Nothing says summer to me more than the abundance of watermelon, cantaloupes, and stone fruit that are around this time of the year. A few weeks ago I was engaging in my new favorite pass time…checking out the Food and Drink section on Pintrest. I was completely intrigued by the food styling of the picture below:

I thought it was such a brilliant idea to use a watermelon as a bowl. Fast forward a few days to to me trying to decide on what to take to a potluck.  I settled on making my Watermelon and Feta Cheese Salad. Just as I was debating on which bowl to put the salad in for easy transport, I had a brilliant idea! Thus began my adventures with Watermelon Bowl which has been a hit with everyone! It’s not only a nice presentation, but it definitely is a conversation starer too!!!

Several people have asked me how  I went about doing it, so here is the tutorial!!

First and foremost select a watermelon that does not have too odd of a shape. It can either be oval or round. Find the side which is the flattest which will be used as the bottom. This task is easier with oval watermelon, however, for round watermelons you will need to cut off some of the bottom, making sure to stay within the white portion of the skin, so your bowl will sit on a flat surface and not roll away.

Before cutting the watermelon with a knife trance a cutting line around the part that you are going to cut just to make sure that when you actually cut the watermelon your line is as straight as possible. The cutting line should be just above the middle section of the watermelon.

Follow the traced line and carefully cut around the watermelon.

If the cut surface is not completely even then, carefully even it all out.

If the watermelon is wobbly then flip over on a paper towel and cut the bottom in order to make sure that your bowl is steady.

Use a melon baller or spoon to remove watermelon and place in a bowl. Note: reserve all the watermelon juice and drink later!

Continue removing watermelon until you get to the very end. Once you are done scooping, then scrape the walls of the watermelon bowl to create an even surface.

Carefully drain juices from the bowl where you have placed the watermelon balls. At this point you can add some fine chopped mint to your watermelon then gently toss.

Load watermelon balls into the watermelon bowl. Decorate with mint as desired and voila!

I think watermelon is at it’s best when nice and cool. Simply wrap watermelon in plastic wrap and place in the fridge until ready to serve.

If you are making the Watermelon & Feta Cheese Salad, then add Feta Cheese on top when ready to serve! Pretty easy!