As some of you might know, July is National Watermelon Month. As national food months go, National Watermelon Month, for me, is right up there with National Meat Month (January), National Peanut Butter Lover’s Month (November) and National Ice Cream Month (also July… yes, July will be a good month).

To celebrate National Watermelon Month, I’ve decided to use the What About Watermelon blog to host the “National Watermelon Carving Contest.” The rules are pretty simple and the prize is pretty nice, too (but more on that later… maybe).

All you need to do, between now and August 31, is send me photos of your  best watermelon carving. And when I say “carving,” I don’t mean those amazingly intricate carvings you’ve seen online. I’m talking about carved and hollowed out watermelons in the shape of cars, animals or just plain baskets and used to hold fruit salad. Sort of like the one above or  the one I made and wrote about previously on What About Watermelon.

Tips and ideas for carvings (feel free to make one of these) can be found on the National Watermelon Promotion Board website. At the end of August I’ll choose the four best carvings and post them here on What About Watermelon for a public vote in early September.

And now the good part. The winner of EACH category, as determined by the votes of watermelon fans across the nation, will receive… a very cool prize that I still need to figure out (anyone have any ideas?). Not bad for a little bit of work with your favorite fruit, huh? Throughout July and August, I’ll post reminders about the contest and some carving tips. The rest is up to you!

SEMI-OFFICIAL RULES

1. All carvings must be original creations, carved either by the person submitting the entry or with a little help from friends and family.

2. All entries must be accompanied by TWO photos: One photo of the finished carving (a few different photos from different angles is preferred) and one photo of the finished carving with the person submitting the entry. This part is important, so don’t forget to get both photos!

3. All entries must be emailed to watermelonexperts@gmail.com before midnight on August 31.

4. Have fun! This part is also important. It doesn’t matter what your finished carving looks like; just send the picture,  because it might be one of the final four chosen by me or an honorable mention featured here on the blog!

In Western culture, the piñata has become a party favorite. After all, who doesn’t love beating the stuffing out of something with a stick now and then? It’s also yielded more than its fair share of hilarious videos. Any time you put a stick in the hands of a five-year-old, blindfold him, spin him around a few times and tell him to swing said stick in a room full of people,  bad things are bound to happen to people standing within 10 feet.

In Japan, the piñata game has taken on a decidedly different twist. Instead of a papier-mache pony filled with candy, a watermelon is used as the target. The tradition is called suikawari and, according to Wikipedia:

The rules are similar to piñata. A watermelon is laid out, sometimes on a tarp, and participants one by one attempt to smash it open. Each is blindfolded, spun around three times, and handed a wooden stick, or bokken, to strike with. The first to crack the watermelon open wins. Afterward, the chunks of watermelon produced are shared among participants.

I’m happy to see that the stick, blindfold and spinning are still part of the game, even though I feel kind of bad for the watermelon. What’s missing is the candy that rains from the ceiling, but to be quite honest, I’d rather have pieces of watermelon anyhow!

Below is a video of a game of suikawari. In this one, the watermelon wins!

My apologies to Alice Cooper for the title, but it’s true. School is, indeed, out for the summer. Has been for several weeks for some kids. Which brings me to the topic of this post: kid-friendly watermelon recipes.

And by “kid-friendly” I mean recipes that are either easy for kids to make or recipes that kids would enjoy eating… or both! The National Watermelon Promotion Board website has a whole list of kid-friendly watermelon recipes for you to sample from. And here’s a hint: Even if you’re not a kid or don’t have any kids, these recipes are still fun to make!

Below are five of my favorites, presented in picture format. Click on the title to view the recipe.

Snow Capped Mountains

Watermelon Pizza Supreme

Watermelon Cupcakes

Watermelon Kabobs

Watermelon Sandwich Cookies

June 21 marks the official start of summer and the official start of my favorite time of the year. Yes, it’s partly because it’s “watermelon season” (even though I always say that “watermelon season” is all year), but also because I’m an outdoor person and summer gives me a chance to get outdoors without the rain of the spring and the chill of autumn.

Of course, summer also means baseball season is in full swing. My calendar this summer is kind of crowded, but I like it that way.

Camping trips, golf outings, weekend vacations, baseball games (watched and played in), they’ll all be there. I’ll also be welcoming my own little watermelon in August. And by “watermelon,” I mean a baby boy or girl. It’ll be our first, and we’re not sure if it’s a boy watermelon or a girl watermelon, but either one will be pretty sweet!

Looking for the perfect way to cool down this summer? Of course you are. So am I. Which is what led me to this cool recipe (as if watermelon wasn’t cool enough). This sweet watermelon ice is pretty easy to make, which, if you know me by now, is a priority for me in the kitchen. Seriously, it’s harder to make coffee than it is to make this drink, so you have no excuse not to try it.

SWEET WATERMELON ICE

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups fresh watermelon juice
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:

Pour the watermelon juice into a shallow glass baking dish. Add the sugar and lemon juice and stir well. Place the dish in the freezer and chill.

Remove the pan every 1/2 hour and stir. The juice will form light, grainy ice crystals as it freezes. Repeat this process until the juice is fully frozen, about 4 hours, depending on the temperature of your freezer. You can also use an ice cream machine, following the manufacturer’s directions.

Serve immediately, or store in the freezer in a covered container up to several weeks.

Like last week’s entry about food safety, this question was also asked last year. I’m giving it another go ‘round but I’m  upping the ante. I’ll choose one correct comment from this entry to receive one of the watermelon key chain thingies I’m giving away as this month’s prize.

Studies have shown that watermelon, because of its smooth, thick skin, is one of the naturally cleanest produce items available and has the lowest number of detectable residues. Watermelon actually shares this squeaky clean distinction with one vegetable. Guess which one by leaving a comment.

I first posted this on What About Watermelon last spring, but food safety is a pretty important topic, so I thought I’d post it again this year. And probably next year, and the next, and the next.

Believe it or not, there’s never been a case of food-borne illness related to the watermelon itself. It’s true. In the very few instances in which people got sick after eating watermelon, it was because they either cut the watermelon with a contaminated knife or they didn’t handle the watermelon properly after cutting it.

Still, there are a few things you can do to keep your watermelon clean and safe, and a lot of this is common sense:

1. Choose a firm watermelon, free of major cracks, dents or bruises.

2. The FDA says to wash all fruits and veggies before cutting, so be sure to wash and dry the outer surface of your watermelon before cutting it.

3. Wash your hands and wash all cutting surfaces, knives and other utensils.

4. Refrigerate it after cutting it! Either by placing chunks in a bag or container or placing plastic wrap over the exposed part of the watermelon.

The bottom line is this: When in doubt, throw it out! It might be tough to bring yourself to toss out all that watermelon, but it’s probably better in the long run. Besides, wouldn’t you rather have some fresh, crisp watermelon anyhow?

Everyone knows watermelon is one of the tastiest fruits available, but did you know that the sweet fruit contains the alphabet of vitamins (including some vitamins I didn’t even know existed)?

I did some reading about this over the years and decided to compile a snapshot of the nutritional benefits here. For instance, did you know that just one cup of watermelon meets 20 percent of your daily requirement for vitamin C? Or that the same cup contains 18 percent of vitamin A, 2 percent iron and even 1 percent calcium. You’ll also find potassium, thiamin, niacin, vitamin B6, and folate. The list goes on and on, but what you won’t find is a lot of sodium or any saturated fat.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some cubed watermelon in the fridge with my name on it. (No seriously, I do. Where I work, if you don’t put your name on your food, it has a way of mysteriously “disappearing.”)

Yes, you read that right. Chicken IN a watermelon. And sure, it doesn’t look as appetizing as the watermelon steak I wrote about last month, but it’s watermelon and chicken: two of my favorite summertime foods. A whole roasted chicken cooked inside a sweet watermelon. Who can deny that?

The whole chicken is stuffed inside a hollowed-out watermelon (save those pieces for dessert – if you can last five whole hours without eating it!) and mixed with a five-spice powder. There isn’t much watermelon taste, but you do get a hint of sweetness. The best part is how juicy and tender the watermelon makes the chicken. I could pull it apart with my fingers. Now that’s finger-licking good!

The recipe is courtesy of the Buckaroo Banzai DVD, and the photo, although it might look a little strange to see a chicken IN a watermelon, is from John on Wine.

CHICKEN IN A WATERMELON

INGREDIENTS

1 very large watermelon
1 roaster chicken, about 5 to 6 pounds
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 lemon
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon five-spice powder
2 tablespoons chilled butter

DIRECTIONS

1. Cut a 1/4-inch-thick horizontal slice off bottom of watermelon, so it won’t roll. Discard. Cut off the top third of the melon horizontally, then scoop out seeds and enough of the pulp from both remain parts to make room for the chicken.
2. Season cavity of chicken with salt and pepper. Insert lemon pricked with fork, along with 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce. Brush outside of chicken with remaining soy sauce, and sprinkle with five-spice powder,
3. Place chicken in the larger part of the melon and position the other piece of melon on top, securing with long skewers.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake 2 hours. Then reduce heat to 300 degrees and bake 2 1/2 hours longer.
5. Place watermelon on a tray and show it to guests. Return it to kitchen: remove chicken and carve. With a ladle, remove juices from watermelon and reduce in skillet until thickened; whisk in cold butter and spoon over chicken before serving.

I’m always losing my keys, and I’m not just talking about misplacing my keys. I have literally LOST my keys on more than one occasion. It’s a lot like losing your wallet, only instead of freaking out that someone is maxing out your credit card while you scramble to cancel it, you freak out because you can’t drive your car or get into your house.

Which brings me to this month’s prize. Watermelon is the key to my heart, and now watermelon can hold the keys to your home for just one comment. That’s right. This beautiful sterling silver charm can be yours for just a few words. TWO lucky winners chosen at random will have the most charming keys on the block.