon

Despite the school of thought that thumping a melon is best when selecting one that is not necessarily correct. Or the idea that if the stem falls off or has fallen off that the watermelon will be perfect. The truth is the best and simplest way to select a watermelon is by looking, especially where it was probably seated on the ground before it was harvested.

You will be looking for the yellow underbelly area, it is the yellow area the signifies that the melon has ripened.

How to store a watermelon

Cool, dark and dry place, i.e. bottom of you pantry

How to wash and prepare a watermelon

What you will need:

water

couple drops of dish soap

2 cotton dish cloths, 1 for washing and 1 for drying

What to do:

in a sink full of cold to warm water drop a few drops of soap, like you were washing dishes, then lightly soap and rinse the rind of the watermelon. Dry, then use as instructed.

How to cut up a watermelon

What you will need:

a large sharp knife

a cutting board or flat surface

3 or 4 sheets of old newspaper

a whole watermelon

a container or bowl

What to do:

Lay out the sheets of paper on the counter, place the watermelon in the center, length wise. With the knife in hand, position towards the middle or furtherest end away from you. Plunge the knife into and through the rind with a little force then slice down, always remembering to keep your other hand on the side and out of the way.

Slice down the middle and through until you can gently pull the watermelon apart. Once this is done take the half of the watermelon and slice it down the middle creating long quarters. With the quarter turned to the side just cut across in wedges cutting through the rind.

How to enjoy a watermelon

What you will need:

Sliced or cubed watermelon or a melon baller

ice

glasses

plates

napkins

forks

So go ahead and enjoy it just cut, sliced or cubed, with a little salt or sugar or just as it is. As a drink- lemonade or cocktail, in a salad or exotically as the Chinese in a stir fry or pickled. But if you haven't tried a good juicy watermelon you are missing something.

For cubes just cut the flesh from the rind then cut into  1 inch squares.