Cinnamon Stick: Fun Fruit #4 Melons

My dad loves cantaloupe! And my sister can eat and entire watermelon by herself easy! (I probably could to LOL) I personally love Honeydew melons and when I saw this I just had to try it! It was sweeter! Yummy! Not to mention a really pretty color!

How to pick a ripe melon

Melons are awesome! Oh handy tip the best watermelons are Green river watermelons. And I found that the best way to pick any sort of melon is with four steps. 1 - my mom always thumps the melons. She listens at the different pitches and picks one in the middle. She says that low pitches mean the melon is mushy and high pitches mean to green. 2 - Press the melon with your thumb to test how strong the outer rinde. If it pushes in then it probably means the melon is old. 3 - I learned from the Good Eats Guy Alton Brown to check for sun spots and bright green healthy color. Sun spots are the yellow or discolored spot on the outside of the melons it has something to do with how ripe it is. 4 - Smell, on watermelons if you smell anything it could mean rot or to old they should have no odor except maybe grass. (same goes with grapes) Then with honey dews and cantaloupes the part which the vine was cut off at the very end should have a sweet smell. Overall though their really isn't a for sure way to tell whats underneath the shell of melons. Over time through trial and error you will be able to tell whether or not you are picking a perfectly ripe melon.

Carving Melons

Carving watermelons can be super fun! They make great party center pieces plus can be relatively cheep. I have made them for last day of school parties. As long as you plan every thing out before hand they are very simple to make. My first one I made when I was probably about 12. All you need is a dry firm surface, a sharpy marker, a pattern from anywhere online, spoon or melon baler, assortment of fruit, rag, and sharp knives of different sizes.