Post #500 Watermelon Celebration!

In my previous post, I mentioned that back in the 1990s, a trend started in Mexico, in which fruits and snacks dressed with unusual combinations of chili powder, candies, sauces, and all sorts of other various ingredients are called “locos” – “crazy”, and shared recipes for crazy cucumber cups – pepinos locos (vasitos), and a crazy mini watermelon – mini sandía loca:

To celebrate my post #500, this being My Slice of Mexico, I wanted a festive watermelon theme, and a full-size version of sandía loca (as pictured at the top of this post), sure fits the bill!

Crazy Watermelon – Sandía loca

Printable recipe: Crazy Watermelon

Printable recipes: Crazy Cucumber Cups, Chamoy – Classic recipe with hibiscus, Chamoy – No-blender recipe with cranberries, Deviled Sauce –Salsa papera

Ingredients (for one Sandía loca)

1 half of a watermelon (washed before slicing)
1 cucumber, to prepare crazy cups (see printable recipe above)
Assorted veggies and fruits, such as: carrots, jícama, apples, pineapple, coconut, mango, etc.
Assorted snacks, such as: gummies, fruit leather, peanuts, etc. (optional)
2-3 limes
Condiments, such as:
Chamoy; try my homemade recipes (see printable recipes above), or store bought
Red hot sauce; try my homemade Deviled Sauce – Salsa papera (see printable recipe, above), or store-bought, such as Valentina™, Cholula™, Red Hot™, etc.
Seasoned chile powder; commercial such as Tajín™, Miguelito™, or try a mixture of equal parts of: dry red chile powder (cayenne, piquín, etc.), salt, and citric acid

Using a sharp paring knife, score the flesh into wedges, cutting along the edge between the flesh and the white rind (photo below, left). Remove a wedge, slice into chunks or shapes, such as triangles, then return a few to fill the bottom half of the hollowed rind, and continue with the rest of the wedges (photo below, right):

Reserve the rest of the watermelon pieces.

Wash all the produce before prepping. In addition to the cucumber (peeled and cut into sections), and limes, I had rainbow carrots, jícama, and a coconut for fresh produce. For carrots: discard ends, then peel, and slice lengthwise. For jícama: slice the top and bottom ends off, use a sharp knife to lift sections of the peel, starting at one end, pulling down to the other end; prop peeled jícama on one side, and slice discs, then slice each disc into sticks or chunks (click here for more detailed instructions with photos). For coconut: use a screwdriver or a corkscrew to puncture one of the dark round depressions, preferably the smallest one; place coconut on a cup or small bowl, with the hole facing down, and let the juice drain. Hit the emptied shell along the equator with the claw of a hammer on a very firm surface; the shell will make a sharp cracking sound and neatly break into two pieces. Check the inside of each half, making sure there is no mould (if there is any mould, the juice and flesh are not safe for consumption). To extract the flesh, place the halves on a firm surface, inner side down, then hit with the hammer to break into smaller pieces. Insert the tip of a paring knife between the shell and the flesh, then give it a twist to pop the flesh out of the shell; cut into chunks or slices. (click here for detailed instructions with photos). In the photo below, clockwise from top left, limes, cucumber sections, coconut slices, rainbow carrot sticks, and jícama sticks:

Cut limes in half, and prepare crazy cucumber cups (printable recipe above), and set aside:

Place the hollowed watermelon half on a serving tray, and start filling with fruit pieces (photo below, left) and carrot sticks (photo below, centre), while sprinkling with lime juice, chamoy, sauce, and seasoned chile powder. Finish with other toppings (if using), the rest of the lime halves, and prepared crazy cucumber cups (photo below, right):

Display as a centre piece for a festive snack table, enough for 3-4 people, to share:

This might look like a very involved project, but taking a moment to garner and prepare ingredients will requite a fun and relaxed assembly time, and an attractive vista at the table. For this particular watermelon, I tried to choose most of the components from biological sources, but candies (gummy worms, sour drops, fruit leather), and fried snacks (Takis™, corn chips) are generally included.

I am sharing my post at Thursday Favourite Things #506, with Bev @ Eclectic Red Barn, Pam @ An Artful Mom, Katherine @ Katherine’s Corner, Amber @ Follow the Yellow Brick Home, Theresa @ Shoestring Elegance and Linda @ Crafts a la Mode.

I am bringing my recipe to Full Plate Thursday #553 with Miz Helen @ Miz Helen’s Country Cottage. Thank you so much to Miz Helen for featuring my Chamoy recipes at this party!

I am joining Fiesta Friday #397 with Angie @ Fiesta Friday.

I am also joining What’s for Dinner? Sunday Link-Up # 332 with Helen @ The Lazy Gastronome.