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KIDS CLUB

Inside This Issue

Welcome to the latest issue of our ChopChop Kids Club newsletter!

(If you missed the last one, it’s here.)
This week we’re cooking with watermelon. Okay, we’re not actually cooking with it, but we’re making ice pops and salads and other fun cool-off recipes. Do you love watermelon as much as we do? Do you like the seedless kind or do you prefer the seeds? Do you cut it in half moons or wedges or chunks?These are just some of the many questions we have for you. There’s plenty more inside.

Watermelon ``popsicles´´

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Frozen Watermelon ‘Popsicles’

Okay, these aren’t really popsicles. They’re watermelon wedges frozen on sticks. But isn’t this a nice, cold way to eat your fruit? Leave the rind on, if you want the slices to look classic — or cut it off, if you want to make it easier to put the sticks in.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 15 minutes
Servings 8 Servings

kitchen gear

  • Cutting board
  • Sharp knife (adult needed)
  • Popsicle sticks
  • Baking sheet

Ingredients
 

  • 1 small seedless watermelon

Instructions
 

  • Cut across the watermelon to make wedges about 1-inch thick.
  • Carefully cut a slit into the rind of each wedge and put a popsicle stick into each slit.
  • Arrange the wedges on the baking sheet so they’re not touching.
  • Freeze until firm, at least 3 hours.

Notes

Let the pops soften at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving.

HOW TO CUT UP A WATERMELON​

Watermelons are so sweet and delicious, but their tough rinds can make them hard to deal with. Here’s how we do it. (Note: This is a job for an adult.)

Put the watermelon on its side on a cutting board and use a large, sharp knife to carefully slice off about 3/4 inch from its top and bottom.

Turn the melon upright, onto one of its cut surfaces. Cut the rind off in skinny strips, starting at the top and cutting down to the bottom, following the curve as well as you can. When all the rind is cut off, trim away any green or white that’s left on the melon.
To cut the melon into cubes for a fruit salad, cut it in half from top to bottom. If there are lots of seeds, use a large spoon to scrape them out.
Lay the melon halves, cut-side down, on the cutting board and cube them by cutting first in one direction and then the other, in a grid pattern.
Eat the melon, or use it in a recipe.

MELON MYSTERY

By Vayu Maini Rekdal

Look at the Watermelon “Popsicles” recipe. Do you think the watermelon will stay the same after freezing as the fruit you are used to eating? What might be different about it?

Aside from being much colder, the ice pops are also solid and brittle. The transition from soft fruit to frozen not only makes a delicious treat, but also illustrates an important scientific concept.

Watermelon, as you can guess from the name, contains a large amount of water. This means that it behaves a lot like water does at different temperatures. At room temperature, water is a liquid; water molecules are moving around freely in the fruit, producing a soft, juicy texture. When you put the melon in the freezer, the water molecules slow down a lot, eventually forming solid ice crystals that give the fruit a Popsicle-like consistency.

The change from liquid to solid is known as a phase transition. These transitions are important in the kitchen, and appear in everything from cooking eggs to making ice cream. Can you think of other examples? Understanding how and why things happen in the kitchen can make you both a better chef and a better scientist—at the same time!

DO YOU HAVE MORE WATERMELON?

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