MONDAY MUSINGS: HAPPY WATERMELON MONTH

I’m a pretty traditional gal. Oh, I have my adventurous moments but for the most part I’m pretty tried and true.

This past week I had a hankering for watermelon. Tis the season you know. J In fact, July is National Watermelon month. So, here I am in the produce section of my local store and I wheeled my cart right on up to the nice display of melons. Thumped and smelled and chose a couple of cantaloupes and a nice watermelon. I’m the major consumer of melons in my house so the watermelon was a smaller one and so pretty.

I found a nice place for it in the refrigerator. Friday was the day. Got my watermelon out and sliced. My jaw drops. WTF? What happened to my watermelon?

It was yellow.

Yellow?? Peaches are yellow, mangoes and pineapple are yellow. Watermelons are bright red or deep pink. Not yellow. I sniff. Smells like a watermelon. I sliced a little piece and cautiously take a taste…okay, it tastes like a watermelon. Sort of. But, but…it’s YELLOW.

I say sort of, because there is a difference. Texture of the fruit is a bit lighter and finer and the taste is sweeter. Almost like a touch of honey to it. It a bit sweeter than I like, but it’s good and this would be nice change in a summer fruit salad, watermelon berry salad, or watermelon cucumber salad (which is very good, by the way). I prefer the flesh of the red fruit.

Tonight, I’m in my office and I hear the refrigerator door open.

“What the hell…?! Mom, what is this?” 

 “Its a watermelon, son.” 

 “It’s yellow. Is it spoiled?” 

 “Nope. Just a different color.” 

 “Huh. It looks weird. When did they start making watermelon yellow? Is it any good?” 

 I roll my eyes. “Why don’t you taste it and see what you think?” I figure the kitchen would be better place to have this conversation, so I walk in to find my son poking the watermelon like it was a dangerous alien. He bends his head and sniffs. 

 “It smells like a watermelon. Have you had any of it?” 

 “Obviously so, since half of it is gone, I’m still breathing, too.” He squares his shoulders and lifts the watermelon. 

 I grab the watermelon just before teeth meets yellow. “Oh no you don’t, buddy. Here’s a spoon. Scoop out a piece.” 

 “Wow. It’s really sweet.” Scoops out another bite for testing purposes you understand.

I recognize the look on his face and rescued my watermelon again and cut off a slice for him to eat.  It’s the same look mothers of grazing teen males understand. It’s the same look he gets when he’s looking in the fridge for something to eat but grabs the gallon of milk to guzzle and fortify him before choosing something to eat.

So, watermelon isn't just red anymore. Who would have thunk it? 

If you will excuse me, I'm going to go eat my purple, yellow, and orange tomato salad with purple cauliflower bits and crumbled feta cheese and contemplate some yellow watermelon for dessert. Who knows, maybe next time I'll add the yellow watermelon to the salad mix.

• Have you had any of the yellow watermelon? Did you know it was yellow flesh when you bought it or were you as surprised as I was when you cut into it?