Watermelon is the fruit of summer! For most people, it’s the perfect refreshing treat on a hot summer day as you’re sitting by the beach, cooking out, or spending a day on the lake.
But for me it is a daily snack because as I freely admit, I’m a watermelon addict. No joke, as just one person, I eat probably close to a watermelon and a half every week. As such, I consider myself kind of an expert in all things watermelon.
When I found out that today, August 3rd is National Watermelon Day, I of course HAD to blog about it. I’m hooking you up with lots of ways to enjoy the sweet, juicy, red fruit!
Tricks for picking the best watermelon
Hollow is good – If the melon sounds hollow, it usually means it will be amazing!
Sometimes the uglier, the better – The watermelons that are not completely green are usually the best. Don’t let the look deceive you, a little yellow can be a good thing.
Watermelon summer recipes
Watermelon Ice Cream – Two of the summer-iest foods are ice cream and watermelon (at least to me they are), so why wouldn’t you combine them? There are many ways this combo can be done and a different variation could be a watermelon sorbet. Check out this watermelon ice cream recipe.
Watermelon Caprese – The delicious combination of flavors that caprese encapsulates is transformed by swapping tomatoes for juicy watermelon slices! Check out Delish for the recipe.
Watermelon & Feta Salad – The sweet and salty combination is a favorite for many and the watermelon & Feta Salad has that perfect combination. Click here for the recipe.
Simple and Sweet Watermelon triangles – Sometimes cutting up a watermelon in triangle pieces is the best and most tradition way to enjoy it.
Watermelon Lime Popsicles – Popsicles are the perfect way to stay cool on a summer day. Check out this video to see how to make the refreshing treat.
Watermelon games for the summer
Watermelon pool relay – Growing up, every Fourth of July was filled with crazy games for kids. One of these was a watermelon pool relay. The group splits into two or more teams and lines up from one end of the pool to the other with each team in a separate lane. The goal is to get the greased watermelon to the opposite end of the pool as a team. This might seem crazy, but when you’re 10 years-old it was a great time!
Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest – Not too long ago, there were no seedless watermelons, which is how the seed spitting contest was created. Kids turned spitting the black watermelon seeds into a contest to see who could make it the furthest.
Watermelon fun facts
Watermelons are much more water than melon. The fruit is 92 percent water!
The entire watermelon is edible. Maybe you’ll think twice before throwing out the rinds next time, but maybe not.
The fruit has been traced back 5,000 years to Egypt, glad to know people were enjoying watermelon back then.
Fruit or Veggie? People have still not come to a consensus on whether watermelon is a fruit or a vegetable, it has characteristics of both, so many people have differing opinions.
Happy National Watermelon Day !
Guest Blogger: Ann McGrail
Ann is a PR Intern at TDS Telecom and a Journalism and Communication Arts student at UW-Madison.
