Melon

THE RECENT closing of Connolly's restaurant on Pier 5, Pratt Street, stirs vivid memories for me of its founder, Tom Connolly.The building housing the restaurant was originally occupied by the R.J. McAllister Co., seafood dealers. In the 1920s Tom came down from West Camden Street, where he had been a produce jobber, to work for Bob McAllister. When Bob died in the early '30s, Tom took over the business and soon opened a lunchroom James M.Merrittin the eastern half of the building: a counter with a row of stools and a few tables.

My solution to the trials of life is eating watermelon. This is not a year-round cure-all. It only works now, in hot weather. That is when the melons are ripe, the moon is beaming and a breeze is at your back. On such evenings, I take a bite of a sweet slice of watermelon and enjoy its unique succulent flavor. Then I toss my head back, eye the moon and, with my tongue and a strong sense of purpose, I send a watermelon seed hurtling into the distance. On such occasions, the world seems right.

Cantaloupe season is in full swing and supermarkets have mountains of melons.At first glance cantaloupes may look alike. So how do you single out the sweet ones? The ones that are ready to eat? The ones with vivid orange flesh and lots of juice?Cantaloupe customers have several approaches. There are thumpers, shakers and sniffers. Pokers, too.The thumpers and shakers are having fun, but they may not end up with the best choice. According to the California Cantaloupe Advisory Board, the sniffers and pokers will have more success.

2007 Joel Gott Sauvignon Blanc From: California Price: $12 Serve with: Grilled seafood This dry white wine - with a classy screw cap to preserve freshness and avoid cork taint - is a lively little pour at a very attractive price. It offers breezy, youthful flavors of mineral, pear, melon, lime and sweet pea. There's not a trace of oak, and its finish is clean and satisfying. It's perfect for outdoor occasions between now and Labor Day.

Every summer our calendar is usually marked with weekend after weekend of family or friends coming to visit us in New England. This year, though, since we have been living and working in Paris in a small apartment, the tables have been turned, and we have been asked to be week- end guests ourselves. Several thoughtful friends have invited us to come for weekends in the French countryside. During these visits I have been impressed by the ease and simplicity with which our hosts have entertained us, especially at the table.

If you want to pick a peach that will taste like nectar, then look at the background color of its skin. When that color, the one behind the peach's dominant reddish-orange hue, turns golden, then the peach is in top form. That is what Russ Parsons told me. Parsons, a food columnist for the Los Angeles Times, has written a book called How to Pick a Peach. He visited peach orchards, queried the growers, delved into the workings of the peach's inner life, and came up with simple recipes for how to enjoy the fruit.

On nights when nothing is stirring, when the trees hang heavy with humidity, I seek solace in ice-cold watermelon.For some reason, when watermelon juices are running down my chin I forget about the sweat trickling down my back. The riper and colder the melon, the more pleasure it offers.The other night, a steamer, I found myself slicing a chunk of reasonably cold, relatively ripe melon for my 12-year-old son and telling him watermelon stories. Both he and his younger brother are fond of the fruit, and watching either of them eat it is always a welcome sight.

THE COMMONPLACE BECOMES extraordinary when seasonal melons are carved into tiny balls and flavored with a sweet liqueur.In addition to summer standards such as honeydews, be sure to try at least one unusual melon such as the Casaba, a moderately-sweet melon with pale yellow flesh or the Cranshaw, with pale orange flesh. Another choice would be the Canary melon with bright yellow flesh.Elegant Fruit SaladWatermelonCantaloupeHoneydewSweet liqueur, such as Cointreau or Grand MarinerLemons, for garnishMint, for garnishUsing a melon baller, carefully make small spheres of fruit.

2003 Chateau Ste. Michelle Cold Creek Vineyard Riesling, Columbia Valley ($17). This intensely flavorful riesling from Washington state is just a little off-dry and displays a broad array of flavors: minerals, strawberry, citrus fruit, melon, honey and sweet peas. That's a lot going on in one glass. This would be an excellent pairing with spicy Asian dishes.

There's an interesting interplay of flavors in this refreshing summertime white wine. It starts out with immense, sweet-seeming flavors of peach, melon and orange, but ends with a thump of mineral flavor that says: "Fooled you. I'm really a dry wine." It makes for fascinating drinking and is an excellent companion to seafood.

Served straight from the fridge, this light and refreshing dish would make an excellent opener for barbecued pork. The soup is prepared with a simple sugar syrup infused with torn mint leaves. Cubed cantaloupe and honeydew melon are added to the aromatic syrup along with freshly squeezed lime juice, then chilled. Finally, the mixture is pureed with some of the cubed melon reserved for the garnish. Although the recipe serves four, it can easily be doubled if necessary. Best of all, this dish needs no last-minute attention.

If you want to pick a peach that will taste like nectar, then look at the background color of its skin. When that color, the one behind the peach's dominant reddish-orange hue, turns golden, then the peach is in top form. That is what Russ Parsons told me. Parsons, a food columnist for the Los Angeles Times, has written a book called How to Pick a Peach. He visited peach orchards, queried the growers, delved into the workings of the peach's inner life, and came up with simple recipes for how to enjoy the fruit.

From: New Zealand Price: $15 Serve with: Grilled seafood, Vietnamese and Thai cuisine This crisp, refreshing and seriously dry riesling from New Zealand is a perfect late-spring and summertime beverage. It offers vibrant flavors of melon, orange, lime, sweet peas and minerals. The finish is bracing and balanced. It's a food-friendly alternative to oaky chardonnays and bland pinot grigios.

You could make a case for watermelon as the most fun and happy fruit. Fun? Sure. Just rub down a 10-pounder with some Coppertone, toss it into a pool along with a few kids and see what happens. Or give them each a greased mini-melon to race with across the pool. Later, accompany dessert of watermelon with a seed-spitting competition. And who could find a happier Citrullus lanatus (that's watermelon by another name) than one that's been plugged and spiked with vodka? The United States grows hundreds of watermelon varieties.

THE IDEAL WAY to eat watermelon, according to Will Hales, an Eastern Shore melon grower, "is to crack one open in the middle of a field and eat the heart out." I agree, but few of us have that sweet opportunity. Hales, along with his father, Donald, grows watermelons on 325 acres in Wicomico County and ships them to markets on the East Coast. The family business, Hales Farms Inc. of Salisbury, handles a lot of melons, an estimated 12 million pounds of them this year. One recent afternoon, as Hales was overseeing shipments for Labor Day weekend, the last major melon-eating occasion of the summer, he took a few minutes to talk with me on the telephone about watermelon matters.

Generally, Baltimore summers are revolting, a sauna on steroids. But they have at least one redeeming feature. Melons. Juicy and sweet, they help us beat the heat while stoking up on antioxidants. Chilled cantaloupe with vanilla ice cream, sliced honeydew drizzled with Cointreau, creamy orange Charentais, yogurt, and strawberry freezes, and chunks of ice-cold watermelon slurped in the shade. Heaven. And in the past few years, our choices have expanded hugely, thanks to both new hybrids and rescued heirlooms.

Beringer consistently delivers fine value for the money, and it has the virtue of wide availability. The well-balanced, medium-full chardonnay is packed with flavors of lemon, apple, toasty oak, wintry spices and melon. The acidity is right on target, giving it a long, clean finish. It's amazing to think that this is Beringer's third-best chardonnay.

2003 Casa Lapostolle Sauvignon Blanc, Rapel Valley ($10). Figs, herbs and melon flavors leap out of this dry white wine from one of Chile's leading producers. It's a full-bodied, penetrating sauvignon blanc that offers excellent complexity and character for the dollar. It would be a natural companion to grilled seafood or Cajun-style dishes.

2003 Chateau Ste. Michelle Cold Creek Vineyard Riesling, Columbia Valley ($17). This intensely flavorful riesling from Washington state is just a little off-dry and displays a broad array of flavors: minerals, strawberry, citrus fruit, melon, honey and sweet peas. That's a lot going on in one glass. This would be an excellent pairing with spicy Asian dishes.