watermelon pickles

We had watermelon today for snack.

I was cutting it up, admiring the colors of it and breathing in that impossible-to-fabricate scent (Anything watermelon-flavored is horrid. Remember Hubba-Bubba? And schnapps? Bleurgh.) and as I was cutting the last off the rind I remembered the last time I had watermelon pickles.

It was a long weekend - July 4th, possibly? - and my two best friends from high school and I decided to get out of town. I was probably nineteen or twenty, so this is some years back. We decided to go to Louisville. Now, Kentucky was a reasonably far piece away from where we were in Michigan, but it was drivable, and I had relatives there we could stay with and we! were! hitting! the road!

The drive down was a blast. We sang along with the radio, bitched about our boyfriends (or lack of) successfully read maps and didn't get lost.

But as we approached Louisville something burrowed at me. I had forgotten something. What was it? I had my wallet, my clothes, my drivers license. We had a place to....stay...I hadn't called my grandparents before we left. Crap. We pulled over at a roadside rest and I 'phoned. They weren't home. It was getting pretty late, so the only thing I could think of was that they were visiting my aunt and her family in Pennsylvania.

In which case...yeah. Tremendous planning, Jess. We started pooling our money for a hotel, and quickly decided if one of us didn't eat and we coasted down all the hills on the way home, we'd be okay.

But wait! There was someone else in L'ville! I had forgotten my godmother!

Now, not too many people would be impressed with a ten pm phone call announcing three people inviting themselves to stay. Looking back on it, I'm horrified at the sheer gall of it. (I really did have manners. Just...not...when I was with my friends, apparently.) But R, my godmother, sounded thrilled we were in town, and laughed when I begged beds.

"Of course you must come." She gave us directions (and there's a whole 'nother story about how we got lost, asked directions at a gas station on the wrong side of town and had some man lick the windshield while one of my friends tried to think how she could use a Diet Coke as a weapon and the other dived for the backseat.) and we finally made it there.

Every light in the house was on. She and her mother (Mrs.H) welcomed us, offered us juice and fruit, and gave us each lovely breezy rooms. We all promised long catching-up chats the next morning, and went off to our beds.

The next morning, when my friends and I straggled downstairs, Mrs. H was reading the paper, a selection of jams and jellies spread out in front of her. When my friend told her she usually didn't eat breakfast, Mrs. H was dismayed.
"No, dear, you must always have a little something. Sit, and read, drink some coffee, and nibble something."

There was fresh hot toast and bagels. On the table were peach preserves, watermelon pickles, gooseberry jam, apple butter and all sorts of things I wasn't familar with. We sat drinking out of china cups and had leisurely breakfasts that trip with Mrs. H. We'd tell her what we were going to do and she'd smile and ask questions and pass out sections of the paper and make us sit and relax before we ran out the door.

Y'know, that weekend we did a lot. I have pictures of us at Churchill Downs, the Louisville Zoo, and a hockey game...but I think my favorite memory of that flying three-day trip was the breakfasts, where Mrs H would make us slow down and start the day properly.



Watermelon Pickles

4 qt Prepared watermelon rind
2 tb Salt
4 c White vinegar
8 c Sugar
3 Cinnamon sticks; broken
1 tb Whole cloves
1 1" piece gingerroot (opt.)
To prepare watermelon rind, cut rind into 2- x 1-inch pieces. Trim green skin and pink flesh from rind. Place prepared rind in large kettle and add salt and enough boiling water to cover. Simmer until tender. Drain and chill rind in very cold water at least 1 hour or overnight in refrigerator. Combine vinegar, sugar and mixture of cinnamon, cloves and gingerroot tied in cheesecloth. Bring to boil and boil 5 minutes. Drain watermelon rind and add to syrup. Simmer until rind becomes translucent, about 10 minutes. Remove and discard spices. Pack rind and syrup into hot sterilized quart jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space. Adjust lids and process in boiling water bath 20 minutes.