Watermelon Wisdom

Here's what Leon Hale says you do to see if a watermelon is ripe:

Press with the heel of the hand, see if the melon yields a bit to the pressure.

Roll it over and check the pale spot where it lay on the ground. You want it to be sort of creamy colored.

Plug it with a pocket knife. That is, cut a narrow plug out of the melon, deep enough to check the ripeness. If it's not ripe, stick the plug back in. I once knew men who wouldn't buy a melon off a lot unless they were allowed to plug it first.

Thump it. But I was never able to tell anything about a melon by this method. I always suspected thumping a melon was sort of the same as kicking the tires on a new car.

Leon knows all. Check out his Vienna sausage recipes. Mmmm, Vienna sausages.
[Leon Hale/chron.com]