I have this favorite pastime of cracking and eating water melon seeds. The naked ones are just not the same. Part of the fun is in undressing them. There’s a hint of salt in every crack, that lingers on to the seed as you pop it into  your mouth. It’s a total savory taste sensation that’s addicting. It’s hard to stop once you start.

For someone who is dieting and trying to keep from eating too much food, this is such an enjoyable dieter’s alternative. It keeps the  mouth busy and satisfied for a very long time. I can easily spend an  hour eating ‘em.  By the time I am done, it’s only a handful eaten and good for the waistline. I  usually quit when the corner of mouth starts getting  sore from the salt or when mouth is tired chewing and  had its fill.

I like to think of myself as an expert melon seed cracker . I take pride in my ability to open these little babies at 10 to 12 seeds per minute. How many I can turn out all depends on the shape of the seeds. Those that are flat and thick are easiest to crack open without smashing the inside.  Those that have indentations or a bit deformed are a little more of a  challenge to open but still manageable for experts like me who have  had a lot of practice.

Here are some tips for newbie melon seed Eaters:

1) Use your molars to crack seed open and not the front teeth. They have more power and won’t chip an enamel.

2) Hold seed with thumb & pointy finger and place in the mouth. Apply medium pressure with molars on the tip of tapered side of the seed, till it cracks. Then do the same around the middle of the seed. Then  either use your teeth to peel the shell off like a banana or use your  two hands to extricate the seed inside. Pop seed onto mouth and enjoy!

It might take you a couple of tries to get the right pressure in  cracking the shell , without smashing the seed. The goal here is to be able to extricate the morsel seed in one whole piece smoothly and easily. My kids like to show off their perfect morsels.

If the seed is slightly indented in the middle and/or not as thick, the tip is the only place to crack it without damaging the inside. Then you have to use your fingernails to pry shell open and pull the morsel out.You will for sure get lotsa smashed morsels before you  reach this level of expertise. Practice makes perfect! Some seeds every now and then fall inside my shirt and I have to dig in there to retrieve it.

Watermelon seeds of the Paning’s brand quality has been a therapeutic pastime for me. Not all melon seeds are made equal. There are ordinary seeds and then there’s Paning’s. I have to special order them from the  Philippines at least a dozen at a time whenever my flight attendant cousin-in-law flies into SFO. They too me are worth hundreds of dollars worth of entertainment and relaxation therapy. I even have this special plastic tall cylindrical container to keep ‘em in. After  a hard day’s work or a tough day, I like sitting on the couch or rocking chair at night with my feet on top of the coffee table , and  munch on them. I like to cradle the container between my legs to keep it  secure. The container  I like putting the canister inside  a grocery bag when I begin my decompressing session. .As I open each seed, the shells go into the grocery bag, and I just toss that bag out after a munching session.

It is very relaxing just cracking seed after seed, feeling my weariness melting away with each seed that gets tossed into the mouth. My 6 year old boy really enjoys it and we often sit side by side eating ‘em.

To melon seeds and  to hours and hours of cracking and chewing pleasure!