"juicing" news and stories

It's not like anyone ever needed a reason to bring home a whole watermelon, but here's another: watermelon juice. If you're using a seedless watermelon, just toss chunks of it into a blender and pulse until it's smooth. Straining it will give you an even lighter, smoother drink, but it isn't necessary. If you have an immersion blender, you can make a batch right in your pitcher. Frozen, it would make great popsicles as well.

[Photo: Nick Vagnoni]

Meyer lemons are not like ordinary lemons. They are actually a hybrid fruit, a cross between tangerines or mandarin orange and lemons, which is native to China. Meyer lemons were introduced to the United States shortly after the turn of the 20th century by a man named Frank Meyer, hence the name of the fruit. Most of the lemons are grown in California, but they are also cultivated in states like Texas and Florida.

Meyer lemons are smaller and more spherical than most lemons, with a thin peel that turns slightly orange or goldenrod-colored when it is ripe. The thinness of the peel, when compared to that of more traditional lemon varieties, is very noticeable and it does make the fruits more delicate. As a result of this, for many years, these fruits were not widely available outside the immediate areas in which they were grown, but they are now enjoying a more widespread popularity.