Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, JULY 19,2006
6C
When nobody ate watermelon in the house
By CHARLOTTE PERKINS
Journal Lifestyle Editor
Here’s how it was.
Somebody would leave a
watermelon or two on the
front porch. People used to
do things like that.
Nobody would take it
inside, though. Watermelons
didn’t come inside.
My grandmother, who was
a purist about some things,
would get one (or two) of her
grandchildren to tote those
melons out to the back seat
of the car, and we’d head off
for the ice house downtown.
For those of you who
remember the pre-refrig
erator days, an ice house
requires no explanation. For
those of you who don’t, it
was a big building filled with
ice. They made the ice in the
building, and I have no idea
how they did it. I can just
say that the ice, which was
also delivered to our house
by the ice man several times
a week, was deliciously cold
in mid-summer.
My grandmother would
pull up in our ancient black
Ford and somebody would
come and get the watermel
ons and take them into the
ice house to be chilled.
Late in the afternoon,
before the ice house closed
for the day, she’d drive back
downtown and pick up what
had to be the coldest water
melons in the world.
But they still wouldn’t be
taken inside.
They were taken directly
to the back yard where they
were cut on pieces of news
paper spread on an ancient
“cookout” that nobody in my
memory ever used. The mel
ons were cut in half, then in
fourths, and then eighths,
and we ate those delicious
slices with table knives, care
fully avoiding or spitting out
the seeds, since we had all
been told on good authority
that swallowing a watermel
on seed would lead to having
a watermelon growing inside
you.
Most of us sprinkled salt
on our watermelon, the
same way we sprinkled salt
on apples in the winter. (I
haven’t done this in years,
but I’m told some people
still do.)
When we got down to the
rind, we used the table knife
to cut out “false teeth” in the
best Bugs Bunny style. We
inserted these between our
upper lips and teeth, made
each other laugh, and then
washed the sticky watermel
on juice off our hands at the
BREAKFAST
From page 5C
Michael's Blueberry
Vanilla Muffins
Surprise! This recipe,
found on the Ben & Jerry’s
Web site, includes melted
ice cream.
2 cups of unbleached
flour
2 and 1/2 teaspoons
of baking powder
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Watermelons are 92 percent water, which make them a great
thirst-quenching treat on hot summer days. They also pack a lot
of vitamin C and vitamin A.
outside spigot.
Not once, until I was well
into my 20s and living in
Massachusetts, did I ever
see a slice of watermelon
brought forth on a dessert
plate and placed on a dining
room table to be eaten with
a fork.
I don’t mean that we
weren’t taught to eat like
normal people, but that,
like sugarcane, which is a
topic for another day, water
melon just had rules of its
own where I grew up. For
example, while we were also
taught that stealing was a
sin, very few teenaged boys
of my acquaintance thought
that it was a sin to jump
out of a car, run into a field,
and run back with a water
melon. There were also
such things as “watermelon
fights,” about which I take
the fifth.
Finally, I heard when I
was growing up that some
people “spiked” watermel
ons with whiskey. I have
not once in my life actually
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons, sugar
1 pint Ben & Jerry’s
Vanilla ice cream, melt
ed
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup butter, melted
and cooled
1 cup of fresh blue
berries or thawed fro
zen berries, drained
1/8 tsp lemon zest
Preheat oven to 350
White Westing house
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14.8 Cubic Feet
Refrigerator Section:
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•White Dairy Door
•Static Condenser
Freezer Section:
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Available In:
•White
encountered spiked water
melon, but I checked it out
on the internet, and learned
that people really do this,
that most use vodka and
some use rum. A few even
use champagne.
Well, what can I say?
Some people also spend
hours carving watermel
ons into baskets or whales,
or sailing ships, and then
they remove the inside with
melon cutters and put it all
back together with some
cantaloupe and honeydew
thrown in for contrast.
Not me. I’m from the old
school.
A really good, really cold
middle Georgia watermelon
only needs to be left in the
ice house all day, cut in half,
then in quarters and then in
eighths. The best way to eat
it is still with a table knife.
As for making the “Bugs
Bunny” teeth, I’ve given that
up, and I’ll concede readily
that watermelon rind pickle
is a better option, if Jean
Rea will just give me some.
degrees; grease muffin tins
Mix all dry ingredients
together in bowl; in sepa
rate bowl mix, ice cream,
eggs, cooled melted butter;
pour mixed liquid ingre
dients in to dry ingredi
ents and blend well, just
until all dry ingredients are
moistened; fold in blueber
ries and lemon zest; pour
blueberry' batter into well
greased muffin tins.
Bake approximately 40
minutes or until a toothpick
inserted comes out clean.
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FOOD
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These watermelons from Cordele were being sold from a truck near the
Perry Wal-Mart for $4 each on Saturday.
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