Recently, I ate a slice of sweet, juicy watermelon. It’s amazing how food (much like music) can transport you back in time. Eating that watermelon took me right back to spending time at Big Mama and Big Daddy’s house as a little girl.
When I was young, I had a fake grandmother and grandfather – Big Mama and Big Daddy. (It’s very common down south…close family friends take on family roles.) They would help my mom out by watching me and my two sisters during the summer months. They were pretty strict (especially Big Mama) and we could rarely leave their fenced-in home but we had a lot of great times there. I remember during the summer, the fruit truck would come by. It was a big old truck filled with a variety of fresh fruit. The owner would yell out “Water-melon, straw-berries, can-ta-loupe…” as his driver came down the street. Big Daddy would always get us some nice, juicy watermelon. He would cut it open and give us each big chunks. Then, we would sit on the back porch enjoying its juicy sweetness. Life was safe and good behind the fence…
Well, those days are long past and both Big Mama and Big Daddy passed away many years ago. However, I will always hold on to the memories of that special period of time…as well as my love of watermelon! Anyway, I just love to eat watermelon plain. It’s so sweet that it really doesn’t need anything else. Sometimes, I’ll sprinkle a little salt on it in order to get that salty/sweet taste combination, but mainly I just like it plain. Over the last couple of weeks, I have seen some really good looking (and simple to make!) watermelon recipes floating around on twitter though. I might try one (or more) of these over the next few months:
–The Family Kitchen’s Watermelon Agua Fresca (Fruit Water)
(They also have a Watermelon Sorbet recipe that looks tasty. It just takes more work to prepare.)
–Recipe Girl’s Watermelon Salsa : (We have people over a lot. Tortilla chips and salsa are a staple, so this would make a nice summery change.)
–Healthy. Happy. Life.’s Watermelon Frosty! …or Margarita: (This is another super-easy recipe.)
Do you have a favorite watermelon recipe or do you just like to eat it plain?