"Wayne Boatwright" > wrote in message
...
> On Mon 15 Aug 2005 04:55:23a, Dee Randall wrote in rec.food.cooking:
>
>> I'm in luck -- for the first time ever, I have Italian Fontina, ripe
>> figs and ripe pears!
>> All are good, but I know what you mean about them not tasting like they
>> used to.
>> I still can remember what canteloupe 'used to' taste like. I have one
>> now that I've eaten half of it, and I would've eaten all of it by now
>> otherwise. On the other hand, I've grown to appreciate honey-dew more.
>
> I guess I'm lucky when it comes to canteloupe, as some of the best melons
> in the country are grown here in AZ and are available at our farmer's
> markets. They taste the way I remember canteloupe tasting when I was a
> kid...sweet, mellow, and slightly musky.
>
> On the other hand, I can't pick a good honeydew melon to save my life.
> What's the secret? I've always heard that a good one should have a nice
> creamy color skin. When I pick those, they're still not very sweet and
> the
> the texture is too hard.
>
>> Have you ever heard this - my mother used to say this to me sometimes in
>> the early morning while dressing me --
>> "Canteloupes for breakfast
>> Honey in a bun
>> Put your shoes and stockin's on
>> and Run, Run, Run"
>> Dee Dee
>
> Uh, never heard it. :-)
>

Wayne, I have no secret and I think I must be just taking my chances. A
week or so ago in TJ's a young woman stopped another woman (younger than me,
but still overly middle aged) and said she wanted to buy a watermelon and
could she tell her how to pick one out. The woman said, "I have no idea."
So when she asked me, I told her that I had just read to make sure that
there is yellow on the bottom. My grandfather raised watermelons, and I had
always assumed that the yellow on the bottom meant that it was sitting on
the ground a little longer; however, this might also mean that it's been
ripening a little longer also, and might be a good tip. I tend to buy the
honeydews that don't look too pristine (and creamy colored as you say) and
this might be that they have been sitting around a little longer - hopefully
not in a 'dump-like' truck. I've had some that were kind of hard inside,
but usually they are a welcome relief to the tasteless canteloupe we get
around here. They should ship the AZ canteloupes back here to VA.
Yes, the term 'musk melon' was also used when I was growing up in Belpre,
Ohio.
Dee Dee