Seasonal Sundays (Week 28) Melon Season!

Grab an extra cantaloupe, a watermelon, even a honeydew because there's life beyond slices and wedges. Today I'm sharing seven long-time recipes, some classics, some on the unusual (in a good way!) side. Don't let summer pass by without trying one or two or more recipes, it's time to lean into summer melons.

~ Skip Straight to the Good Stuff ~

~ PIN This ~

Welcome to Seasonal Sundays ...

As ever, thank you for welcoming me into your InBox and RSS feed reader. It's your kitchens, your lives, I conjure while writing ...

We eat year-round, of course, but for the next couple of months, the fresh choices are almost overwhelming! Who needs chocolate? unless skewered into a big watermelon boat like Two-Bite Brownies? or pasta? unless it's outnumbered by summer vegetables like Garden Pasta Salad with Mint Vinaigrette? or ??? when there's such an abundance of fruits and vegetables?!

Who needs a farmers market or a farm stand (although, of course, do!) when grocery stores stock bin after bin of produce, often just-harvested and local?

It's a heady time to be a seasonal cook, yes?!

So for the next few weeks, count on me to tempt you with fruits and vegetables, suppers and sides and soups (yes! summer soups!) and smoothies and salads and and and and ...

First up: melons! (Oh boy. Soooo many !!!!!! )

About the Photo By Popular Request, a Little Insight into the Top Image: No doubt, this week's melon choice is inspired by a hefty watermelon carried to the country last Sunday, perched carefully in cold, fast-moving river water to chill, cut into hefty wedges to the delight of kids and grown-ups and, um, dog, alike. Three fun and feisty girls ages four to seven (great-grand nieces!) returned to the food table again and again for "Just one more, please-please, Auntie Al!" FYI the photo is a from a stock photo service but oh, that's the right age and those are the right eyes.

In Praise Of ...

• ... an electric juicer (affiliate link) when juicing a dozen limes for cherry limeade, it extracts so much juice so much faster, works on lemons too, of course!
• ... movie and TV recommendations which include "where in heck" to find them, so many choices anymore, #RememberWhenNetflixWasTheOnlyOne?
• ... the idea of "come over for [insert idea]" from Cup of Jo, I adore this idea, so quick and casual and impromptu ... maybe popsicles? ice cream sundaes? leftover cake?

May I Suggest ... a Link?

Let me just presume that if you're reading this, well, you're both a cook and a recipe collector. Don't the two kinda go together? And that means you tuck aside interesting recipes all over the place and then, dang, where is that chicken recipe that looked so good anyway? Here's an idea. Start a folder on your phone, call it "Kitchen Parade" or "Alanna" or whatever makes best sense to you. Then save the recipes you're most interested in right there in one place. Easy Peasy.

• Start here?
• melon recipes

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SEASONAL INSPIRATION: MELON SEASON!

• THE RECIPE Cantaloupe Salad with Feta & Basil A sweet 'n' savory summer fruit salad.
• ANOTHER TAKE Thai Cantaloupe Salad Simple to make, lovely to enjoy.

• THE RECIPE Cold & Creamy Cantaloupe Soup So simple and yet ... somehow so unusual, so comforting.
• ANOTHER TAKE Peach & Cantaloupe Soup A tantalizing combination, served cold.

• THE RECIPE Melon Ball & Blueberry Salad Pure summer in a bowl!
• ANOTHER TAKE Watermelon, Cucumber & Feta Salad With good watermelon, way more than the sum of its parts!

• THE RECIPE How to Sweeten Lemonade with Fruit Not Sugar Summer experiments with pineapple, watermelon and more. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Old-Fashioned Homemade Lemonade How to make real lemonade with a simple technique that extracts extra flavor from the lemon peels. (PIN This)

• THE RECIPE Fruity Gazpacho A starter, entrée or dessert!
• ANOTHER TAKE Cantaloupe-Tomato Gazpacho A slightly fruity vegetable gazpacho.

• THE RECIPE Mexican Fruit Salad A light and simple fruit salad with a surprising mix of spices and fruits.
• ANOTHER TAKE Watermelon & Celery Salad with Honey-Lime Vinaigrette A captivating summer salad.

• THE RECIPE Mixed Fruit & Vegetable Salad An unusual combo, one of Best Recipes of the Year.
• ANOTHER TAKE Babe's Naked Fruit & Veggie Salad Is a salad without dressing even a salad?!

• THE COLLECTION Melon Recipes including cantaloupe (muskmelon), honeydew and watermelon, sweet and savory both.
• SO ORGANIZED! By Ingredient, Kitchen Parade recipes listed ingredient by ingredient, so much easier than search.

What's New?!

Wondering about a recipe from the last while? Check Recent Recipes from Kitchen Parade and Recent Vegetable Recipes from A Veggie Venture.

• THE RECIPE Scalloped Potatoes & Beets ("Those Pink Potatoes") A dramatic vegetable casserole, served warm or cold as a side dish or simple supper. (PIN This)

Looking Back ...

• My 2020 Time Capsule An excerpt: "Masks. Face Coverings. Whatever we call them, we'd best get used to them because they're the one thing that stands between us and 55,000 (and counting) new cases per day and doubling every two weeks. (And no, it's not just "more testing". The so-called "positivity" rate is also increasing rapidly.) If your current mask isn't working for you? Try another. I'm still experimenting myself, just ordered my third yesterday ... "


• Summer Potluck Favorites (Week 27) PIN This
• Summer Ice Cream (Week 26) (PIN This)
• Summer Sandwiches (Week 25) (PIN This)
• Finding Juneteenth (Week 24) (PIN This)
• Summer Tips & Ideas, No Cooking Required (Week 23) (PIN This)
• Early-Summer Salads (Week 21) (PIN This)
• Spring Recipes to Make a Mom's Life Just a Little Bit Easier (Week 20) (PIN This)
• Strawberry Season (Week 19) (PIN This)

A Quick Peek Into a Real-Life Kitchen

Just so you know, everything's not all pretty pictures around here, in the background is a pile of dirty dishes. And just like many (all?) of us, come five o'clock, I too draw a blank about what to make for supper, despite so many recipes I so dearly love. Here's a quick peek from the last week, not including the oatmeal, salad dressing and sautéed greens on repeat this time of year.

• THIS WEEK We got our wires crossed and my husband thought he was doing dinner for four instead of just dinner for us. So when I emerged from an "afternoon project," he had these on the grill. This is such a great way to cook pork steaks!
• THE RECIPE St. Louis Pork Steaks A St. Louis tradition cooked in a contemporary way instead of dousing with bbq sauce.

• THIS WEEK He also put together an ever-so-pretty tray of four different cheeses and four summer fruits, nectarines, apricots, raspberries, blackberries. It was really interesting to see which combinations brought our cheesy-fruity nuances. I couldn't believe we went through it all! I know, I know, it's hardly a "recipe" but wow, talk about "Summer Easy". We'll definitely do the fruit-cheese board again soon.
• THE HOW-TO Charcuterie for Two Practical tips and ideas for convivial meals for special occasions.

• THIS WEEK We can't do brunch for the twin grandsons without a piiiiiile of bacon. It never fails to elicit grins!
• THE RECIPE Baked Bacon How to cook perfect bacon in the oven.

• THIS WEEK Gotta fill those boyzz up! This time we used a loaf of sourdough from Whole Foods.
• THE RECIPE Fried Bread (Skillet Toast) Slices of hearty bread, toasted in a pan until crisp and golden. (PIN This)

• THIS WEEK This really added to that impromptu brunch, just fresh cherries, strawberries, blueberries and a few small cookies.
• THE RECIPE Five-Minute Fruit Salad It's all in the presentation! (PIN This)

• THIS WEEK It's crazy but I can't quit this cake (which you've seen recently as a Canadian Flag Cake) and mixed up the third one in as many weeks for a July 4th party where people ... just graaaavitated toward it. And a few days later, when we had a $30 cake from Whole Foods that came highly recommended (and indeed, was pretty good), my husband said, "I like yours better" and you know what? Me too!
• THE RECIPE Summer Poke Cake with Strawberries & Blueberries A fun, festive cake for summer. (PIN This)

Just Updated!

• THE RECIPE Cucumber-Mango Salad Made special by tiny spikes of honey and hot sauce. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Beef Tacos with Avocado, Cucumber, Mango Salsa, a Quick Supper, some assembly required.

• THE RECIPE Southwestern Chicken Taco Salad Plates A summery Quick Supper, no cooking required, just assembly. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Mexican Chicken Salad Rotisserie chicken tossed with lime-yogurt vinaigrette, black beans, jicama, corn and tomato. (PIN This)

Don't Be a Stranger ...

I'd love to hear from you. Comment, send me a quick e-mail (my current address is in the FAQs), dot-dash in Morse code, build a fire for smoke signals, launch a message in a bottle, send a Christmas letter, get the dog to yip, toss me a note wrapped in a rubberband, write a message in the sky, scratch a note in the sand, listen to a seashell, tuck a question into a plastic Easter egg, whatever.

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail, you'll find my current address in the FAQs. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. When you make my recipes, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below or better still, on the specific recipe's page.

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