Watermelony Goodness

I love watermelon. More than the average person, possibly. I buy them two at a time when they're in season and it's not uncommon for me to go days eating watermelon and very little else. They taste like summer! It's one of my top 5 foods and I can't get enough. I pretty much buy the seedless kind exclusively, but I've never turned down the kind with seeds, either.

Because I'm a giver, I thought I'd share a few fun facts about this fabulous edible!

• The first recorded watermelon harvest occurred nearly 5,000 years ago in Egypt.
• Over 1,200 varieties of watermelons are grown worldwide in 96 countries.
• In some Mediterranean countries, the taste of watermelon is paired with the salty taste of feta cheese.
• Watermelon is 92% water.
• Watermelon's official name is Citrullus Lanatus of the botanical family Curcurbitaceae. It is cousins to cucumbers, pumpkins and squash.
• By weight, watermelon is the most-consumed melon in the U.S., followed by cantaloupe and honeydew.
• Early explorers used watermelons as canteens.
• The first cookbook published in the U.S. in 1796 contained a recipe for watermelon rind pickles.
• In 1990, Bill Carson of Arrington, TN grew the largest watermelon at 262 pounds that is still on the record books (1998 ed. Guinness Book of World Records).
• Watermelon has no fat or cholesterol and is an excellent source of vitamins A, B6 and C and contains fiber and potassium.

You can find out more about watermelon here. What's your take on it? Do you love it or only like it? What's your favorite way to eat it? Do you have any you can share with me?

Guilty Childhood Pleasures

Mel's food post yesterday inspired me and got me thinking. And for some reason, my mind kept tripping over one of my favorite childhood treats - Jello poke cake. Do you know what I'm talking about? White cake (has to be white cake so you can see the colors!) baked, then poked with holes and drizzled with Jello. After it sets up in the fridge, it's frosted with white frosting and topped with multi-colored sprinkles.

One bite and I'm a kid again. I haven't made it in a long time, but I do occasionally break it out for cookouts. Everybody loves it and you can't beat how moist it makes the cake.

What would you say your guilty childhood pleasure is, food-wise? Have you made it yourself?

weird food

My dad will open a can of peaches and then crumble Oreos over them. It is one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen, but he loves it.

One of my favorite sandwiches on earth is a bacon sandwich. BUT it has to be prepared a specific way. White bread. Mayo and ketchup mixed together on one slice. Mustard and American cheese on the other. Good crispy bacon in between.

Best sandwich ever but a lot of people find it disgusting.

I also prefer to drink a big cold glass of milk with my pizza. Nobody gets that either.

Tell me: what food do you eat that others find weird?

Food Rocks

Mel's post yesterday got me thinking...

I make no bones about my love of food. I'm Italian and food is like another language to us. We celebrate with food, comfort with food, find our way into each other's hearts with food, pass recipes down through generations, teach techniques, spend time discussing food, even shopping for certain ingredients becomes an event.

Food is one of my greatest pleasures and my biggest downfalls. Because I love it too much. Which is why I'm adding yoga to my workout routine today. (If only food didn't love me back quite so well.)

If I were dying and only had one meal left, I know without a shadow of doubt what that meal would be: spaghetti and meatballs. What would yours be?

picky about food

Okay, so maybe I'm not exactly a picky eater, but I am very particular about the way some of my food is prepared.

The perfect hot dog is grilled until the majority of the skin is black. I love a good charred dog. But being cooked to perfection is just a small part of the perfect dog. I like my mustard to be on the bun, a half a slice of cheese, then the dog, then ketchup on top. THAT'S my perfect dog. Not ketchup and mustard squished together on the bottom. Not mustard only. Not relish or onion. Nope. Mustard, cheese, dog, ketchup.

Perfection.

For my cheeseburgers I like mustard on the bottom bun, then the meat, cheese, pickles, then mix mayonnaise and ketchup on top bun. Mmmmm. my mouth just watered.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? The PB must be on 1 slice of bread and the jelly on the other.

Are you picky about the way your food is prepared sometimes? Or is it just me?

Death by Gravy Fries

When I die I don't want to go by injection, natural causes, or some blaze of glory that will, no doubt, seem like a great idea seconds before my final words, which would probably be unprintable anyway. Nope. I want a very specific end. No rockets red glare, no poignant bedside confessions, no tragic self sacrifice. I want death by gravy fries.

Dude... have you ever had them?

My dad is a southern gentleman. I was really lucky to come from a diverse family. Even though I grew up lace curtain Irish way up nawth in Bawstin (actually 36 miles south, but everything in New England is considered greater-Bawstin), my father's family was always dear to me. We didn't see them often, but when we did it was a long weekend or 5 days of glorious southern hospitality and great southern cooking. My aunts and Granny had just as much to do with my cooking skills and tastes as my Irish mother, aunts, and grandmother. So I make great scones, soda bread, and boiled dinners. But my chicken and dumplings kick butt, too. And when I have a craving, it's just as likely to be a slab of country ham on a buttermilk biscuit as it is to be colcannon with extra butter.

Gravy fries are a decadent desire instilled in me by southern diners. They come in varieties: you can get them with white sawmill gravy, dark left-over-pot-roast gravy (more often in Maine or rural Massachusetts, I think), or with red-eye gravy. You can get them slightly soft or crispy. But once you get them, you're hooked.

Your arteries will not be thanking you. But your taste-buds will throw a party in your honor. There's something absolutely glorious here... salty, rich gravy combined with crispy (or even slightly soggy) potato slices. My favorite? The Halfway Cafe in Marshfield. They just moved to town, but I had already acquired my addiction in their Dedham and Canton stores thanks to my friend Maria, and her husband, Mac, who is another southern gentleman. They serve them crispy, still in skin, with dark pot-roast style gravy. I can eat them by the bucket.

In fact, this week I was a little under the weather and the one thing I managed to eat was a big order of gravy fries. Probably should have made me sick, but it put me to sleep with a gentle smile on my face. Probably a little gravy smudge, too, but I don't even care... so help me.

So what's your favorite indulgence? What can stop you dead in your tracks with one wiff of savory essence from the kitchen? Do tell!