Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Somehow we have lots of cantaloupes. DH picked 8 and there are a whole bunch more coming up in the next few days. Anyone have any ideas what I can do with them? Our garden has been super bountiful this year and we are running out of room in the kitchen.

They dehydrate into a very sweet snack... Trader Joes carries if you don't want to experiment on your home grown ones.

--Lisa

Melon soup is very nice on a hot day, and lots of Japanese desserts use melon as a flavoring. I've never made any, but enjoyed them greatly when I got them at the Japanese bakery.

Besides the smoothies I make with the melons themselves, there is a delicious Mexican drink made of the seeds and junk you scoop out of the melon, and is normally discarded - Horchata.

Dave, last I checked, Horchata was made from rice and milk.

Fuzzy,

Actually, horchata is made with rice, as well as other grains, nuts, and seeds, though, as you noted, rice is the usual ingredient. I should have been more specific and stated horchata de melon. I've been making this since I found the recipe in one of Diana Kennedy's Mexican CBs, back in the 70s.

Probably too late for your melons, but they freeze well if you peel and chunk them. They're great in smoothies.

Thanks, not too late, we have another batch ripening on the vine. Steve planted a lot thinking not all were going to make it, but they all did. One patch on a vine shared by cucumbers with marigolds on the ground. They were the first to come up. The other on the ground by itself is near the composter, and it had 8 at one time and more coming. Nice size ones too.

Between the extreme heat followed by heavy rain, the plants went crazy. He got a dinosaur kale leaf for his green drink today. Just the leaf was about 18" long.

Alina,

You can make lots of things with Tuscan cabbage (dinosaur kale).