Given the bulging waistlines of our country, I’m surprised that we don’t see warning labels on food.  There are warning labels on alcohol and cigarettes cautioning the consumer about the hazards associated with that product, so why not label junk food?  Here are some ideas:

Edit (7/22/08): The image that was here has been bugging me.  I’m just not that cruel, and I’m sorry if I hurt my friends.  Removed.

Some other messages modeled on the cigarette warnings include:

• Lowering your weight now reduces serious risks to your health
• Excessive consumption of junk foods can shorten your life
• “Reduced fat” does not mean “reduced calories”
• This package contains 2500 calories

Surely there must be others…

Well, my ego and sense of vanity have certainly been given a boost these past few days.  Friday it was CNN.  Sunday it was Reddit.  Today it’s Slashdot.

Thus continues my on-again, off-again relationship with my webcomic.

Two reasons today was good:

• Melon season has begun in California, and I picked up a most amazing cantaloupe from a farmer’s market this morning.  Ripe, fragrant, and sweet.  Absolutely divine.
• Sailing in the Bay was fantastic.  We sailed a J/24 from Yerba Buena Island to Angel Island to Alcatraz Island and back.  The wind was fantastic, the sun was out, and spirits were high.

Only in the past year has the overuse of the word “literally” begun to irritate me.  It’s not just that the word is often misapplied to mean “figuratively,” since that usage has been around for a while.  All languages evolve, and people have a grand history of inverting the meanings of English words (e.g., “peruse” to mean “skim”).  Rather, I am frustrated that writing and speech has been besieged by what seems like an unnatural prevalence of the word.

Fortunately, I’m not the only one.

The watermelons here in California are sweet, juicy, and cheap these days.  Seedless, too.  That makes me happy.  Watermelon is one of my favorite fruits.

You know how to enjoy watermelon, right?  Bring one to a picnic, cut everybody some nice wedges, and have at it.  Simple.  Did you know there’s another way?  A cooked way?

A few days ago, I noticed an article about just that type of exotic preparation: watermelon steak.  Apparently, it’s one of the more popular dishes at the Boston restaurant 51 Lincoln.  I decided to give it a go.

To make watermelon steak, get a nice  seedless melon.  Cut some thick slabs (I’d recommend at least two inches thick), put them in a roasting pan, and dot with butter (about half a stick).  Add salt and and a little pepper.  Pour on about a quarter-bottle of cream sherry (that’s the type that has a high sugar content).  Cover with oiled parchment paper, then cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil.  Roast for at least two and a half hours (probably longer, perhaps much longer) at 350 degrees.  The original recipe specified that the roasting should continue until the watermelon is charred, but I couldn’t get that to happen.  Instead, after somewhat more than three hours, I took the roasted melon out of the pan and gave it a quick searing (sort of) in a hot frying pan.  Serve with the roasting juices spooned over, and accompany with feta cheese.

The texture and appearance is remarkably similar to raw tuna, completely unlike fresh watermelon.  There is a bit of watermelon flavor, but the sherry clearly has control.  The saltiness of the feta cheese provides a nice complement to the melon.

Give it a try, if only for the novelty.