I jumped the gun.
The watermelons out in the garden sure looked ripe. They were the right size, had a yellow spot on the bottom from where they had been laying on the ground, and were pretty close to their projected ripening date. I really really wanted watermelon. So much so that I overlooked some of the other indicators of a ripe watermelon - the tendril closest to the stem hadn't yet turned brown and when thumped it sounded more hollow than dull. (did I mention that I really really wanted watermelon?)
I picked it anyway and when I cut it open found myself with a totally unripe watermelon. Bummer.
I certainly wasn't going to let it go to waste so I figured I would make some watermelon rind sweet pickles. I cut the skin off and cut the flesh into similarly sized pieces, leaving out the seeds. My watermelon was small variety and I got about 3 cups of flesh from it.
You can find a lot of different recipes for pickled watermelon rind online, but basically you're cooking the rind in a simple syrup of vinegar and sugar, with some spices added. When it's done, you have pickled rind. It's pretty good, but I will say that the flesh parts were still very "fleshy" and the consistency wasn't as good as the rind area. Since it was just OK, I decided to take it a step further.
I put the pickled rind in my dehydrator and let them get to the "good and chewy" stage. These we liked. They are sweet but not cloying and now my daughter doesn't need to drink the sugar water out of the hummingbird feeder to get her sugar fix (which I caught her doing twice this week).
Even so, I'll be a bit more careful when I pick the next one.
Have a great weekend, everyone.
8 comments:
Hahah...drinking from the hummingbird feeder? LOL. I've always wanted to try pickling water melon rind, but just haven't. I'm gonna do it!
Oh my, I did the exact same thing this week! Was yours a "Moon and Stars" by any chance? Yellow spot, hollow when thumped. Smaller than usual but we've had super dry weather. I cut it open and it looked exactly the same as yours!
I laughed so hard about your daughter. Too cute!
Seriously, lips up to the plastic flowers, sucking away while the poor hummingbirds glare at her.
Angel - mine was a sugar baby variety I believe. A small "personal size" type.
Okay - the picture of your daughter drinking out of the hummingbird feeder made me laugh out loud. What a joy she must be!
Watermelon pickles make me think of my childhood. My grandmother always made them every summer. Such great memories. I've never tried making them myself.
Love the dehydrator idea.
Ou are so darn smart and ressourceful, my friend !
Twice ??! Oh the little monkey !
xoxo
OMG! My eldest is a sugar fiend, but that's one I haven't caught him doing.
Interesting idea.
why does it not at all surprise me that erin was drinking from the hummingbird feeder? that is so hilarious! she's a survivor, that one. :-)
now i wish i had an unripe watermelon...
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