Watermelon

Juicy health tip Sure, watermelon is a refreshing summer treat, but now there is a new reason to enjoy a slice. Scientists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture have found that watermelon contains high levels of lycopene - an antioxidant that may help the body fight cancer and prevent disease. Freezing point Fill containers almost to full when freezing food, a recent issue of Cooking Light recommends. Putting a small portion of food into a large container captures air that could allow ice crystals to form.

A couple of years ago, Dave Lieberman was just another college student. OK, he was a good-looking Yale University student who also just happened to know how to cook. In his senior year, he had his own cooking show on a cable-access channel and operated a catering business. The New York Times' Amanda Hesser featured him in a story, and before you know it, the Food Network came knocking at his door. Lieberman, 25, now has his own cooking show, Good Deal With Dave Lieberman, and his first cookbook, Young & Hungry (Hyperion, 2005, $22.95)

Imagine the trauma involved when you take one of the most sadistic groups of human beings and put them in the most evil place on earth. The Gang visited the Jersey Shore this week. Please, allow me to digress: As a Towson alum who was born in Philadelphia, I have an eternal bias against all things Jersey. While the regular "Jersey Shore" cast is plaguing Italy, the Paddy's gang visits the east coast's armpit. This week's "Sunny" was much truer to the form fans missed in last week's C+ premiere.

If there's anybody out there who doesn't know about Tom Miller's wonderful painted furniture, run right to Steven Scott Gallery and make its acquaintance. That is, if you can get in, because all those who do know about Miller's work will probably be there already.Painted furniture had a great tradition in Baltimore in the 19th century, and the best of it was as high style as Baltimore ever got. Miller has turned the tables on this tradition by taking articles of already-made furniture and decorating them with partly deco-inspired but thoroughly original designs in the brightest of colors.

Edwin Mulitalo started all but one game last year at left guard for the Ravens and is entering his eighth NFL season. The Ravens threw for a 59.6 percent pass completion rate and rushed for 1,605 yards behind Mulitalo's blocking. You bring a ukulele to practice. When do you like to play? "Usually in between practices I like to get back to the room. We'll have an hour and I just like to relax and play some island tunes." Do your teammates enjoy your playing? "I hope so. I usually do it in my room and if they hear me in the hallway, well ... This year I got a room at the end of the hallway so it should be all right if I don't play that loud."

Low-fat parfait for fast-food folks Here's a high-five to low fat at McDonald's. Customers now can find an alternative to those tempting but fat-laden Big Macs and Quarter Pounders with a new Fruit 'n Yogurt Parfait. Made fresh daily, the cup of strawberries, blueberries, vanilla yogurt and granola has only 5 grams of fat and costs around $1.99. Egg tips Easter may be over, but those pretty pastel eggs may still be lingering in the refrigerator. If the eggs are refugees from a holiday hunt, don't eat any that are cracked, advises the Children's Nutrition Research Center in Houston.

The presidential election will be decided at a tomato festival on the square of a New England village next month. There, well-armed townsfolk will cast their ballots by pelting their favorite candidate with overripe garden tomatoes."

For the Brown family of East Baltimore, the Fourth of July reunion -- a giant cookout in Druid Hill Park -- was a jubilant affair."I been dancing, helping, enjoying myself, meeting other parts of my family I never met before," said Hershey Lawrence, 18, one of about 400 people who attended the reunion that was fragrant with the smell of grilling meats and rich with signs of family attachments.After beginning preparations in January, the family raised $2,000, corralled the 400 attendees from around the country and rented an 18-foot truck to transport boxes of watermelon, games of Twister and tons and tons of food.

Music, pontoon rides, watermelon, chicken and ham, golf and flea markets are all on the agenda for this weekend, meaning there's plenty to do for everybody. A good place to start is in the community of Middleburg, which is celebrating its own Middleburg Days 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Terra Rubra Lions Club ballfield, Middleburg Road. Among the activities are breakfast, a flea market, craft show and chicken fry.Information: 751-1351.*Don't limit yourself to eating at Middleburg.

Did you know that the prickly pear, a large, egg-shaped fruit, is really a berry? Once you cut into the fruit, you'll note the small seeds similar to those in many types of berries, says Elizabeth Schneider in Uncommon Fruits and Vegetables: A Commonsense Guide. The fruit is found on cactuses that grow in Mexico, the southwestern United States and elsewhere. It goes by other names, including cactus pear, Barbary fig and "tuna" in Spanish. It looks like a cactus because of its sharp needles poking out of the skin.