Watermelon

Here are some cool tips for summer:LOP OFF THOSE LOCKSCut that superlong hair for a good cause. Locks of Love, based in Palm Springs, Fla., takes hair from a ponytail or braid that is at least 10 inches long and makes wigs for sick kids who need them. (We got this info from Katie Snyder, 6, of Burr Ridge, Ill., who recently donated her French braid to the cause.) To find out more, call (888) 896-1588.TEAM UP AGAINST THE HEATDodge the hot weather with a game of spongeball. To play, split at least six friends into two teams -- three on one side of the yard, three on the other.

Who can resist the seductive sweetness and crunchy coolness of watermelon at this time of year?As a thirst-quenching snack or ingredient in dishes like Watermelon-Strawberry-Mint Salsa or Watermelon-Granita-Filled Lime Cups, the versatile, red-ripe fruit is now at its peak. It's just as likely to turn up as part of an elegant fruit tray at a wedding reception as to be the star of an outdoor, no-holds-barred, seed-spitting contest.But there's even more reason to celebrate the summer treat.

Watermelons are available year-round in the markets, and a recipe for watermelon preserves is available right here.Velmer Napier of Baltimore requested the recipe, and responses arrived from Sue Latini of Ferndale, Marion Ruhl of Monkton, Evelyn Edwards of Gilchrist, Ore., Beth Hunter of Timonium, Mary Clearman of Castle Rock, Wash., and Pamela C. Curran of Towson.Tester Laura Reiley chose the recipe of Lynn Stiegler of Beaverbrook, who noted that it "was taken from the morning Sun in the 1930s and is a must for ham!"

When you visit a Farmers' market , bring rigid containers for fragile produce like berries. And pack things carefully - you don't want the watermelon bearing down on the peaches. If the day is hot, bring an ice chest to keep things cool until you get home. Also, don't buy at the first stand. Part of the pleasure is the shopping experience, and you don't know where the freshest fruit and the best prices will be found. Get to know the growers, so you'll know who has the freshest stuff.Pub Date: 6/21/98

Take advantage of the bounty of summer with a food preservation project that is likely to have family and friends raving for months. And keep you as busy as you like into fall.Be warned, however, that your audience may demand encores.Few cooks put up more preserves than Jack McDavid.Each year, the farm-raised chef fills thousands of jars with fruit preserves, relishes and pickles to be served at his Pennsylvania restaurants: Jack's Firehouse, the Down Home Diner and the Smokey Mountain Grill.

AS SOON AS IT starts getting steamy outside, I yearn for something cool and slushy inside me. Usually I satisfy this craving by making ice cream and sorbet in my old electric ice-cream maker. But last summer it stopped working. The electric motor burned out and "old faithful" churned no more.I had been meaning to buy a replacement ice-cream maker but had been slowed down by two factors. The first was the weather. It's hard to get psyched up to buy an ice-cream maker when it's so cold outdoors that you have to turn on your household's furnace.

THERE'S PRACTICALLY NOTHING I associate more closely with summer and the innocence of childhood than watermelon. One bite and I'm 6 years old again in the sweltering heat of my grandmother's backyard with juice running down my face and seeds shooting from my mouth like a machine gun.In the 1950s, when I was a kid, I don't remember anybody buying watermelons in grocery stores. You bought watermelons from gas stations, roadside stands, A-rabbers and those little produce boats docked at Pier 4, in what's now known as the Inner Harbor.

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.

The wonders of watermelonWhat item of produce originated in the Kalahari Desert, was grown by Thomas Jefferson and was said by Mark Twain to be "king over all fruits?" If you guessed watermelon, you're probably one of the people the USDA estimates will eat 16 pounds of it this year. For a free brochure with tips on buying watermelons, and recipes such as Mediterranean watermelon (above), call (800) 55-MELON.Charitable chefsDon't feel like cooking tonight? How about sampling dishes by chefs from the Classic Catering People, plus local chefs Jennifer Price, Nancy Longo and Billy Himmelrich?

I swear the Hatchet Man was real.Growing up in the sticks, all us little kiddies knew the legend of the Hatchet Man. He had chopped up a bunch of kids way, way back in the stone age -- the '50s. Ever since, he had wandered the lonely stretch of State Road 213, carrying a hatchet and locks of hair from his victims.Heck, with that kind of buildup, any guy walking with a stick in his hand was the Hatchet Man. Nobody was going to mess around.Just about every well-settled area in America has some strange legend, or well-spread rumor.