New To Me Fruit Find: Lemon Drop Melon

Last summer a grocery store employee enticed me to try Sugar Kiss melons for the first time.

Sugar Kiss melons look exactly like cantaloupes, and are often sold in blue knit bags to identify them.

When perfectly ripe, they are a flavor explosion of juicy sweetness that I found addictive. I compulsively bought them all summer long, mourning the fall when they disappeared from the shelves.

Today I ran into the store for a couple of things and came across Lemon Drop melons for 99 cents each. Such a deal. I bought three.

One would think I would have connected the name Lemon Drop with the thought that they may be tart, but nope. Not me.

I was hoping for that honeyed sweetness of the Sugar Kiss, but it was not to be.

First off, the interior is green and not orange. The taste definitely has notes of the honeydew it resembles, but it is also intriguingly tart. Not unlike the Lemon Drop candy it was bred to taste like.

Immediately I thought of pairing it with prosciutto or possibly adding it to a salad with goat cheese and nuts. Sorbet, I think, would be fantastic.

My friend, Chrissy, has been beating the Florida heat this summer by freezing chunks of fruit and then blitzing them in the blender with frozen yogurt.

While I haven't had time to freeze the Lemon Drop melon yet, I can tell you that any fruit about to turn gets thrown into the freezer in my house.

Bananas, especially, never last long. Blended with milk or nut milk, cocoa and a tablespoon of peanut butter, it makes a tasty shake that we all enjoy.

Chocolate Banana Shake

1 frozen banana (Cut into chunks before freezing.)

1 tablespoon peanut butter

1 tablespoon cocoa

1 cup milk or nut milk

Add ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth and creamy.

Serves one.

A few chocolate chips thrown into the blender make a great addition to this shake.