Martha Meets Lucy

Watermelon and Feta Salad

Now that summer is officially here (aka I turned on the air conditioning and Memorial Day is almost here) its time to discuss watermelon. (To people in the Southern Hemisphere, I'm sorry. Maybe bookmark this recipe and make this instead.)

Now don’t get me wrong, I love watermelon plain. Or with a squeeze of lime. Or juiced and added to a mojito. But I absolutely adore watermelon with something spicy. My mom used to make “Fire and Ice Salsa” which used watermelon in place of tomato. (This was years before the fruit salsa became super trendy. I know because people used to think she was crazy for making it until they tried it.)

Then I saw a recipe for watermelon salad. These days, its not so unique. But that doesn’t mean its not delicious. If you can resist crunchy cool watermelon with pickled red onions, salty feta crumbles, and the kick of jalapeno mellowed by a touch of mint there might be something wrong with you.

 

after cutting up the watermelon my camera died. I charged it for 5 minutes, but only got one picture out of it. I need to remember that iphones have cameras.

 

Just saying.

And if you’re bringing this over to a Memorial Day BBQ, get out your melon baller because you’re going to want to use the rind as the bowl. Trust me, after a few watermelon mojitos, you won’t want to have to remember to bring your serving bowl home. And watermelon balls (hehehe) are so stinkin’ cute.

So on this glorious 3 day weekend that I will be spending at work (where I guarantee it will be mind numbingly slow) eat some watermelon. And have a drink and float in the pool for me. But please wear your sunscreen. Don’t be like my dance instructor who thought the water would protect his pasty white skin from burning to a lobster color. Again. Skin cancer isn’t a good look.

Normally you would get a recipe right here, but WAIT there’s more! Now how much would you pay? I’m hoping its $23.10.

When I was but a wee young lass in the first weeks of my culinary school training, I went to New Orleans for SOS’s annual conference. Also on the trip were two girls who took the trip far more seriously than I. They never had to be woken up to get their butts to general session, nor were they out till 3 in the morning (if they were, they hid it well).

For the last two years, they’ve been writing a cookbook.

Which is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Its full of recipes for family meals served at some of the world’s best restaurants. To give you some perspective, the forward is by Ferran Adrià. There are recipes from Ad Hoc, WD-50, and The Fat Duck. I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy.

I highly suggest you do the same.

Now have some salad.

Chewy No Bake Fruit and Nut Bars

I’m sorry. I thought I would be back, but honestly? There hasn’t been much around these parts to post about. Or if I did make something worth posting, I didn’t measure or photograph it. I did measure and photograph these bars, but typepad doesn't seem to want to upload them right now and it took 5 minutes to upload one picture. So look at these much prettier pictures from White On Rice couple.

A good food blogger I am not.

A new job and workout regime plus my regular dancing schedule has kept me on my toes. Which is why I am so thankful I have these fruit and nut bars to keep me going.

I have been obsessed with Kind Bars for quite some time. The fact that I could see whole almonds and cranberries reassured me that I was eating something healthy in a way my beloved Peanut Butter and Chocolate Clif Bar can not. And now I’m obsessed.

Running late for work? Grab a bar. Going for a run? Eat a bar first. Done with the run? Eat a bar. Dessert? Bar. Waiting 5 minutes for a picture of a bar to freakin upload? Eat a bar.

Seriously, I would say it needs to stop but then I think of all the possibilities. Coconut cashew with dried mango? Pecan with peach? Walnut apple? Subbing out some of the honey with pureed dates? Cookie butter instead of almond butter?

Seriously, the possibilities are endless. I think the only thing I wouldn’t change is the puffed rice cereal. The recipe calls for brown puffed rice cereal, but that requires a trip to Whole Foods and I am not going to do battle with that Real Housewife of Orange County laden parking lot for anything less than Maldon Sea Salt and my Chipotle Garlic Hot Sauce. I can only be around silicone, bleach, and spray tan for so long before I want to point out the irony of them shopping at a natural foods store. So I used the rice crispies that were hiding in the pantry.

Ok. Sometimes I’ll brave the parking lot for cheese. And their fig and nut loaf. (Sounds gross, but so freaking good. Note to self: fig and marcona almond bars)

Go make yourself some bars. I promise its cheaper than a Kind Bar habit. Oh, and if you decide to mix it up, please report back.