Homemaker Learn About Melons...

Countryside Homemakers began Wednesday, September 2nd, at JoCarol Wilson's home. I was to teach the lesson. The class...'Melons 101'.  I attended the training the end of August and looked forward to teaching this class.

After studying the material and matching it with my notes, I came up with an order in which to teach about melons: growing, selecting, preparing, storing, eating and health benefits. There are three melons that are most popular and all grow in Kentucky: cantaloupe, honeydew and watermelon. I wanted to incorporate each of these in something edible for the class.

To pique everyone's curiosity, as everyone arrived, I served them a tiny cup of smoothie made with honeydew melon. The reality is I saved the things I left over after preparing my other taste treats and dumped them all in the smoothie. It contained honeydew melon, blueberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, applesauce and some strawberry Greek yogurt. Yummy!

We started the lesson with a brief quiz to about 'Melons'.  Here are the questions. Give it a try and I'll try and remember to put the answers at the end of this Blog post.

1. What is another name by which cantaloupe is known?
2. What three melons are native to Kentucky?  (I already gave you that answer)
3. A cantaloupe will continue to ripen if picked green?  T  F
4. A honeydew will continue to ripen if picked green?  T  F
5. A watermelon will continue to ripen if picked green?  T F
6. What are the two ends of the watermelon called?

It was a good way to begin and get our brains engaged about Melons.

Then I shared these two interesting facts about watermelons:

1. Mark Twain was once quoted as saying, "Watermelon is the food that angels eat."
2. Early explorers used watermelons as canteens.

Then we covered types of melons. I brought two types for display that are not the norm. One was a 'Casaba' melon. It is onion shaped and bright yellow. The flesh is light yellow and tastes like a really sweet cantaloupe. The other was a 'Canary' (also spelled Kanari) melon. It's football shaped but the ends are rounder. The color is also bright yellow with a smooth skin. It takes a bit like cantaloupe also.

We covered each of the topics in their order as stated in paragraph three.  Some interesting things I learned from each area are:

1. Growing:  Don't save your seeds to plant the next year. It seems they have done so many hybrids that you don't get a good a product unless you purchase starts.
2. Selecting: That spot where the melon laid on the ground can be a good guide for which melon to purchase. It indicates the melon laid on the ground to ripen and that is a good thing, particularly in a watermelon. If that spot is yellow/white in color, it indicates your watermelon is ripe. If it is white or pale green, it indicates your watermelon is not ripe. 
3. Preparing: There was a huge emphasis in the material about cleaning the melon before preparation. They have water, dirt and animals to contaminate them when growing outside. Then the pickers and grocers can also contaminate them as they handle them. Particularly true of cantaloupe as the netting like outside can have germs caught in the webbing. Really rinse well and scrub with a brush before you ever cut. Clean your knife as you cut so you don't contaminate.  The salmonella outbreak in Indiana in years past was directly linked to cantaloupe that was not cleaned properly when being prepared.
4. Storing: You can freeze cantaloupe and honeydew. I tried this. I scooped them out with a melon baller. Then I placed the balls of melon on a cookie sheet and set it in the freezer until they were frozen. Next I put the frozen balls in a bag to stay frozen. Doing them this way keeps the balls separate in the bag. I do this with blueberries as well. The melon can be cubed or sliced to freeze. Your choice. The reason to do this is to buy the melon while it is at its lowest cost and freeze for use in the winter. You can make smoothies or breads out of them. The texture after thawing it a little different for eating by itself. But the Vitamin C remains through the freezing process.
5. Eating: We were given two new recipes: Cantaloupe Bread and Watermelon Salsa. I prepared both for the lesson. The ladies were so happy. They came in their newsletter from the extension office and many wanted to try them but just were not sure. Everyone loved both and Claude and I did as well. These recipes are a keeper. I'll post them after this listing.
6. Health Benefits: Cantaloupe, honeydew and watermelon are classed as super foods.  Basically they have things in them that help prevent certain types of cancers and many other good things. I learned about lycopene, cartenoids, and phytonutrients. Such big words. Look them up! 

These are the two recipes. I made them both the night before and they were fine the next day. The cantaloupe bread is an excellent way to get some cantaloupe in someone who really doesn't like cantaloupe. I did not put the glaze on the top of the cantaloupe bread in an effort to save on some sugar and everyone still loved it that way. I'm sure you could add nuts to it if you wanted. 

And lastly, here are the answers to the quiz:

1. Muskmelon (because of the musky scent meaning it is ripe)
2. Canteloupe, honeydew and watermelon
3. True
4. False
5. True
6. Stem end and Blossom end

This was a very fun class to teach. I learned some things and that is always good. And, we added two great recipes to our collection.