So, Jenn, you want to talk about summer staples this month?
I’ll tell you about the summer staple around The Smart [Cottage]* Kitchen:
*Rachel wanted me to clarify that the kitchen is in a cottage.
Melon.
Lots and lots of melon.
‘Round these parts, melon consumption is a little out of control.
I’m an equal opportunity melon consumer, really. I love cantaloupe, honeydew–which is the most difficult to pick out, truly–and the hard-to-find but uber-melontastic Juan Canary.
At any given time, Rach and I have over eight containers of various cut melons in the fridge.
Rach prefers the Ziploc method. I don’t get it. But to each her (mel-) own.
My new method is to store melon in small containers so I can keep the consumption in check. I mean, y’all KNOW how easy it is to open up a giant container of cut melon and then all of a sudden you find yourself drinking the juice in the bottom of an empty tup-faux-ware. 
We eat so much watermelon in this little cottage of ours, that we start to see watermelons everywhere. Even in the Google logo.*
*E-mail from Rachel: “Why is the Google man running on a slice of watermelon?”
It’s not just watermelon. I have been going through quite a bit of cantaloupe as well. 
I’ve seen a lot of crazy cantaloupe pairings online. After Stephanie talked about a cantaloupe and fig salad she had, I figured I should try it.
OK, except instead of a salad with fresh figs and cheese I put cantaloupe and dried figs on top of some Purely Elizabeth Pumpkin Fig granola doused in almond milk.
So…almost the same thing?
And after Lindsay talked about putting salt and pepper on her cantaloupe, I had to see what the fuss was about.
It’s actually right nice.*
*Unlike my feelings about having my hand in photos.
But it really comes back to watermelon.
Not only did I almost buy a second watermelon yesterday, “just in case”*–
*Just in case of what? Just in case I accidentally ate the entire one I had cut up the night before?^
^I say that sarcastically….but…
–but I’m so (water) melon-choly that when at Book Club last night–when presented with a slice of Rach’s delicious homemade blueberry and nectarine pie–
–I munched on it, sure, but my fork really just kept wanting to go back into the bowl of watermelon behind my plate.
I’m definitely putting my water (melon) weight back on again this summer.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice melons.
I love cantaloupe with pepper. It’s really good with cottage cheese (if you eat that sort of thing…).
Yes! I love just cutting the cantaloupe in half like a bowl and and just plopping the cottage cheese in!
I don’t know what I eat anymore.
[Although maybe the correct turn of phrase there would be, "I don't know what I DON'T eat anymore."?]
Thought of you when I was chopping up my honeydew melon this weekend. It wasn’t a very good one (not mushy enough) and I thought, “If Sarah went shopping with me, I’d always have a good melon.”
Going to have to reference your old post again to avoid future melon purchasing mistakes.
I love the post title, very witty! I love melons right now too, so refreshing!
I love frozen melon! I’ve never tried Purely Elizabeth granola, but it looks delicious
Purely Elizabeth is one of my favorite granolas. It’s SO expensive, but it’s really crumbly if you like that.
I seriously need to try salt and pepper on cantaloupe!
Salt on watermelon is great too! One of my favorite childhood memories is saturday mornings my mom would buy the biggest melon she could find and my brother and I would eat the entire thing for breakfast. Never anything left. It was quite ridiculous.
That sounds like my breakfast this morning.
And yesterday.
Oops.
ever tried frog skin melon (A.K.A. piel de sapo, or just melón, according to my host-mom from Spain)? it’s kinda like honeydew, but football-shaped and bumpy with more flavor– delicious!
I JUST bought one today because of you.
I think I’ve tried it before..it reminds me of the ‘Santa CLaus’ melon I think. How do I know if it is ready to be cut? Or is it like watermelon and you just have to go for it?
Well, I don’t know too much about how to pick one or when it’s ripe (it’s really rare to find them in stores around here, so I’ve only bought one myself once), but I know you want it to still be firm. I think it would be kinda like watermelon, where you don’t really know what you’ve got until it’s more or less too late… so I say just be brave and go for it!
Ew — watermelon. But I do love all the others, even though I haven’t tried pepper on my cantelope yet (need to remember that one!).
I LOVE watermelon (in Hungary we’d eat this right before our dessert), enjoy cataloupe and despise honeydew. I dunno why but that’s the melon outcast for me. I used to bag my melons too, until I realized, bags leak and tupahware was the way to go. Getting that last bit of juice from the bottom. . . .yesssss. delicious.
Melons are a summer staple! My favourite is canteloupe. I didn’t know that honeydew was the hardest to pick out. I usually just avoid it because it tastes so bland. What’s your secret?
With watermelons, I always look for the giant yellow spot. It means the melon had enough time to ripen on the ground. With cantaloupe I push on the ‘belly button’ and see if it gives a litle bit. If you shake the melon and hear water inside that means it is OVER ripe. Honeydews I try to ‘belly button’ trick, and I try to sniff it to see if it smells sweet. Usually I just pick the ugliest honeydew I can find. That usually works.
Holy cow, I was JUST going to say how hungry you’ve made me for some melon, until I saw that exquisite looking pie! I want that now, instead
And also, I didn’t quit blogging. Just moved on to another blog for now
I love melons in the summer too but they’re not quite in season here yet. I’m so excited for my sister to bring home the first of the melon crop from the farm where she works! My favourite are the muskmelons!
mmm, i have definitely not consumed enough melon this summer. must get on that…
You wait until the tupperware is empty to drink the juice? How civilized! My mom texted me after I house sat and asked why the watermelon container was bone-dry of watermelon juice. I also expressed my shock.
We are on melon duty right now too. We keep getting it in our weekly CSA share, and I am loving it. I’m thinking watermelon water and watermelon mojitos this weekend.
Your post cracked me up. Great wordplay…and great melons.