On Wednesday I received a small watermelon from my Riverdog Farm CSA. Grown eighty-some miles away in summer heat, the melon was sweet and pink — I know because five minutes after I set it on the counter I heard an odd thunk: it had rolled off the counter and split open when it hit the floor. There would be no saving this watermelon for later. I picked it up, washed it off and tasted it. Good. Then I set it aside for a few days as the temperature took a nosedive and the fog rolled in to stay — who wants to eat watermelon in fifty-degree weather?
Fortunately, I had a plan for some of this watermelon: when I bought my Nesco American Harvest dehydrator the booklet contained this sentence: “Cantaloupe and watermelon slices become candy-like when dried.” Candy-like. Hmm. Then Krista and Jess reported on their dried watermelon chips. I knew I had to try it when watermelon came along again.
I spent an hour in the kitchen this morning, cutting 1/2 inch thick slices of watermelon, removing the seeds and cutting the rind away. The easiest way to do this proved to be to cut a slice and then slice through the melon perpendicular to the rind to produce small batons or wedges and then to cut the rind away. After half an hour of this, I noticed that I was developing a neat pile of watermelon rind.
Now, I am one of those people that, if you give her a slice of watermelon, will eat deep into the rind. Watermelon rind reminds me of cucumber with no bitterness and no seeds. And yet, because Mom doesn’t can, I have never made watermelon rind pickles. I called her into the kitchen and asked, “Back in the day when you ate watermelon pickles, were they sweet or sour?”
“Not sweet enough,” she said.
“Sort of like bread and butter pickles?” I asked.
“Not as good,” she said.
She told me to look in the old Mowequa cookbook, but I headed upstairs to check my saved blogs file. Not too far into the seven hundred recipes I had saved was Natalie’s recipe for watermelon pickle. I have started to make it and will report on the results on Wednesday.
Things to make right now: Gravenstein apples are in! Ann and I picked a big bowlful of them from a yard in Berkeley and Mom made our first Gravenstein apple pie of 2012. I cannot say enough good things about this pie so if you are lucky enough to live within range of Gravenstein apples, by all means, get some. Bernie at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market has them right now if you don’t want to forage for them, or if you need more. I also made zucchini-feta pancakes this week. This time I threw a little leftover pesto with the fresh herbs and feta — it’s a delicious variation. As I write this I have another peach and plum crisp in the oven, this time made with white and yellow peaches and little cherry plums from someone’s backyard tree. And two days ago I made this tomato tart, again with lemon cheese, but with brown mustard and shredded tarragon. And of course this is a good time for Deborah’s somewhat famous tomato platter or Greek salad, with tomatoes and cucumbers in the market and peppers beginning to come in.
The watermelon candy is small and sticky — it reminds me of dried tomatoes, only sweeter and pinker. I was catching up on my sleep today after nearly a month of periodic insomnia so I didn’t take the time to do a new painting. Instead I offer you photos of watermelon and watermelon candy.
Thanks for the mention! Hope you like the pickle, it’s sweet & sour! I’m so over watermelon at the moment, been cooking lunch for a family of 14 every day or 2 weeks and making watermelon juice all the time ahhhhhh!
You are welcome, Natalie. Watermelon is just starting here — we’ll have it for about two months and we’ll probably get some hot weather before the month is out.
Sounds like you have been cooking up a storm my friend it all sounds delicious 😀
And I’m loving that watermelon candy!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Well, if it’s called candy, I’m sure it has your name on it, CCU!
How lucky you are to live so near to such great food producers Sharyn. and thanks for the reminder about the pancakes – I bookmarked that recipe a while ago and we are just getting into courgette season here – perfect timing! Hope the sleep pattern resumes soon, I’ve had periods where I’ve struggled with sleep, it’s both miserable and frustrating!
I’m happy to report that I slept all the way through the night last night, from 10:30 to 6 AM. It was bound to happen sooner or later. I don’t worry about insomnia because I know that the body will take sleep when it needs it. The pancakes should help with any excess courgette production — I make them every year.
Brilliant Sharyn. I am actually sat eating my lunch at work reading your blog with a box of very sweet watermelon waiting for me. I like the idea of watermelon candy. I love dried mango, so chewy and tasty. Is it anything like that? I bet it would be good in granola too.
Thanks, Lauren. The watermelon candy is subtle — it’s small and pink and sweet. It was chewy last night — it may get crisper as it ages. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it — it was just one of those things I had to try once.
Well, speaking of watermelon candy and insomnia. Here is a trick I have found works rather well when sleep is slow to come by: have a small sip of juice or a small bite of sweet fruit. Any dentist reading this might grind their teeth, but it works. Maybe you can package your watermelon candy as a natural sleeping aid. No side effects and no, your teeth will not go bad overnight for trying to get some sweet sleep!
One of my other current subjects is tooth care reform (don’t worry, it’s a crusade directed at myself alone), so no sweet snacks. I have the form where I go to sleep and then wake in the wee hours, but there is a potentially good reason for the current bout so I just roll with it.
Love the idea of tooth care reform. Will you write about it? I’ll be reading.
I can so identify with your thoughts on insomnia, Sharyn. Now that I can no longer work, it just doesn’t make sense to get too concerned about it. As you say, our bodies will tell us when to get some sleep. The key is to listen to them. Although virtually anything can be dehydrated, I’d never considered watermelon, specifically, as a candidate. It sounds good!
I haven’t had a day job in over two years, John, but even when I was working regularly I didn’t see any point in fighting insomnia — it generally runs its course and then goes away again. (My mantra, by the way, is “I don’t need a job, I just need an income.”).
Brilliant mantra Sharyn !!
Thank you, Claire. Feel free to use it. My other mantra is “I just need one good man.” (Stay tuned)
I don’t have a dehydrator, so I’ll miss out on the making of watermelon candy, but you listed some great recipes I can’t wait to read about and try! I’ve missed so many blog posting! The pancakes sound really good and I like the addition of pesto you mentioned. I’ll have to see about those apples, I’m intrigued to say the least!
Thanks, Linda. The pancakes are good. I don’t have a juicer, so I’m always reading about delicious-sounding juices I can’t make. But I have counter space.
I wish I had a dehydrator. Maybe I should invest in one. I do have a recipe for watermelon pickles that I got from my mother-in-law. It is an old family recipe that she thought I should try (tradition). I am too lazy to fool around with all that rind but two of my daughters have made watermelon pickles using the family recipe–wonderful! I can’t wait to read yours.
Well, I’d better get busy and work on the pickles some more, Maura. I use the dehydrator most for drying tomatoes for our winter supply.
Dehydrating watermelon, what a delicious idea.
Let me know if you think of good things to do with it, Norma.
Mmm…watermelon sounds delicious right now.
Since the sun came out this morning for a change, I might have some natural watermelon today.
I’d never heard of watermelon candy, but what fun! Of course I don’t have a dehydrator or a place to put one, but I love the idea. Those pancakes sound amazing and I happen to have some pesto on hand…and squash. May give that a try this week. I don’t sleep well, but wouldn’t call it insomnia. I do sleep but am such a light sleeper I hear leaves drop. I pretty much have to exhaust myself to get a good night’s sleep, so I’m hoping what you say is true. The body gets what it needs.
I hope you enjoy the zucchini pancakes, Betsy. We like them a lot and my guest liked them, too (I bound them with garbanzo flour for her).
Of course we are a lot warmer than your temperatures, but it is the “coldest” July we’ve had in years. My tomatoes are just stalled, and I really want to make Deborah’s platter and the tomato tart! I go home from work and litrally walk straight to the garden just hoping to see some real development! And then there are those zucchini pancakes! I’m glad to see the tips on making those, too. I DO have plenty of zucchini! 🙂 Debra
Everybody has plenty of zucchini at some point, Debra. Barbara Kingsolver writes about having to lock her house and car during zucchini season to avoid “gifts.”
I can’t get enough watermelon! This ‘candy’ is right up my alley! 😀
Enjoy, Tiffany. Thanks for stopping by.
Yum. We have been eating watermelon at almost every meal. Although the drought has harmed many local fruits – the watermelon is sweet and refreshing. I just have to ask for a dehydrator for Christmas! Thanks for the idea.
Wow! Watermelon candy sounds interesting Sharyn. Now I won’t be able to get that jazz standard Watermelon Man out of my head! We had a watermelon and cantaloupe on the weekend, makes me feel like summer for sure.
I’m not sure that I like it, Eva. But it must be reasonably low carb because all it is is dehydrated watermelon. Watermelon and cantaloupe are in every veggie box these days.
Dried watermelon that tastes like candy? Amazing! Looking forward to the pickle post.
Well, take all of the water out of watermelon and what do you have left? Sugar and whatever vitamins and minerals survive hours at 135 degrees. There was an incident with the pickles, so it may be another week before I post about them.
So much of what you’ve cooked sounds delectable! I love watermelon pickle and can’t wait to hear how it turns out. I don’t have a dehydrator; I wonder if I could get the same result as your “watermelon candy” by putting it in a very low oven for a few hours…?
You can, Susan, but it is a whole lot of hours — eight or twelve on a warm setting. I’m finding the watermelon odd — it reminds me of tomatoes, but it is sweeter — I can’t decide what to do with it: let me know if you get any ideas. Haven’t started the second batch of pickle yet…
Hi Sharyn – I’d love a dehydrator… I think I’d be going nuts, putting all sorts of things in there. I never thought of how watermelon would look like after a round in one… it seems to be like 99% water… but it doesn’t shrivel down half as much as I thought it would! It’s one of those things though that I’d have to find yet more cupboard space for!
Hi Charles. I got the dehydrator a few years back to dry tomatoes for the winter. I use it a lot. My other favorites are homemade raisins and dried apples. When I’m not using it, I keep it on a shelf in our garage.