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"Diana, just a quick heads up to let you know we are still using your cookbook and the guys will often be heard saying what would Diana say about this or that....really good feed back... I made your potato salad and the oriental coleslaw on Sat. for a family luncheon and had rave reviews so thanks again."
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Watermelon
REFRESHING WATERMELON – THE FRUIT OF SUMMER
A fond summer memory of mine is sitting on the back deck with my brother and sister eating watermelon, juice dripping from our chins, spitting the tiny black seeds onto the grass. I guess a good motivator to spit them out was that we didn’t want watermelons growing in our tummies. Well, these days there is no need to sit and spit the seeds as we have new and improved seedless watermelons. But the juices will still drip. Watermelon is 92% water. You can pretty much count eating a cup of watermelon like drinking a cup of water. 1 cup contains only 50 calories, 12 g of carbs, 0.7 g fat and 1 g protein. It also contains vitamins C, A, B6, Thiamin (B1) and some magnesium. The other very important nutrient to be noted is a phytochemical called lycopene which acts as an antioxidant and may help reduce the risk of prostate cancer and pancreatic cancer among people who have never smoked.
Watermelon is part of the cucurbitaceae family of gourds. It is also related to cucumber and squash. It is grown from seeds and cleared from the field after harvesting. Some people consider it a vegetable but for me if it is sweet and juicy, it is more like a fruit.
A fun activity for kids is to use cookie cutters to cut shapes out of 1” thick watermelon slices. You can make watermelon pizza by spreading cream cheese on it and sprinkling raisins and Cheerios on top. Other delicious uses for watermelons are in blended drinks or smoothies, popsicles, salsas or cooked into a chutney for meat or fish. There are some great recipes on www.watermelon.org