Monday, June 28, 2010

Watermelon - Fruit or Vegetable?

I've been eating a lot of Watermelon lately. How can I not when it's so friggin' hot outside?!? I was reading a magazine & I came across an article claiming Watermelon is a Vegetable! I had to go sleuthing on the Internet to make sure. Well, here is what I've found on watermelon.org:

Watermelon is a Fruit


Watermelon is the fruit of a plant originally from a vine of southern Africa. The watermelon fruit, loosely considered a type of melon (although not in the genus Cucumis), has a smooth exterior rind and a juicy, sweet, usually red interior flesh. The species descriptor Citrullus vulgaris is sometimes, synonymously, used to refer to this plant (vulgaris meaning "common" — Shosteck, 1974).

Like the pepper, tomato, and pumpkin, watermelon is botanically a fruit. According to Webster’s dictionary and Wikipedia, a fruit is the ripened ovary of a seed plant and its contents, and a watermelon is a large oblong roundish fruit (2004, 2006). Consumers use watermelon primarily as a fruit because of its sweet flavor and refreshing qualities.

Watermelon is Also a Vegetable

According to Webster’s dictionary a vegetable is anything made or obtained from plants (2004). Watermelon is a member of the cucurbitaceae plant family of gourds (classified as Citrullus Lantus), related to the cucumber, squash, and pumpkin (Maynard, 2001). It is planted from seeds or seedlings, harvested, and then cleared from the field like other vegetables. Since watermelon is grown as a vegetable crop using vegetable production systems, watermelon is considered a vegetable (Wolford, 2004).

There we go, it's BOTH! The mystery is over ppl, now go grab yourself a slice of juicy watermelon to beat the summer heat.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Elevation Burger

I just had my first Elevation Burger and it was quite delicious. The burgers are 100% organic, which I totally support. After watching the movie, Food Inc., it has changed my view of the food industry (especially the meat & chicken industry) tremendously. I was proud to eat this product.

Funny thing happened at Elevation Burger. I was at the register putting in my order, when I get a phone call. I picked up & tried to get the person off the phone as quickly as possible since I think it's rude to the other customers behind me. It was a phone call from the Organic Consumers Association! haha I signed up for the group after watching Food Inc. I told you it made an enormous impact on me & I had to research more afterwards.

The burgers are not huge, but they filled me up. I ordered the Cheeseburger ($4.19) in a lettuce wrap instead of the burger buns for a healthier option. The Elevation sauce was yummy as well as the beef being tender & moist. Cheese cost $0.40 but all the other toppings were free (lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mustard, pickles, raw onion, caramelized onion, hot relish, elevation sauce, mayo, balsamic mustard).

I also had the Vanilla milk shake w/ Bananas & Strawberries. This was my "appetizer" while waiting for the burgers. It was totally delicious. The bf had the Half the Guilt burger (1 beef patty & 1 veggie patty) in a lettuce wrap. He enjoyed his meal, but still prefers Bare Burger even though they are a pricier option. For dessert, I tried the Fresh baked chocolate chip oatmeal pecan cookies made w/ organic eggs and butter. It was eh, not worth it to get. It had a funny grainy texture & it was too sweet.

The Montclair, NJ location is totally kid friendly. They have bench seating in the back for a larger party. Tweedles the clown was there too, but I'm not sure if she was there because of the NJ Blood Drive or if she is a regular there to entertain the kiddies with face-painting & balloon animals.

A fun time was had by all. I would totally recommend going with the kiddies.

French Macarons

After trying over 10 times to bake the perfect French Macarons, I was finally successful. I was ecstatic when I saw the "feet" developing in the oven. I nearly woke up my drowsy bf to come take a look at the oven. He reluctantly went upstairs to take a look. He fell asleep before the final product came out. *sigh*
Oh, these made me so happy. Too bad I haven't been able to replicate my results again. I've failed a few more times since then, so I may have to dig deep into my memory to remember all the steps I've taken for the successful batch. I brought these onto my trip to Maui, Hawaii. Mr. Munkie was being naughty & stole a few.

Tsk tsk, Mr. Munkie caught in the act of reaching for yet another French Macaron.

These were plain Almond macaron shells with a fig buttercream filling. They were delish. You don't have to take my word for it, Mr. Munkie couldn't stop himself from eating them all!