How to Cut Up a Watermelon

I. love. Love. LOVE. WATERMELON.  I was cutting up a watermelon the other day and remembered that someone once commented to me that the way I do it seemed so fast and easy.  And me, always thinking about things to put on the blog, and always seeming to do something food related, thought I could show you how I do it.   If you have no interest in knowing something like this, you could read why I don't have anything else to blog about - because that might be interesting - and then skip the rest and wait for a more exciting post.

So, I didn't have anything else to blog about today, since:
a) I'm STILL working on my Cozy wrap.  I'm almost done.  I decided I would stop at the end of the skein I'm working on, since it is getting pretty long (57" as of last night).  So hopefully there will be a good knitting post soon...
b) I haven't finished any books to tell you about.  I am reading a really really good one though...
c) I haven't cooked anything exciting.  Just the Kale, Quinoa and Avocado salad again.  And it's yummy again.
d) Nothing exciting is happening in the garden.  Things are just growing.
e) No drag racing to tell you about.  AND I'm missing a drag racing event this Saturday (Buick Day at Lebanon Valley Dragway) in order to participate in the Spinning Bee at the Altamont Fair.  Which leads me to....
f) I haven't been practicing my spinning for the Spinning Bee so I can't show you that.

On to WATERMELON...
I can't remember when or how I learned this method.  I used to cut watermelon into triangles, then cut it off the rind and cut it into pieces.  Or just leave it in triangles and eat it that way.  Cutting it into pieces is better, I think, and more portable to put into a container.

First, get your watermelon into a wedge piece:

Buy it that way or cut it up that way.
Then, run your knife along the rind, all around the edges of the wedge:

I did it with a steak knife which is a little bit flexible and that helps with the curvey parts.  At this point, if you did it right and if you really wanted to, you could take the whole chunk out of the rind and cut it up.  But, I leave it there because it makes it easier later. (see way below...)

Then, on one side of the wedge, make 3 or 4 horizontal cuts, all the way down to the rind:

Make more cuts if you want smaller pieces.
Then, turn the wedge around and do it to the other side:

No, I didn't use two knives.  I'm trying to make a point.

Next, cut into the wedge vertically, making several cuts long the length of the wedge:

See the little grid pattern happening?

That's it!  Now you can pick up the whole wedge, and let all the pieces fall into a bowl. Perhaps your new antique Fire King mixing bowl.

THAT's why you leave it in the rind to cut it.

Empty rind:

Pretty clean, but you could spend a little time getting some more of the melon out if you want to.  I don't have the patience.

Yummy watermelon filling my new antique Fire King mixing bowl:

The other day, by accident, I got a seeded watermelon.  It was really really really hard to cut it up the way I described because there were so many seeds.  At least a million.  They were getting in the way of the knife.  I really dislike eating seeded watermelon.  Again, mostly because of my impatience.  It takes 10 years to eat one piece because you have to get all the seeds out.

How about a picture of my Watermelon Slice Socks since I'm talking about watermelon and since I entered them to be judge in the Altamont fair?:

Ok, so I didn't realize I had such a terrible picture.  There are black beads knitted into the pink part to represent seeds.  You can click on the link up there to see the official pattern picture.  If they win a prize I'll post a better picture...

Next post:  Something a little more exciting.  Hopefully.  Don't know what yet.

Fresh

The theme for April's National Blog Posting Month is "Fresh" so......

We had a nice fresh salad for dinner last night.

sideways = argh!

My food styling really leaves something to be desired.   Kale, Quinoa, and Avocado Salad with Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette:  Another new recipe in our  healthier eating quest.  I'm impressed that Paul has been willing to try all these new recipes since he's not usually a terribly adventurous eater.  Then again, he did grow up in the school of appreciate-whatever-is-put-in-front-of-you-since-you-did-not-cook-it-and-that's-all-you-are-getting-unless-you-want-to-cook-it-yourself.  All that being said, last night he said, when the plate was in front of him, "Oh, I get it.  It's April fool's day.  Where's the real dinner?"  Ha.  Ha.  We actually both liked it.  Me more than he, but he still liked it and stated he would eat it again.  Which he will have to, since there are leftovers.

But, on to the recipe.  This was, to me, VERY yummy.  Kale, quinoa, avocado, red pepper, onion, feta cheese.  Olive oil, lemon, salt, pepper and a little sugar for the dressing. Mmmmmmm.  I've never purposely eaten kale.  I've heard it really, really, really good for you, but I always thought it was bitter and you had to cook it endlessly in order to make it tender.  Not so.  (I think I was confusing it with collard greens... ).  It was steamed for a few  minutes and has a very pleasant taste and texture.  Oh and the creamy avocado (left off of Paul's - he apparently has his limits) was just so yummy with all of it.  And that salty feta.  You've got to try  it.  (And I'm going to try making kale chips with the leftover kale!)

Here is a look at our fresh dining room update-but-not-really-because-it's-retro.
Our well-loved dining room set was on the way out.  The table itself was doing pretty well, but some of the chairs were getting wobbly and past being able to fix them.

So, we decided to unearth a table that Paul and I bought in 2005 (when we were dating) because we thought it was so cool.  Problem being, when we bought it, we didn't really know how we were going to use it.  Acutally, first we didn't know when we were going to use it because we weren't even living together yet!  But, then we did move to Vermont together and it stayed in storage.  Then we moved here to New York and it still stayed in storage, waiting for us to come up with the best way to use it.  Paul thought we should use it in our casual "game room" where we have a dart board and the ping pong table, and some retro accessories.  I thought from the beginning it would look cool in our newly updated kitchen/dining room, even though it had a retro look. And now, 6 years after moving to New York, we put it in the dining room!

We love it!  It certainly freshens it up, right?

Ha!  Look at that.... no knitting or books in this post!  Next time....